James Stewart does not talk like a man worried about property market problems. "In the past six months, we've had two €7m sales, one to an Englishman and one to a Gibraltarian. There's also been a €5.5m sale to an Englishman and a €5m one to a Russian. Prices have softened at all parts of the market, sales take much longer and deals are more difficult to close - but business is still being done," he says.

Stewart is an estate agent in Savills' Costa del Sol office, in the heart of southern Spain's tourist belt. According to some tabloid headlines, this area has become a no-go zone for second home buyers. But the reality is not quite so bleak.