Tag: Valdebebas

Baraka Group Agrees To Buy Edificio España For c. €265M

20 July 2016 – Expansión

The Baraka group, controlled by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, has reached an agreement with the Chinese group Dalian Wanda to acquire Edificio España in Madrid, according to reports by the El Mundo newspaper.

The holding company is finalising the details of the operation, which is expected to be completed after the summer. Casanova’s offer, which is understood to amount to around €265 million, reportedly exceeded the bids made by the other interested parties, including the Chinese firm Fosun, Hemisferio and Platinum Estates.

According to reports, Baraka is undertaking a significant expansion program. It recently acquired a plot of land measuring more than 10 million sqm in Valdebebas (Madrid) for around €75 million.

The “for sale” sign went up over the iconic Edificio España building in January, when Wanda engaged the real estate consultancy JLL, which has not confirmed the operation, to find a buyer.

The Chinese group, controlled by Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China, opened the door to the possible sale of the building after discrepancies arose with the Town Hall of Madrid regarding the renovation of the building. Wanda’s plans, which included the construction of a luxury hotel, a shopping centre and homes, clashed with the demands of the Town Hall, which insisted on the conservation of the front and side façades of the building, as established by the law governing the protection of historical buildings. In any case, Wanda has maintained contact with Madrid’s Town Planning team, in parallel with the sales process, and last met with them on 14 June.

The Chinese group paid Banco Santander €265 million in June 2014 for the building. Now, it is on the verge of selling it for a similar amount.

Wanda’s future divestment of Edificio España comes shortly after the Asian holding company announced its purchase of the UCI Odeon group – which owns the largest cinema chain in Spain.

After several years trying to sell the British Odeon cinema chain to AMC Theatres, Wanda’s subsidiary in the USA, the private equity firm Terra Firma announced the deal on 12 July. The price of that transaction amounts to GBP 921 million (around €1,100 million), of which GBP 407 million relates to the debt held by UCI Odeon, which the buyer will take on.

One of UCI Odeon’s main assets, to be taken over by Dalian Wanda, is the chain Cinesa, which is the largest film company in Spain with 535 screens across the country. In total, the chain owns 2,236 screens in 242 cinemas in Spain, the UK, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Germany. (…).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Värde Creates A New RE Company: Dospuntos

21 June 2016 – Cinco Días

One of the real estate firms that suffered during the real estate crisis has been reborn under a new name and with new owners. Värde Partners has created a new property developer, Dospuntos, out of the San José Desarrollo Imobiliarios structure, which it acquired from the San José Group last year. The US fund has an ambitious plan to turn the company into one of the major players in the sector as the incipient recovery starts to heat up.

“Värde and the rest of our shareholders believe in the recovery of Spain and in the growth of the real estate sector”, said Javier Eguidazu (pictured above), CEO of Dospuntos, who joined the firm in September from the Valdebebas urban development in Madrid. According to the Director, Värde and its partners paid more than €1,000 million to purchase the real estate company from San José, basically the amount equivalent to the value of its debt, and the debt clock was reset when the agreement was signed.

The company now owns land from the former subsidiary of San José, as well as from Várde, which was a dynamic and discrete purchaser of land during the recession in Spain. “We now have 800,000 sqm of land, on which we will build 7,000 homes”, said Eguidazu. “Värde is a very active operator in the market and is always studying deals. It is our majority shareholder, but that does not mean that it constructs all of its developments through our entity, nevertheless, it is likely that it will”, said the Director.

The major shareholder of this new real estate company is the US fund, with a stake of more than 50%; it manages assets worth more than €10,000 million all over the world. Värde has been particularly active in Spain in recent years, with the acquisition of Popular’s credit card bsiness, as well as half of the real estate firm Aliseda, from the same bank, in an operation that it entered into together with the fund Kennedy Wilson. Moreover, it is currently holding negotiations to acquire a stake in Procisa’s office business.

Värde (which means “value” in Swedish) is accompanied in its shareholder capacity in Dospuntos by the funds Marathon and Attestor, as well as banks such as Bank of America and Barclays.

