Latin American money is pouring into Spain
To get a sense of how Madrid is changing, head out for dinner in the leafy Salamanca neighbourhood. Restaurants are opening at 8pm – unusually early for the Spanish capital – and you might even find yourself with a time slot for your table. Why? Bloomberg reports that new arrivals from Latin America, particularly Mexico, are behind a 6 per cent increase in luxury property prices last year and a boom in fine dining reservations. Left-leaning governments across Latin America mean the region’s wealthy are sending the most money abroad for a decade. Much still goes to Miami, but more is crossing the Atlantic to Spain, where $1 million can buy 106 square metres, compared with 43 in Paris and 70 in Berlin. “First, they come almost as tourists… then they develop an appetite for real estate,” said Victor Matarranz, head of wealth management at Banco Santander. Next? Business opportunities, he says.