Seasonal housing ratio in Spanish municipalities with population over 2.000 in 2011

San Javier, in the Murcia region, is the Spanish municipality with the higher seasonal housing ratio. In a grand total of 39.554 housing units, in 2011 up to 23.365 were counted as seasonal. In fact, along most of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, out of the large metropolitan areas, it would be difficult (were it not by the census bureau rules) to tell which homes are vacant and which are seasonal; taking into account the travelling habits and the personal life paths of many north Europeans living in the area for long periods during the year, the idea of permanent residence itself could be a little fuzzy.

Seasonal housing ratio in French communeswith population over 2.000 in 2009

In France the municipality over 20.000 with the highest share of seasonal housing is Agde (population 24.000), which has 44.311 housing units overall, of which 30.606 (69%) are seasonal. Again a summer holidays area, with dynamics somehow similar to those in San Javier, but for a relevant difference: the large seaside resort of Cap d’Agde, part of the large regional planning for the tourism development of the Languedoc Coast, began in the 1960s. Tourism activity is concentrated in that resort.