The shareholders plan to invest €2,000 million between 2016 and 2012, at an average rate of €400 million per annum, of which €800 million will be allocated to continuing to acquire land on which to build homes. Over the long term, 30% or 40% of the company’s resources will come from bank financing. “Our aim is to create the best land bank in the country and to be the most profitable property developer in Spain”, said Eguidazu. The firm has already invested €100 million in land and another €55 million launching developments. (…).

The new property developer plans to put its first 1,300 homes up for sale in 2018, given that it is already starting to construct its first properties in Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla and A Coruña. Its other target locations include Pamplona, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Sevilla, Barcelona and Tenerife. From 2019, it plans to reach a cruising speed of 2,000 homes per year on average. By then, the company also expects to be generating revenues of between €500 million and €600 million.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Supply Of New Homes In Madrid Increases By 68%

6 May 2016 – Knight Frank

We are talking about a changing trend in the new build residential market in Madrid. The projected supply is increasing significantly – up to 68% more construction permits were granted in 2015, the third consecutive year of increases – but that volume is still insufficient to satisfy demand. This is the main finding from the latest report about new-builds from the real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank.

Currently, the municipality of Madrid has a stock of around 3,000 new homes. 30% are located inside the M-30 (ring road), where supply is limited due to the shortage of land. The area between the M-30 and M-40 ring roads is home to 20% of the supply, whilst the remaining 50% is located, for the most part, in the PAUs.

The average absorption rate of the product supplied over the last year has been 37%. Most of this absorption has happened in the PAUs (12%), which indicates very reasonable levels in areas that are continuing to establish themselves.

According to Ernesto Tarazona, Managing Partner for Residential and Land at Knight Frank, “the lack of stock, together with the increase in demand has resulted in the sale of new build homes that have been on the market for years”.

In 2015, we saw how auto-promotion and cooperative activity decreased by 8%, in favour of traditional property developers. “Although it is a small percentage, the future trend points to a continuation of the positive recovery, to the extent that access for financing for property developers is more flexible”, said Tarazona.

The number of new build transactions increased by 15% with respect to the previous year. 73% of transactions were bought off plan and the remaining 27% were turn-key projects.

By area, the PAUs lead in terms of demand, with 48% and there, Valdebebas (20%) and the Ensanche de Vallecas (10%) stand out, in part due to the concentration of more affordable supply. The area inside the M-30 ring road comes next in the ranking, accounting for 23% of demand. There, the neighbourhoods of Tetuán (6%), Centro (4%) and Chamberí (4%) are the most popular. Finally, the area between the M-30 and the M-40 receives 18% of demand and the area beyond the M-40 accounts for 11%.

Original story: Knight Frank

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat Inmobiliaria Invests €44M In New Homes In Valdebebas

19 April 2016 – Expansión

The land that will house the new homes was acquired from Grupo Villar Mir.

Habitat Inmobiliaria will invest €44 million in a new housing development in Madrid, which will involve the construction of 115 luxury homes and will be built on land in Valdebebas, purchased from Inmobiliaria Espacio, a Grupo Villar Mir company.

The new development forms part of the strategic plan launched by the real estate company, which is currently controlled by a group of funds, after it emerged from recent bankruptcy proceedings.

It will be the fifth development launched by Habitat following the clean up and restructuring process that it has undergone in recent years. Within the last few months, the company returned to the property developer business with the launch of four projects that include almost 400 new homes, two of which are in Madrid, one in Cornellá (Barcelona) and one in Málaga.

In terms of the development that it is beginning now, it will be constructed on two plots of land purchased from Inmobiliaria Espacio, with a combined surface area of 18,091 m2, located in Valdebebas, a new area of development in the capital.

The total investment of €44 million announced by Habitat covers both the purchase of the land and the subsequent construction of the homes.

Specifically, the development will involve the construction of 115 3-bed and 4-bed luxury homes, measuring around 140 m2, as well as eight “loft-offices”, six retail outlets, 115 storerooms and 272 parking spaces. Habitat hopes to complete the construction of the homes by the end of 2018.

The company led by Bruno Figueras (pictured above) explains that these projects form part of the company’s strategy to become “one of the most important property developers in the country”.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Speculation Returns To The Market For Land In Madrid & Along The Coast

11 April 2016 – ABC

During the years of the crisis, investors regarded land as one of the least attractive assets. In fact, in the face of scarce demand and the paralysis in the construction sector, land values fell to historic lows. (…).

