Spain is enthusiastically going green, with regulations for new-build property and developers keen to go above and beyond to give buyers a clean conscience.

It’s only the palest hue at the moment, but there are signs that the Costa Blanca is being tinged with green. Ecological awareness is big news in Britain, of course, and new homes throughout the United Kingdom are packed full of energy-saving and environment-conscious devices.

Spain has lagged behind on these issues, but recent events have focused Mediterranean minds. Firstly there was the Greenpeace report which provided illustrations of how drastically different the Spanish landscape could become if global warming continues apace. And hot on its heels, the United Nations summit on climate change in Valencia made so many headlines across the country that Spanish people could no longer avoid the issue.

The idea of the Costa Blanca, with its tens of thousands of apartments and townhouses springing up every year, leading the way on environmental issues needs a bit of digesting, but some of the more savvy developers have seen the green light and are offering the option of environmentally-conscious measures in new properties. A few are even including them as standard.

Not surprisingly, the British buyer in Spain is leading the way in opting for ‘green’ houses.

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Text by Jenny Fowler.

Images by Charles Sterling.