It's very sad the state of the Spanish property market and the job losses which have taken place but no sadder than the hundreds or thousands of foreigners and Spanish alike who have been deceived and defrauded of the only money they had left and with which they were hoping to buy a house. The Spanish property market is known throughout Europe as being corrupt, dishonest and full of incompetents who describe themselves as being professionals. The construction industry was so greedy that over the past ten years, some developers were increasing their prices on a bi weekly basis - not being able to wait until the end of the month. As I see it, the industry got what it deserved and the only surprising thing about it was that it took so long. With virtually every newspaper in Europe knowing the situation with the purchase of Spanish property it is to be hoped that never again will the industry be in a position where it can exploit so many innocent people.

And who knows, if genuine change came about perhaps Spain would start to fall down the ranks of the world's most dishonest countries where currently it occupies the 22nd position.

I have to agree with John.
But it is not only to blame the building industry. Regional, but more important local authorities have been reluctant to keep illegal building practises under control. Fraud and corruption have almost has been the standard in lots of city halls.
And don't forget the buyers. Haven´t all these foreigners not stuck their head in the sand when eagerly buying property under conditions even the most naive should have raised eyebrows on?
Buyers have been all to eager to put their money in an industry know for its fraude cases and low standards.
The whole industry is rotten, no party excluded!
Hopefully the present slow down will bring some good now the ´sellers market´ turns into a ´buyers market´.