Sales of urban land, the substratum of real estate developments, are growing again after nine years of consecutive decreases. And they are doing so at a healthy – and on occasion, vertiginous – rate in certain areas of the country where the housing market has already started its recovery, such as the more illustrious areas of major cities, including the north of Madrid and established areas along the coast (Málaga, Palma de Mallorca and the Canary Islands). So much so that a warning is now spreading amongst analysts and agents in the sector: the scarcity of developable land – which does not require land planning approval – in certain areas, and renewed interest from investors is generating a new “overheating” in the price of transactions, something not seen since the burst of the real estate bubble.

The latest “Market Trends” report prepared by Solvia, the real estate arm of Banco Sabadell, warns that the expectation of a strong recovery in value is incubating operations of a speculative nature. “The fact that the supply of well-located land is scarce in areas with demand, that there is widespread liquidity in the market and that there is fierce competition to acquire assets, means that land purchases are being made for speculative purposes, in certain specific cases, for subsequent resale at significantly higher prices”.

In this sense, the study, which does not cite who is behind such transactions, highlights the cases of the Madrilenian neighbourhoods of Valdebebas and Montecarmelo. In the case of the latter, the price of land has risen by between 40% and 60% to €2,400/m2.

Montecarmelo and Valdebebas

Fernando Rodríguez de Acuña, Director General of Operations at the consultancy firm RR de Acuña y Asociados distinguishes between three players in the race for land: the financial entities and large investors, who have put their assets up for sale “in stages” and the small and medium-sized funds, which are more prone to speculative operations given that they seek high short-term yields. The confluence of these players has given rise to a situation in which both the activity and value of these real estate assets have increased significantly, if we exclude the statistical effect of operations carried out by financial entities foreclosing unpaid debt. Thus, the number of transactions carried out by operators in the sector (developers, funds and cooperatives) increased by 37% in 2015 compared with the year before and by 60% in terms of transaction volume. (…).

According to the experts, two operations in particular have caused prices in the land market in the Spanish capital to sky-rocket: firstly, the sale of 14 plots containing more than 93,000 m2 of buildable space, by the Valdebebas Compensation Board to the property developer Pryconsa for more than €55 million and secondly, the acquisition of a plot of land in Montecarmelo by Cogesa, which belongs to the Dragados group, for more than €20 million. (…).

Original story: ABC (by Luis M. Ontoso)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Valdebebas: Supreme Court Ruling Undermines Construction Plans

28 March 2016 – El Confidencial

Madrid’s High Court of Justice (TSJM) has dealt another fatal blow to the PAU real estate developments of Ciudad Aeroportuaria and Parque Valdebebas, the area in the north of the capital, where around 12,000 homes are expected to be built. According to a ruling on 4 March, the Administrative Litigation Division has partially accepted the appeal filed by the Association for Responsible Urban Development and has declared null and void the Special Land Sub-division Plan.

The decision by the First Section of the TSJM’s Administrative Litigation Division, chaired by Francisco Javier Canabal, overthrows the approval agreed by the Town Hall of Madrid on 30 October 2014, which modified the detailed plan APE 16.11 for the Ciudad Aeroportuaria and Parque Valdebebas. Although the Town Hall, now chaired by Manuela Carmena, the Community of Madrid, led by Cristina Cifuentes, and the Valdebebas Compensation Board called for the dismissal of the appeal presented in February 2015, the fact is that the ruling calls into question the urban development once again even though it had already been approved by the various administrations.

The plaintiffs allege that the Special Plan, dated 30 October 2014, modified the buildability of the area to include a large shopping centre in the development, with the allocation of space amounting to 145,794 m2 and an annex to it, measuring 36,488 m2 for other tertiary use. The Court emphasised that the Association “was right” when it said that this plan “modifies the structural organisation”, since land transformation operations inherently require an appropriate relationship between public space and collective amenities, and population density. (…).

