Er, am I being utterly ignorant when I say "Weren't the expat communities in Spain set up by and primarily occupied by criminals who wanted to go on the lam" (I really like this new phrase I learned a few weeks ago, turns up everywhere now) and wanted somewhere that the British police wouldn't be bothered to persue them?
That's certainly what I heard about them every single time they're mentioned. S'why you have to be especially careful when buying property there because you never know if the person selling you the property is even the legal owner, or rather some fraudster...