The Liga BBVA is lucky enough to have some of the greatest footballers in the world gracing its pitches every week. There’s no doubt that, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and the stupendously talented Lionel Messi, the Spanish league will always stand as a highly reputable organisation for fans and footballers alike.

A number of talented footballers arrive on Spanish shores every year in the hope of furthering their careers and finally reaching their full sporting potential. In addition, many young players who are born and bred on pitches from Catalonia to southern Spain will try and break through to the first team.

Spanish football fans are lucky enough to see bright, young talent proudly sporting their teams’ colours every year. Here are four players we think will shine in the 2014/15 season, having either arrived from overseas or having broken through to their respective first team.

Aymeric Laporte

Athletic Bilbao had an outstanding season last year and it was widely related to the performances of some of their younger stars. Aymeric Laporte was a stalwart in the defensive midfield position for Athletic and impressed many at the tender age of 20.

Carlos Gurpegi must have been delighted to witness such talent alongside him for the vast majority of the season. The partnership between Gurpegi and Laporte contributed to Athletic’s qualification for the Champions League, as well as an eye-catching string of astute defensive performances.

Laporte is capable of providing a threat at set pieces as well, so don’t be surprised to see him provide between 5-10 goals this season. There are plenty of talented French defenders around at the moment, including Raphael Varane, so plenty will have their eyes on this talented young player before January.

Inigo Martinez

Martinez is one of the more experienced players in our selected four. At the age of 23, he established himself as a first team regular last season for Real Sociedad and has already become one of the world’s most notable defenders.

Sociedad are known for their ability to assist the development of young Spanish footballers and Martinez is no exception. He possesses many traits that are related to the famous Spanish style we have witnessed over the last decade.

He is very comfortable in possession and reads the game perfectly, with plenty of room to develop into an even better player. He is widely regarded as a potential successor to Carles Puyol at Barcelona.

Rafinha

Rafinha has arrived back at Barcelona this season and his talents have caught the eye of many throughout European football. With similar abilities and footballing styles to his brother Thiago Alcantara, he is certainly one that Barcelona will want to bring into their first team more often.

His performances last season for Celta Vigo were vital for os Celticos attacking threat. His close control and dribbling ability has made him a player that causes defences a vast amount of problems.

Brazil would have been delighted to hear that he’d switched allegiance back to his native Brazil after being available for Spain. He is a natural attacking midfield player with the ability to appear on the flanks when required.

Jese

A player many people are aware of already, Jese is likely to play a much more important role this season than he has done previously for Real Madrid. His style of play has been linked to that of Cristiano Ronaldo and his finishing prowess has made a lethal threat upfront for Los Blancos.

His appearances were restricted to the early stages of the Champions League at first and some would say there’s no better place to make a name for yourself. He bagged four goals in five televised appearances and he was quickly branded as a player who could potentially lead the line for Spain in the future, replacing the famous David Villa.

Unfortunately, the forward was several injured during a Champions League clash against Schalke, resulting in knee surgery in March. He will hopefully be back in action before the end of the year.

His quick feet, eye for goal and strong build are likely to cause defences in Spain serious problems this season. He may even be suited to a league that’s a bit more physical, such as the Premier League for instance, in the future.

Mike James has lived in various Spanish cities including Granada, Murcia and on the Costa del Sol and is a Malaga supporter. As a keen writer with a background in property, Mike combines his passions to write about his travels and interests for Panorama Properties, a Marbella based real estate agent

Many thanks for this featured article provided by Ade Holder of www.apexluxurycarhire.com

Geneva International Motorshow

When the Geneva International Motorshow (GIMS) comes round there are always headline grabbing cars, the automotive press is essentially stuff with 5 or 6 “big hitters” and often this means some cars don’t get the coverage. Often these cars are not the ones built for speed but perhaps are built for out and out luxury, they might be odd but not quite odd enough to cause a stir or they might genuinely just not appeal to the audience. This year is no exception, the cars making the top slot in 2015 are the Ferrari 488 GTB, The Aston Martin Vulcan, the track only McClaren P1 and the Honda NSX to name just 4. But there are a few other rather interesting carson the stands this year…there are also some very dull ones!