The Town Hall and Community of Madrid must now decide whether to submit an appeal against this decision, a position that is difficult to adopt given that the new heads of Ahora Madrid and the PP in the aforementioned institutions have inherited a lawsuit fought by their predecessors, Ana Botella and Ignacio González. Moreover, they should take into account that in May the resolution is expected of a previous appeal against improprieties conducted by the Town Hall of Madrid, with the correction of the General Urban Plan (PGOU) approved in August 2013, an emergency action through which the Town Hall corrected the legality of Valdebebas, which had been suspended months earlier, following a ruling issued by the Supreme Court in September 2012.

Pryconsa, in question

But, the factor that calls everything into question, above all, are the plans of Pryconsa, which in December 2015, purchased 14 plots of land from the Valdebebas Compensation Board for €56.7 million. It acquired 92,000 m2 of buildable land, where it plans to build between 900 and 1,000 social housing properties (VPPL). Pryconsa paid just over approximately €600/m2 for the land, a price that is significantly below the €800/m2 that the Compensation Board obtained for one of the VPPL plots that it put up for auction after the summer and which was sold to the cooperative Esta Gestión 100, backed by the architect Enrique Toboada.

That operation ate up the last residential land assets owned by the Compensation Board and practically used up all of the land allocated to social housing in this urban development, given that now less than 5,000 m2 of land remains available. Moreover, following the transaction, only one third of the residential land is available in this area. The plots awarded are located next to one of the main squares in the new neighbourhood, close to the future shopping centre and JOYFE school, whose land also formed part of the assets sold by the Compensation Board, and where construction work is expected to begin soon.

Following the TSJM’s decision, all of these plans have been thrown back up in the air, a real setback for the developers that have bought land in this area of Madrid, located to the south of La Moraleja neighbourhood and to the north of the IFEMA exhibition grounds.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Land Prices In Madrid & Barcelona Have Doubled Since 2012

24 February 2016 – Real Estate Press

The price of urban land in Madrid and Barcelona has more than doubled since the lows of 2012 and is now threatening the recovery of the real estate sector, as property developers are being forced to put homes on the market at prices that consumers are unable to afford.

Domestic property developers are being the most active in denouncing the increase in land prices, driven by the scarcity of urban plots and the difficulties involved in obtaining licences for new developments.

In the case of Valdebebas, a development located 21 kilometres from the centre of Madrid, the ‘repercussion value’ per m2 has increased from €700/m2 at the beginning of 2014 to €1,200/m2 last year, with values now reaching €1,600/m2. “Land prices are increasing at an alarming rate in Madrid and Barcelona”.

According to the real estate consultancy firm Irea, the volume of land purchases tripled last year to reach €929 million (representing 7% of total real estate investment). According to the report, the majority of transactions involved plots of land assigned for development, which accounted for €706 million of the investment, whereby multiplying the figure recorded in 2014 by 7x.

Domestic investors accounted for just 1% of this investment, with real estate companies, many linked to international funds, accounting for 43%. Nevertheless, the bulk of the funds were direct investments by funds (38%) and Socimis (18%), which together invested €523 million.

The largest land purchase operations last year were seen in Barcelona and Madrid. In Cataluña, Neinor Homes, the property developer controlled by the fund Lone Star, purchased land worth €200 million, where it plans to construct 1,500 homes. Moreover, Vía Celere invested €78 million in the development of homes in Barcelona (Magòria and El Fòrum) as part of a joint venture with the fund Chenavari. Meanwhile, Corp acquired land in Sant Boi, Arenys de Mar and Molins de Rei to construct 850 homes. In Madrid, the US fund Castlelake bought a batch of four plots of land for residential use in Boadilla del Monte from Sareb, and Grupo Lar and Pimco joined forces to buy a plot of land in the centre of Madrid for €120 million.

The recovery of land prices is being driven by a rise in prices and sales in the wider real estate market, and has led the primary owners of land, namely Sareb and the financial institutions, to reduce their land sales and opt for direct development instead. Sareb will begin work on 13 housing developments imminently, ten of which will be constructed by Solvia, the real estate arm of Banco Sabadell, one of the most active banks in the development segment, with more than one thousand homes under construction across Spain.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pryconsa Buys 14 Plots In Valdebebas For €56.7M

23 December 2015 – El Confidencial

With just one week to go until year end, Madrid has witnessed one of the largest land operations ever seen in the capital. The veteran Madrilenian property developer, Pryconsa, has acquired 14 plots of land from the Valdebebas Compensation Board for €56.7 million, according to a statement by the Board itself. The plots have a buildable surface area of 92,000 m2 and between 900 and 1,000 social housing properties (VPPL) will be constructed there.

