A new report out last week from Spain's property registrars has shown that despite an decrease in numbers of over 60% in the last three years, the British were still the largest purchasers of property in Spain in 2010.

The report went on to show that over 4,600 British buyers are registered their Spanish house purchase deeds in 2010, down from over 12,000 in 2008. The figures become even more dramatic when compared with 2006, when demand for property in Spain was at an all-time high, and over 23,000 properties were bought by British buyers over the 12 months.

But despite the downturn, British buyers still represented the largest group of Spanish property buyers from overseas, with 23% of all foreign property purchases in Spain. The second largest nationality were the French, who purchased just over 1,600 properties in Spain in 2010.

Despite the decreasing number of British buyers, the good news for the Spanish property market is that demand is now more diversify than ever, with buyers coming from much wider spectrum of countries than ever before.