The Luxurious

Maybach has always been a name that was synonymous with luxury, for many people the name means nothing at all and that just goes to cement the point. Unless you know cars or you are very rich indeed, Maybach will never play a part in your driving life. The new Pullman S600 is certainly not breaking out into new markets, it is every bit as decadent as you would imagine. For many years now Mercedes have always had one very long and very special car in their range for the extremely powerful or the extremely rich…normally both. This hidden and rarely seen beast has carried the Pullman name since 1964 and the tradition has been maintained in this new Maybach-Mercedes Pullman S600.

The stats are impressive even if you don’t consider the size of the car. 0-60 is done in just 7 seconds, the 6 litre V12 kicks out a thumping 523 bhp and the S600 can keep speeding forward up to 155 mph which is likely to be a limited figure as always with Mercedes. The car is big enough to have 2+2 seats facing each other, optional body armour and enough waft to knock a fleet of Rolls Royce’s onto their roofs. A large group of 2015 S600s are probably all gathering somewhere in Russia to throw themselves into the Baltic Sea now this new longer, and more luxurious 2016 model has arrived, especially now they know the new model is likely to be built by the chaps at Brabus!

The Stupidly Luxurious

If a stretch bomb proof v12 dictator mobile wasn’t quite luxurious enough then perhaps you might like to step into an interior the likes of which no one has ever seen before. The Roll Royce Serenity offers the most opulent silk and wood interior anyone could imagine. The feelings the name conjures up soon disappear when you consider the price of this “one off” experiment in excess. The theme of the Serenity is Silk, and lots of it, the Rolls CEO wanted to celebrate the fact silk has long been a mark of luxury and elegance.

The material was smoked? Yes smoked and hand dyed in China, then hand painted for 600 hours with crimson blossoms. The Cherrywood used in the car is also smoked, oddly, and also cross-banded with Bamboo and pearl inlays. From the outside it looks as normal as a Phantom can look but it turns out the paint is made from Mother of Pearl and is the most expensive the firm have ever made, not only that but it went on in 3 coats and took a mammoth 12 hours of hand polishing to bring it up to the desired lustre.

Some of these trim ideas might appear in product Rollers but as it stands the Serenity is a one off, no one seems to discuss if it’s actually on sale or how much it is but if you have to ask…you really really can’t afford it.

The Odd

As the world, well some of it, holds it’s breath for what is no doubt going to be an ugly mess of a Rolls Royce SUV our friends over at Aston Martin decided to throw a cross over into the mix and see what we all thought. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the Aston Martin DBX.

We all understand the manufacturers have to be prepared to diversify these days and the luxury car market is demanding high riding 4×4 cars but I think someone should have let Aston know they really didn’t have to join in. First of all this is only a concept so there is still lots of room for changes but according to Aston very little will change apart from a raising of the roof line and some extra doors. The other interesting thought here is that it will be all-electric, the idea is to off-set some of the somewhat less environmentally friendly cars the marque produces, Vulcan…I am looking at you! It is hailed as a GT cross-over, these means it will be a bit fast and capable of going over speed bumps but will fail to scare with speed or off road fun. The word family is being banded around, and to that end I can see it working but without a proper electric infrastructure family days out might have to be rather short!

The insane

OK so this one did get quite a lot of press but it is still not getting the same level as the Ferrari and friends; The Koenigsegg Regera is quite simply a luxurious lump of lunacy that packs some of the most maddening stats I have ever seen. Mr Koenigsegg himself claims the only thing that can beat his latest offering is another Regera and in a world of P1’s, 918’s and La Ferrari’s that is quite a claim. Let us begin with the power unit, well part of it, the 5.0 litre twin turbo v8 will push out a piffling 1100bhp…direct to the rear wheels! To make sure this car is not lacking in power there are 2 electric motors pushing another 700 bhp to, you guessed it, the rear wheels! There is no gearbox, but no awful CVT either, it uses some technically bonkers coupling system to deliver the power and that is where it really gets fun.

The stats; The 0-60 is a bit irrelevant when you look at the bigger numbers but it can do it in 2.7 seconds, they say it could do it faster but there simply isn’t enough traction, or friction available in known physics! The real number for me is the 0-186mph, this takes just 12 seconds, I have tested cars that have taken over 15 seconds to hit 60 and they were new cars! It will top out at 255 mph which is suspect is a limited figure, so far 2 have already been sold even though its not finished yet and the other 78 that will be made will undoubtedly find homes very swiftly. The Regera is truly an insane, luxurious and simply wonderful car. Well done Christian Von Koenigsegg you have just made something very special indeed.

As always there will be more mad, wafting and exciting cars next year, but how they will top this year’s crop is certainly something to think about.