Pryconsa has paid approximately €600/m2 for the land, a price that is significantly below the price received by the Compensation Board (€800/m2) for one of the VPPL plots it put up for auction after the summer and which was awarded to the cooperative Esta Gestión 100, which is backed by the architect Enrique Taboada.

“Given that we are selling such a large batch of plots, it is normal to offer the buyer a discount on the price”, says Hernando de Soto, the Director of Business Development at the Valdebebas Compensation Board. “Half of the plots will be transferred in January and the other half will be transferred in a year’s time”. (…).

This operation involves the sale of the final residential land assets owned by the Compensation Board and uses up practically all of the land allocated to social housing in this urban development, since less than 5,000 m2 is left now. Moreover, following this transaction, only one third of the residential land in this area will remain available. The awarded plots are located next to one of the main squares in the new neighbourhood, alongside the planned shopping centre and JOYFE school, which will be built on land that also forms part of the Compensation Board’s assets and where construction is expected to start soon.

The Madrilenian property developer is one of the great survivors of the real estate crisis and is, moreover, one of the most solvent and least indebted companies in the sector. This position has enabled it to take on what is undoubtedly the largest land operation in recent years, using its own funds. (…).

Valdebebas, under the spotlight

Valdebebas is one of the most sought-after urban developments amongst managers, property developers and investment funds. In light of the scarcity of land in popular developments, such as Arroyo del Fresno, Montecarmelo, Sanchinarro and Las Tablas, this new neighbourhood in the North of Madrid, with its sizeable supply of land, has sparked a great deal of interest.

In fact, multiple land transactions have been closed in Valdebebas during the last year. At the beginning of September, for example, Amenabar Promociones Residenciales, another one of the most active players in recent years, submitted the highest bid for four of the residential use plots – private (unsubsidised) housing – in Parque Empresarial del Olivar, which had filed for bankruptcy. The developer acquired the plots of land for €45 million.

Another one of the plots was awarded to Premier España, which also recently acquired a plot for the construction of private (unsubsidised) housing from the Compensation Board. (…).

Valdebebas is an urban area measuring almost 11 million m2, located in the north east of the capital – between La Moraleja, el IFEMA, Sanchinarro and Barajas Terminal 4. (…). Land (covering a surface area of 1 million m2) is going to be developed there for use as offices and hotels, along with 13,500 homes.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Elena Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Campamento Delayed Until Mid-2016

23 September 2015 – El Confidencial

According to the popular proverb, Rome wasn’t built in a day. And Operación Campamento, a development that has already been delayed for more than a decade, may not be completely “clean” to be put up for auction until the middle of 2016. In other words, one of the most anticipated urban planning projects in the capital, whose expected sale was announced in style by the Ministry of Defence – which owns the land – through the real estate website Addmeet in April, will have to wait almost a year. And all because of the urban “paperwork”.

At the beginning of September, Pedro Morenés, from the Ministry of Defence, blamed the Town Hall of Madrid for the delay, as it “has to grant the licences for the project to go ahead. The Ministry of Defence has already gone to the Town Hall to ask for the permits”, he assured the Senate.

According to the experts consulted by El Confidencial, “although the pending urban planning procedures are simple, they will take time. And, in this case, we could be talking about months”. However, far from harming the Ministry of Defence, which expects to generate revenues of €80 million from the sale – as reflected in the State’s General Budget for 2016 – the delay may end up benefitting the central government department, given the significant level of interest the land has sparked amongst investors over the last year. At the beginning of July, the State Land Company (‘Sociedad Estatal de Suelo’ or Sepes) awarded the largest package of land in Madrid to date – measuring 120,000 m2, on which more than 1,200 social housing properties will be constructed – for €50 million.

