agony

The outlook looked bad. Very badly. The competition from online commerce, the change in consumer habits, the pressure that platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime were beginning to exert on cinemas and (as a cherry on top) the blow that the pandemic dealt to crowded spaces led some analysts back in 2020 to announce the “apocalypse of the “retail”. The ‘shopping center’ model, so prosperous in its day, seemed exhausted. After all… Who would want to go shopping with Amazon or pay for a movie with Netflix at home? Time has shown that those predictions were wrong. Apocalypse of retail? Today it may sound strange, but there was a time (not so long ago) when could be read frequently about the “apocalypse of the retail” in the press. Not all analysts saw it clearly and there were even who warned that the formula, imported from the United States, was not transferable to a market like the Spanish one, much less dense than the American one, but the logic seemed overwhelming: with the ecommerce growing and platforms like HBO or Amazon stomping in leisure, weren’t shopping centers doomed? The answer is no. On the contrary. A magnet for large investors. In 2025, the sector already showed signs of its good health by starting the year with five purchase and sale operations or transfers underway that amounted, in total, to about 1 billion euros. That was the first proof that shopping centers still awaken investor appetite, but that attraction appears to have strengthened. elEconomista.es publishes today a chronicle in which he slips that, a priori (and at the expense of what occurs at a macroeconomic level) the sector is aiming for a year of record investments. To be more precise, the newspaper speaks of operations worth about 3 billion of euros, an estimate that comes from the Colliers company. Beyond the forecasts and predictions, the data already closed for 2025 confirm that large commercial areas are experiencing a moment that has little to do with an economic “apocalypse.” In 2025 they will monopolize 59.5% of all the investment directed at retail, which translates into 1,484 million euros out of a total of 2,494 million. Not only is this a high figure, it far exceeds the capital allocated to other popular commercial formats, such as retail parks (352 million euros), small stores (524 million) or supermarkets (135 million). Is it the only sign? No. There is more. And they confirm that investors seem increasingly willing to bet on commercial areas in search of profitability. Its investment flow has been chaining increases for several years, which has allowed it to go from 406 million which it managed in 2022 to 1,484 million in 2025. Furthermore, the map of large stores continues to expand throughout the country. a few days ago The Newspaper revealed that, if nothing goes wrong, by 2028 Spain will add 28 new commercial parks with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of around 626,079 square meters. To these are added eight planned shopping centers that will reinforce the commercial park with 308,500 m2. Going down to detail. The list includes projects as ambitious as Valdebebas Shopping (Madrid), Infinity (Valencia), Breogán Park (A Coruña), Sur Córdoba Shopping (Cordova), Promenade Lleida (Lleida) or Metropolitan (Madrid), among others. “The majority of the spaces planned for the next three years are 20,000 m2 or less, that is, small or medium-sized, so their promotion and development is easier,” explains Eduardo Ceballos, from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centers and Parks (AECC). Greater than what was invested in new facilities are the funds dedicated to renovations. A percentage: 6%. That capital flows to shopping centers is no coincidence. According to shared data by the AECC in February, the sector closed 2025 with growth in both visits and billing. Specifically, the association estimates the increase in footfall in shopping centers and parks at 2.4% and a 6% increase in sales. Translated into hard and fast figures, that means 1,995 million consumers and just over 58,500 million in sales. The increase was largely possible thanks to restaurants (+10.8%), followed by the sale of clothing and accessories (+6.9%). Pre-pandemic levels. In AECC internal code assures having registered 32 purchase and sale operations of shopping centers and parks for a total of 2,000 million euros, which places the industry at 2018 levels, prior to the pandemic. The operations carried out by Bonaire, Parque Corredor, Intu Xanadú, Espacio Mediterráneo and Ballonti stand out above all. According to calculations by the sector’s employers’ association, right now in Spain there are around 592 shopping centers totaling 16.9 million m2 of GLA, a figure that is explained by the creation in 2025 of 132,000 m2 thanks to five new projects. Why this interest? The big question. If the factors that not so long ago made analysts fear an “apocalypse of the retail“have not disappeared (on the contrary, the ecommerce keeps growing), why are new shopping centers still opening? Why in 2025 have we visited them more often and spent more money on them? Why the hell do they attract million-dollar investments? For Ceballos One of the keys is the format’s demonstrated ability to adapt to local markets. At the end of the day, large stores continue to play with the trick of combining commerce, hospitality and leisure, also adapting to each market, which explains why the centers hold out while other more rigid surfaces (in the case of hypermarkets) they are in the doldrums. In full reinvention. Another key is that commercial centers and parks have not stood idly by. Maybe the context has changed, but they they have also done itespecially in the most disputed markets, where it is not unusual to find areas that have pivoted towards a clear commitment to luxury, big brands, the outlet concept or the leisure and restaurant offering. Increasingly, shopping centers are becoming less “commercial” and more “experiential.” What they seek is to guarantee experiences, to show themselves as spaces to be lived, marking distances with … Read more