OWNERS OF holiday homes on Costa del Sol are grateful for the fashion for nuptials in the sun. As previously regular rentals are reduced in recent months and as the recession bites into Spanish tourism, Irish weddings have become a source of necessary income for property owners.

Although the rentals are for the odd week or so, wedding guests make a holiday of their visit – and are helping owners hold onto their homes in the sun. With many owners already cash-strapped, Spanish banks are in no mood for excuses and have taken a severe attitude to defaulting mortgages.

According to some reports it’s “two strikes and you’re out” – as banks are instantly putting on the market properties whose re-payments are in arrears by two monthly instalments. Such repossessions are not helping the market, only adding to the glut of stock which has lowered prices.

It’s the same story as here – those with sufficient cash can get bargains. Hence the welcome for guests at Irish weddings, who have the pick of properties to rent. One estimate puts the number of visitor weddings at around 20 a week, divided along the hotspots of Marbella, Fuengirola, San Pedro, Porto Banus, Nerja and Alicante.

At around, say, 100 guests per wedding, it amounts to crucial rental income for ex-pat owners – enough maybe to keep the property in the family in these hard times.