The Spanish Market

Spain, like in many other European countries, is seeing a real drive in the retail real estate market. There are constant developments and investments across the industry demonstrating the strength of the market. International shopping centers are becoming progressively more exciting and fast paced; landlords are challenged to keep up with the rising competition and pressured to uphold a strong brand image by quickly reacting to the new trends which are being driven by the increasingly demanding consumer.

Cushman and Wakefield’s latest ‘snapshot’ of the Spanish retail market is mostly positive, showing high occupier demand, especially in prime locations such as; Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville. The predicted growth for the rest of the year looks strong with 340,000 sq m of new retail space expected to open which will include; 3 new shopping centres, 3 retail parks, 1 factory outlet centre and 1 shopping centre extension.

Savills have also reported that many factors in relation to Spanish retail are on an upward trend. Consumer confidence has increased consistently year on year since 2012 resulting in retail sales, footfall and manufacturing growing simultaneously. This positive growth in the market is really driving investor demand in retail property.

In response to the growing consumer spend, Lidl has released their plans to invest €350 million in the creation of 40 new stores! This demonstrates the real opportunity retailers have to react to the increasingly confident Spanish consumer.

The European retail park investor, Mitiska REIM, have acquired; Portal Mediterraneo and are making noise of more investments to follow in the Spanish retail market. Luc Geuten, executive chairman, has said: “Both Spain and Germany are key markets for us because they offer attractive growth opportunities for the development of new retail parks”. And it’s not just Mitiska REIM that are reacting to the growth opportunities, investments in Spanish malls are rocketing and are expected to reach record levels. The biggest acquisition this year is by Deutsche Asset Management with the Diagonal Mar shopping center in Barcelona. Deutsche Asset Management intent to invest over €30 million in the scheme in development and refurbishment projects which will dramatically enhance the value of the asset.

The Spanish shopping center market is extremely buoyant and looking strong going into Q4 and beyond. We are working with some leading centers to assist in finding the right talent to fully utilise the opportunities and drive schemes forward.

To see our latest roles click here!

Katrina Whitehead, Marketing Executive, Foundation Recruitment