The Spanish capital appeals to very large international fortunes in search of exclusive goods. It is good for the economy, but not ideal for the local population which sees the prices of housing, already subject to high pressures, to skyrocket.
Published the 02/05/2025 16:50 Reading time: 3min
Madrid was classified as the most attractive city in the world by an international real estate agency. The Spanish capital in particular attracts many very rich Latin American families. People looking for a sublime foot to the ground sheltered from economic, social and political upheavals of their countries of origin. There is obviously the ease of language and cultural proximity. Then the Madrid region practices a policy of fiscal attractiveness, by lowering taxes.
Except that this policy can lead to a paradox. Daniel Sorando, doctor of sociology at the University of Zaragoza and author of First We Take Manhattan: Creative destruction of cities explain : “In Latin American cities, levels of insecurity are very high And children of the wealthiest families only move in armored cars, protected by armed bodyguards. This is not the case in Madrid. But by their arrival, they contribute to installing the same economic project which encourages these inequalities, and which, in the medium term can transform Madrid into a city so unequal that it generates the same type of drawbacks, social problems and health as those who have pushed them to flee their cities of origin “.
Madrid is not yet Caracas or Mexico, but it is true that inequality is stronger than in the rest of Spain, and social services, public health for example, are increasingly saturated.
The Salamanca district, for example, which begins north of the very beautiful park of the Retiro, is clearly the target of choice, with one or two other areas of the center or the northern periphery. But that is the direct effect and there are also indirect effects. “”According to an oil stain effect, districts contaminate others since they expel former inhabitants who must seek new districts where to liveexplains Daniel Sorando. There is undoubtedly a domino effect. From the most gentrified central districts to the most distant peripheries where displaced people add loneliness to their poverty: they lose the social relations on which their well-being depends.”
Double penalty, therefore, for the middle classes and the modest families of Madrid, expelled from the city center and disoriented far from their usual relations.
The government has multiplied the announcements in recent months. For example, the end of the Golden Visas. But the truth is that Latin American rarely need it, they can be naturalized Spanish in two years. There is also a very strong taxation of non -European foreigners who buy good. But it is only for those who do not reside in their new acquisition.
The big problem is the insufficient offer, in particular an affordable offer. The government’s last idea, 1.3 billion euros to build 15,000 prefabricated dwellings per year. It’s always taken, but we stay very far from the account. According to the Spanish Bank, 200,000 dwellings should be built each year to absorb demand.
