Following almost four decades of post-war dictatorial rule under General Franco, the country became a model of free-market economics in the 80s and 90s, attracting thousands of wealthy Europeans drawn by the promise of affordable second homes in the warmth of the Spanish sun. Economic growth continued in the early 2000s, based largely on cheap credit and a burgeoning real state industry pushing for intensive construction projects around major cities and coastal areas. The culture of private home ownership, fostered during good economic times, was a seemingly achievable dream for many Spaniards. And yet, with the property market crash of 2008, many developers went bankrupt and banks sat on billions of euros of bad loans. The resulting downturn and dramatic rise in unemployment to an unprecedented 29% by April 2013 left Spain in a state of economic emergency. A striking legacy of the financial crisis is the sight of some 1.4 million empty homes and developments scattered across the country. Encouraged by cheap, long term loans from Spanish banks and building societies, construction firms could not complete the millions of square metres of promised housing projects. For many families, the effect was catastrophic, leaving them without the life savings ploughed into dream homes that were either unfinished or never built. The same was true of airports, train stations, football stadiums and cities themselves; all left abandoned to gather dust. Yet despite those millions of personal disasters, Spain seems addicted to continuing unsustainable construction. With increasing land value seen as a driver of economic recovery, developers are targeting unspoilt parts of the coast with a renewed intensity.