Half of Spain's real estate agents closed down in 2007.

This has the ring of urban myth, but the number is so huge it seems worth repeating: the API, the trade association for Spanish property agents (of which we are members), is reporting that 40,000 estate agents — half the estate agents in the country — closed down last year, in the wake of the slowdown in the market. As a result, it is believed that as many as 100,000 property agents lost their jobs last year.
Many of these "agencies" were likely speculators and “short term profit hunters,” who moved into the market hoping to catch the wave. Many of the agencies may have been nothing more than one person with a cell phone, said API group president Santiago Baena.
So, assuming Spain lost 40,000 estate agents last year - that means that there are still another 40,000 of them still in business. My guess is that there are fewer than 10,000 'real' estate agents and that 2008 will see more of the 'man with a cellphone' fade away - I certainly hope so.
There's another Spanish association of estate agents called GIPE. API and GIPE between them have 7,000 members. Assuming that some estate agents belong to both organisations, that probably represents a real 5,000 individual estate agents.
In Spain, in 2006, 1 million property transactions were recorded, yet the two largest Spanish property portals - Fotocasa and Idealista each only list 250,000 properties - largely the same ones.
Where are the other 750,000 properties? Personally, I think fewer than 2,000 estate agents advertise and actively promote properties for sale in Spain. They account for the majority of those 250,000 properties - the rest are still 'represented' by the 30,000 or so 'men with a cellphone'.
My point is that the estate agents that do advertise on the various websites also including Kyero and Think Spain are the cream of the crop - they're the ones actively trying to promote property and investing money to do so.
Does this mean that each and every one is honest and scrupulous? Definitely not - but they're light years ahead of the 30,000 who remain anonymous and have made no such investment or commitment.
The Spanish property market is unregulated and largely non-transparent. I think agents who voluntarily belong to a trade organisation and who actively promote properties, should be commended just because they have chosen not to operate at the lowest level possible.
If you're buying property abroad and are worried about being ripped off, ignore the 'men with cellphones'. You could do a lot worse than working with an agent who is investing in their business and who belongs to one of the trade organisations.
For the record, we at Ultimate Homes have always believed that there is a responsibility on the part of the real estate industry in Spain to set out clearly the procedures which apply to both clients and other agents, so that there are effective consumer safeguards in place. Also as an A.P.I. agent member (Colegio Oficial de Agentes de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria de Alicante No.0877), we belong to the Alicante Chamber of Real Estate Agents, regulated by the Spanish Government. There are many real estate agents in Spain but very few work within a regulated environment and in a legitimate manner.