On a smaller scale, but of no less importance for the purposes of measuring the temperature of this market, have been the on-going sales of land in Valdebebas, which has also witnessed this renewed buyer appetite at first hand, along with the slight “overheating” that is starting to be seen in some land purchases. Prices in this development bottomed out a few years ago at around €800/m2 and currently stand at around €1,100/m2, although some operations are being closed at higher prices.

The experts consulted calculate that Operación Campamento may be put on the market for between €200 million and €250 million, and that the urban planning delay may tip the balance towards an even higher figure. It is worth remembering that this development has a surface area of almost 1.5 million m2, of which 1.3 million m2 are buildable, and almost 11,000 homes (social housing and unsubsidised homes) may be constructed. (…).

In any case, the Town Hall insists that “the procedures that the Ministry of Defence says depend on the municipal institution, are being carried out within the appropriate timeframes” and they criticise the Ministry of Defence for trying to make the general public believe that the Town Hall is to blame for the delay to the Operación. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Elena Sanz and Paloma Esteban)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Strong Recovery In Madrid’s Market For New Homes

14 July 2015 – Cinco Días

The lack of new housing developments in Madrid in recent years means that the few blocks that have been built are being sold quickly, as the economic environment improves. So much so that the marketing company Foro Consultores has conducted the first comprehensive study of the new build segment, which not only estimates the size of the stock of new homes in the capital, it also calculates when that stock may be depleted if the current strong rate of sales continues.

The study, based on visits to all of the developments currently for sale and simulations of purchases or direct surveys at the sites, has focused on analysing the existing supply in new urban developments (Arroyo del Fresno, Montecarmelo, Las Tablas, Sanchinarro, Valdebebas, El Cañaveral, El Ensanche de Vallecas and Carabanchel), since those are the areas where the new builds are concentrated. Whole new buildings are the exception rather than the rule in the city centre and in the city’s more established neighbourhoods.

Foro Consultores begins its report by highlighting the number of new homes: currently the stock of new homes available for sale in Madrid amounts to 1,770, of which 781 are “free” and 989 are social housing (VPO) homes. That figure represents just 20% of the total number of buildings that have started to be built since 2010. Moreover, we are talking about very small numbers if we take into account that the study has analysed 102 developments in total, containing 4,001 “free” homes and 3,861 social housing homes, almost 8,000 homes, which came onto the market in recent years as turnkey properties or homes sold off-plan.

4.1 homes sold per development per month

The uptake of homes by region is not uniform. More than half of the new homes built in El Cañaveral, in the south of the city – the last development to get underway – have not yet been sold. Meanwhile, in other new neighbourhoods, such as Montecarmelo, less than 5% of the new homes or those under construction remain unsold. Furthermore, in Ensanche de Vallecas in 2007, there were almost 3,000 unsubsidised new homes for sale, but now there are just 166 left.

As well as the scarcity of supply due to the construction paralysis in recent years, one of the keys that explains the fast absorption of the stock is the acceleration in the rate of sales in recent months. Foro Consultores estimates that if no new developments come onto the market, then the excess would be depleted in just six months, at the current sales rate of 4.1 homes per development per month.

The study highlights that these 4.1 homes sold (per development per month) represents the sale of 5.3% of developments every 30 days, an average rhythm that has not been seen since 2003, and for unsubsidised housing, that figure is almost 5 homes per development per month, whereas during the crisis, it never exceeded one unit per month.

The study also shows that 79% of the developments on the market were started between 2010 and 2015, and of those 77% have already been sold.

In terms of prices, the report also highlights that in certain developments in El Cañaveral, the price of unsubsidised homes is lower than the price of VPO homes, which is not very typical in Madrid. “This shows that the social housing pricing model is out of synch with the market and that the promoters of unsubsidised homes have adapted better to the changes in conditions”, explained Foro Consultores.

In the areas analysed, the absolute prices of unsubsidised homes ranges between €77,000 and €657,000, with an average price of €273,021. Meanwhile, the prices of VPO homes range between €38,474 and €382,652, with an average price of €150,721.

Finally, the study concludes that by type of home, three-bedroom houses are in most demand. Meanwhile, the construction of studios and small flats, which were so fashionable during the boom, is now reducing.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake