Like any big city in the world, in Barcelona there are quieter neighborhoodsothers in which cultural and leisure activities live in constant effervescence and, then, far from the madding crowd and prying eyes, they are the wealthiest neighborhoods. At least that’s how it was until not long ago.
Now the rich already They don’t want to live isolated in the neighborhoods that were traditionally inhabited and are beginning to abandon historical enclaves of the wealthy classes of Barcelona, to settle in neighborhoods with more economic, leisure and cultural activity. This is bad news for the residents of those neighborhoods.
Goodbye to the isolated upper area. Traditionally, neighborhoods in the upper area of Barcelona, such as Pedralbes, Vallvidriera or Bonanova, were the natural habitat of the richest Barcelona residents: large houses with gardens, stately apartments with separate entrances for the staff, lots of privacy and international schools next door.
The average income data per person in 2022 for these neighborhoods already revealed that 52% more wealth is concentrated in them than the Barcelona average. But now, that tranquility seems boring to the wealthiest in Barcelonawho prefer the energy of the city. “Hiding in the mountains of Barcelona is no longer so fashionable,” assured to The Vanguard Joan Rubiralta, real estate expert and co-founder of Luxline Real Estate. According to the expert in the luxury real estate market, instead of isolating themselves, the rich of Barcelona now seek to integrate into the cultural and commercial bustle, letting those high areas lose a little of their exclusive shine.
Eixample, the top neighborhood now. The Eixample has become in the new favorite place of the best of the Barcelona elite and the ultra-rich attracted for the Mediterranean and cosmopolitan life that Barcelona offers. The reason: it mixes stately apartments and the comfort of being much better connected to the center. “Luxury today is defined more by the quality of the experience than by ostentation,” assured to The Vanguard Sven Odia, executive president of Sotheby’s in Spain.
The most sought-after properties in this neighborhood are spacious renovated apartments of between 120 and 140 m2. The modernist style buildings and the high ceilings of their apartments have contributed to the sale price of these apartments exceeds 8,000 euros/m2placing the average at 6,299 euros/m2 for the neighborhood. This represents an increase of 11% in the price in just one year, standing out from the rest of the city which is around 5,000 euros/m2.
Offer price m2 in the Eixample of Barcelona in 2025. Source: puntohabitat.es
The million euro apartment. As and as they pointed out in Open Metropolisthis growing demand for apartments in Barcelona’s Eixample has made housing that meets the demands of this buyer profile scarce, which has caused a shortage of supply. This makes it difficult to find these days. a luxury three-bedroom apartment in that neighborhood for less than a million euros.
In 2026 everything below two million will have been liquidated. It is urgent to activate mechanisms that generate new supply. “We have no product,” warned Albert Milián, managing partner of the Barnes luxury real estate.
It begins to spread to other neighborhoods. The new fashion among the rich of living in central neighborhoods, is also spreading to other neighborhoods in the city, putting Diagonal Mar and Poblenou in the spotlight for price increases.
These neighborhoods are characterized by having become the technological heart of Barcelona, with large companies and startup incubators, which makes them the preferred destination for international millionaires who took the opportunity to buy apartments already on the horn of the end of the “Golden visa”, which gave them access to residency in Spain in exchange for an investment of more than 500,000 euros. In these neighborhoods, for the same million euros that you would pay in Eixample for a 3-bedroom apartment, you get about 140 m² with all these extras. This situation won’t last long.
Rubiralta confirmed that these areas “have experienced a notable increase thanks to their consolidation as the new technological and creative hub of Barcelona, with the arrival of multinationals and international talent.”
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Image | Unsplash (Logan Armstrong)
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