Retiro as the new central park

Large investment funds have been investing in buildings in Spain’s main cities for more than a decade in order to control the largest number of available housing and achieve the best profitability with increasingly less affordable rentals or vacation rentals.

However, as in the adventures of Asterix and Obelix, the Madrid neighborhood of Salamanca remained untouched by this investment fever… until millionaire investors from Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico or Peru arrived. Now, this neighborhood has become one of the home of millionaires around the world who see Madrid as the European Miami.

The most traditional “Central Park”At the end of the 19th century, José de Salamanca y Mayol envisioned a neighborhood where people from the capital’s bourgeois and wealthy society would come together. A century later, the Neoclassical-style buildings and large apartments that make up this neighborhood have become one of the big attractions for Latin American millionaires looking to invest in Europe.

These millionaires want to invest in the financial security that the euro offers against the volatile currencies of Venezuela, Colombia or Mexico. They see Madrid as an option for investing in luxury real estate that is far more affordable than other large European cities such as London, Paris or Rome. The Salamanca neighborhood, in addition to being one of the neighborhoods with the most luxury apartments in the capital, borders the Retiro Park, which in the eyes of these millionaires resembles New York’s Central Park.

200 meters, 3 bedrooms and furnishedSilvia and Cecilia Varela founded a real estate agency dedicated to making apartments available for this profile of investors and, as they say in an article newspaperTheir clients are looking for apartments of at least 200 square meters, with 3 bedrooms or more and preferably fully furnished. The priority is the Salamanca neighbourhood, although it also extends to surrounding areas such as Chambéry or Almagro.

If we take into account that the square meter of this area costs an average of 7,990 euros, the final bill quickly climbs above 2 million euros. The investment is worth it as the average rental price is around 2,000 euros per month according to real estate portals. idealist,

This high profitability means that, as the real estate agent says in the article newspaperThey have sold apartments worth 4 million euros via videoconferencing or WhatsApp that the customer has not even seen.

T4, Prado Museum and BernabéuIn contrast to what happened with big fund investors, Latin American millionaires looking for accommodation in Madrid want to live there at least a few days a year, supported by the temperate climate and the privileged communications that allow them to visit other places in the peninsula. Allows to easily.

Buyer’s profile of luxury apartments in MadridAs highlighted in of spainMillionaires investing in Madrid are middle-aged, have assets between 50 and 100 million euros, have companies outside Spain and earn a living from managing their assets.

More than just a place to settle, they see Madrid as a gateway to Europe from which they can travel to the Old Continent and close million-dollar deals from Madrid’s Golden Mile, as well as the wealth of resources the city offers. You can also enjoy cultural and sports facilities in anticipation of the Grand Final and the World Cup in 2030.

Call effect and “golden passport” to Europe.During the past decade, Madrid has been a favorite destination for Latin millionaires, who find the Spanish capital to have the same allure that Miami once had as an entry point to the United States. In this case, the pioneers were Venezuelan millionaires who, although they ran many of their businesses in their home country, had fled Nicolás Maduro’s policies or Colombia’s insecurity. According to data from the Madrid Municipal Register, about 7,633 of the 79,828 Venezuelans registered in the city live in the Salamanca district. Mexicans are the fourth largest international community in Madrid.

Investing in this type of luxury property, in addition to its profitability, allows it to become a key element when it comes to obtaining the so-called Golden Passport, with which the residence permit process can be accelerated by investing a minimum of 500,000 euros. Real estate property in spain. Again, this visa opens many doors when traveling and doing business in the EU region.

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Image | Ansar Naib

*An earlier version of this article was published in October 2023