Granada, Spain attracts visitors from around the world. The city is steeped in history and has three World Heritage sites. ©Nito; Fotolia.com

Steeped in history, Granada, Spain attracts visitors from around the world. Its international airport has flights from most major European cities, and it’s within a two-hour flight of northern Europe’s major population centers.

This could just be the perfect location. There’s culture. Three World Heritage sites, including the exquisite Moorish palace of the Alhambra, are just the headline draws.

Take a walk around the medieval quarter and you’ll hear flamenco guitarists practicing outside white-washed cave homes, as old as the city itself. Those nearby snow-covered mountains you can see from the city hide a wealth of ancient villages. There’s skiing, world-class golf, and the beaches of the coast aren’t far off.

But times are tough in Spain. Half her youth are unemployed. Her economy, banks, and real estate industry are in tatters. They built too many homes—properties that nobody would ever want. Speculators bet on rising prices and snapped them up.

Then, in 2007, the music stopped. And in 2008 things really ground to a halt. That’s why there’s opportunity.

Estimates put the total of Spain’s excess supply and distressed inventory as high as two million units. Much of it—50% is a reasonable guess—is along the touristy Costas. Until now, there has been no genuine effort to sell this inventory. But finally the banks are doing deals.

I’ve been following this market for the past three years. I haven’t seen a deal I liked since late 2009. The deals just haven’t been good enough to get my attention. Because Granada didn’t see the same development as other parts of Spain, this also means that distressed, completed condos in the right part of town are almost non-existent.

But now we can get some appealing deals on bank-foreclosed real estate in Granada.

This part of Spain has intrinsic value that will always hold appeal. And what development there has been in Granada is tasteful.

Down on the coast there are also deals to be done. And buyers from Norway and Germany are back in force. Not the frenzy there was eight years ago, but a nice home at the right price will sell fast. Bank-foreclosed condos sell at discounts of up to 64% from prices four years ago.

Editor’s note: For more on how Spain’s crisis could be your opportunity, including a specific property opportunity in Granada that you can act on right now, see the full article in the current issue of International Living magazine. You can subscribe here and get instant access to the June issue.