This is how the money is distributed in the neighborhoods and municipalities of Spain
On the streets of Spain, the standard of living can change radically from one apple to another. The environment that a person finds when leaving home, the parked vehicles, the diversity of stores or the simple appearance of the buildings tell part of a deeper and more complex story. Behind these everyday differences, the data reflects the extent to which geographic location reflects economic level and the well-being of its inhabitants. The published statistics This week by the Tax Agency they show a growing gap that crosses cities and neighborhoods, making it clear that wealth and poverty do not usually live in the same zip code. Where wealth is concentrated. The richest neighborhoods in Spain They are recorded in residential areas on the outskirts of the large urban centers of Madrid and Barcelona. La Moraleja (Alcobendas, Madrid) stands out for another year with 196,429 euros of average gross income, followed by Ciudalcampo (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid) with 121,838 euros and Fuente del Fresno (also in San Sebastián de los Reyes) with 108,354 euros. Outside the capital, the Vallvidrera-Tibidabo i Les Planes neighborhood, on the eastern edge of Barcelona, occupies fourth place with 107,513 euros. Without leaving the city of Barcelonathe neighborhoods of Muntaner (106,734 euros) and Pedralbes-Sarriá (104,963 euros) complete the list of the richest in Spain. We have to reduce several tens of thousands of euros in rent to find a neighborhood outside the scope of these two cities, until we reach the Valencian Massarrochos-Santa Bárbara, with an average gross income of 81,807 euros. The neighborhoods with the least income. The opposite extreme is represented by Torreblanca, in Seville, which according to records According to the Tax Agency, it was ranked as the area with the lowest average gross income in all of Spain during the year 2023, reaching only 11,354 euros annually. Despite this figure, the neighborhood itself improves slightly compared to previous years. However, the gap between the highest and lowest average income centers remains abysmal, standing at over 185,000 euros difference. Other neighborhoods with low income are Nou Alacant (Alicante, 16,868 euros), Cortijos de Marín (Roquetas de Mar, Almería, 17,210 euros), Carrús-Plaza Barcelona (Elche, 17,670 euros) and Ciudad Jardín (Alicante, 19,000 euros). Given these data, it is worth highlighting the enormous gap that exists between the neighborhoods with the highest and lowest incomesreaching a difference of up to 185,000 euros on average between La Moraleja and Torreblanca. Origin of wealth in the neighborhoods. The nature of wealth also changes depending on the neighborhood in which you live. For example, only 58.55% of the income of the residents of the richest neighborhoods comes from a salary, while 17.79% corresponds to capital returns, 10.68% is earned from economic activities and 11.53% comes from of capital gains. However, in lower-income neighborhoods there is a greater dependence on labor income direct and there is very little generation of passive or patrimonial income. The salary of the residents of these humble neighborhoods represents more than 75% of the total average annual income. In the case of Torreblanca, the poorest neighborhood in Spain, the weight of salaries in the total declared income reaches 75.18%. For its part, capital income barely represents 0.22%, economic activities 1.83% and capital gains only 0.47%. Wealth and poverty in the shadow of big cities. It is enough to open the focus a little more to discover that the municipalities with the highest average income are clearly concentrated in the communities of Madrid and Catalonia. Pozuelo de Alarcón, in Madrid, repeats as the richest municipality in Spain with an average income of 88,011 euros in 2023, 3.15% more than the previous year. They are followed by Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) with 70,869 euros and Sant Just Desvern, in Barcelona, with 67,265 euros. In total, five Madrid and four Catalan municipalities appear among the top ten on this list. At the other extreme, the municipalities with the lowest incomes are located mainly in Andalusia and Extremadura. Benamargosa, in Malaga, is the poorest, with an average income of only 13,831 euros. It is followed by other Andalusian municipalities such as Guadahortuna and Colomera, both in Granada, with around 14,000 euros of average income. The difference between Pozuelo de Alarcón and Benamargosa is 74,180 euros, which, as we already saw in the breakdown of the neighborhoods, also shows great economic inequality between areas of the country. In Xataka | The list of the richest people in Spain in 2025: many changes in the figures, but not in the protagonists Image | Unsplash (Yzy Pop, John Fornander)
