Living in Spain? Olives are a real Christmas cracker

For many people who buy a property around the Mediterranean, it often means a change in diet. One of the best things that many people include are olives and some of the best come from Spain. Why not start the New Year as you mean to go on with the healthy snack, olives?

Since ancient times, sun-ripened Spanish olives and their oil have been highly valued for their medicinal benefits. Traditionally cured Spanish olives are low in calories, high in antioxidants, minerals and healthy fat and are a great source of fibre, so whether you eat them straight from the bowl or combine them with your evening meal for a deliciously subtle Mediterranean flavour, you can be assured that they are doing you good.

Spanish olive dips

Low in calories

Twenty five grammes of olives contain just 37 kcal, almost four times as little as the 140 kcal contained in 25g of crisps. Olives promote good health because they contain a high amount of antioxidants and minerals such as polyphenols, calcium and magnesium.

Different Spanish olives contain different nutritional qualities. For example, black olives contain less salt and more iron, yet fewer calories than green olives; Manzanilla olives contain more salt and vitamin E; and Hojiblanca olives boast more fibre. All them offer the following:

•         Monounsaturated fats – Spanish olives are fruits of the tree known as Olea europaea. Olea is the Latin word for oil, reflecting the olives very high fat content. However, 75% of this is oleic acid, a healthy omega-9 monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels and increase HDL (good) cholesterol.

Research has also shown that it is the type of fat consumed that determines the risk of developing conditions such as atherosclerosis (a condition where which an artery wall thickens as the result of a build-up of fatty materials such as cholesterol), colon cancer, arthritis and asthma.

Residents in regions around the Mediterranean consume large amounts of olives and olive oil and have a lower risk of developing those conditions.

Health benefits

•         Fibre – with 100 grams containing 2.6 grams of fibre, Spanish olives are high in fibre and so are easily digested. Spanish olives are also a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and iodine.

•         Anti-inflammatory properties – Spanish olives contain a variety of beneficial active phytonutrient compounds (plant compounds which are thought to have health-protecting qualities) including polyphenols and flavonoids, known for their anti-inflammatory properties. Polyphenols also give the olive its taste and aroma.

•        Protection against cell damage – it is the combination of a number of nutrients in Spanish olives that work in synergy to provide great health benefits. Olives are a good source of monounsaturated fats, rich in vitamin E – a fat-soluble antioxidant that neutralizes damaging free radicals, and also contain polyphenols and flavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory properties.

These health-boosting compounds that work hand-in-hand to provide a protective an anti-inflammatory effect on cells that can lower the risk of cell damage and inflammation which in turn helps to:

1. Reduce the severity of asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid

arthritis – three conditions where most of the damage is caused by high

levels of free radicals

2. Prevent heart disease

3. Prevent colon cancer – by neutralizing free radicals, the nutrients in olives help prevent colon cancer. A higher intake of both vitamin E and the monounsaturated fats in olives is also associated with lower rates of colon cancer.

•         Menopause – clinical studies have shown the effect Vitamin E has on reducing hot flushes.

•         Alzheimer’s Disease – a recent study showed people with low level of HDL (high density lipids) or bad cholesterol were 53% more likely to have memory loss as compared to those with high level of HDL (high density lipids) or good cholesterol. As olives have high levels of oleic acid which helps increase good cholesterol, an olive rich diet may also help prevent Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Grape news

Las Uvas (the 12 grapes of luck) is a Spanish tradition that started, according to legend, in the early years of the 20^th century. It takes place in the last 12 seconds of the old year and although the tradition has spread to some Latin American countries, it’s most popular in Spain and is certainly something that very few Spaniards would miss.

As the clock starts to strike midnight, you should eat one grape per second. This is harder than it sounds but according to tradition, if you succeed, this guarantees good luck in the coming year. Don’t be taken in by earlier chimes – wait for the full 12 to start

If you are living in Spain, the striking of the clock on the tower in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid are broadcast nationwide on radio and television. Whether you’ll actually have great good luck in the coming year is hard to say, but whole families join in the fun and it’s certainly worth trying whether you live in Spain or not.

© Stewart Andersen and Stewart Andersen’s Property Blog, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Stewart Andersen and Stewart Andersen’s Property Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Research pays off for UK firm’s villa development in Crete

The decision to undertake detailed market research to establish the nature and needs of the prime target market for property in Crete has paid off for a UK developer which reports that a third of the villas it has built on a rural site in western Crete have been sold or reserved.

“Each of the purchasers matches the profile of the buyers for whom the properties were designed and built,” reports Said Marie, principal of Berkshire-based Caversham-Barnes which has developed the Litsarda Villas scheme in western Crete.

Comfortable lifestyles

“Research showed that a significant part of the target market for property in Crete comprises discerning British people approaching retirement who require a holiday home in the sun which, in due course, will become their permanent home,” says Said.

Villa Galini

“We then researched the facilities expected by Britons seeking comfortable lifestyles in Crete. They told us they wanted a private heated pool with a huge sun terrace, air-conditioning – but also central heating for use during Crete’s brief winter period – gardens and a garage.

“Those were our design criteria and, because potential buyers can see that we have taken the trouble to build what they actually want, we are selling the properties despite the recession.”

The Litsarda Villas development comprises nine individually designed homes in an elevated location enjoying panoramic views of Crete’s White Mountains and Souda Bay in the Mediterranean.

Hot summer months

Located 40 minutes by road from Chania International Airport (75 minutes from Heraklion Airport), the development is close to the heart of the village of Litsarda and two kilometres from the shops, bank, post office and healthcare facilities in the small town of Vamos.

Explained Said Marie, “Detailed market research formed the basis of our design criteria and, because we took the trouble to build what potential buyers actually want, we are selling our properties despite the recession,” says Said Marie (pictured), principal of Berkshire-based Caversham-Barnes which has developed the Litsarda Villas scheme in western Crete.

The villas have floor areas ranging from 127 square metres to 170 square metres, including a self-contained lower ground floor in each property.

Use of the lower ground floor as a living area has been legalised which means that purchasers can opt to use the space for up to three extra bedrooms with a second bathroom, in addition to the two or three bedrooms on which the design of the villa is based.

“It makes a lot of sense to locate bedrooms on the lower ground floor because that is the coolest part of the villa during Crete’s hot summer months,” says Said.

Each villa occupies an individual plot of up to half an acre planted with 30 olive and fruit trees. Owners who harvest the olives on their plots can produce their own olive oil by having them pressed and bottled by the local co-operative in Vamos.

Prices of the properties still available at Litsarda Villas start at €269,900 for a two-bedroom villa with a floor area of 127 square metres, including a self-contained lower ground floor with the potential to create three additional bedrooms. The properties are supplied fully furnished and equipped, so prices include everything from beds to bottle-openers.

For more details call Caversham-Barnes on 0118 9483202 or visit the company’s new-look website launched this month at www.caversham-barnes.com. It incorporates an electronic version of a new 16-page brochure which can be viewed at http://caversham-barnes.com/pdf/Caversham-Barnes-Brochure.pdf

© Stewart Andersen and Stewart Andersen’s Property Blog, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Stewart Andersen and Stewart Andersen’s Property Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.