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TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Madrid's ghost towns revived as housing crisis escalates in Spain
The first call came two minutes after estate agent Segis Gomez posted a listing in Sesena, a development near Madrid that gained notoriety as one of the 'ghost towns' created when Spain's property bubble burst in 2008. Half-built and half-empty for more than a decade, squatters have left the development 40km south of the capital and middle-class families, driven out of the city centre by an acute housing crisis, are moving in. Construction has restarted. Demand is so strong in Sesena that Gomez has a waiting list of 70 people for each property. Property prices have recovered their original value after plunging to less than half during the crisis, he said. As anger grows over the cost of housing in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made providing affordable homes one of his main goals, even as he encourages population growth through immigration. The size of the challenge is clear in Madrid, which grew by 140,000 people in 2024, but only registered permits to build 20,000 new homes. Short supply is being worsened by a boom in holiday lets, record migration and onerous planning laws. 'The problem is that we can't match supply and demand quickly enough. So prices go up, or people have to trade price for distance,' said Carles Vergara, a real estate professor at IESE Business School in Madrid. Sesena has been adopted as a commuter town as Madrid overflows, even though it is located in the neighbouring Castile-La Mancha region and lacks good transport links to the capital and public services, which caused homebuyers to reject it in the past. Its founder and original developer, Francisco Hernando, had a vision of 13,000 affordable apartments with gardens and swimming pools on the Spanish plain where author Cervantes set his best-known work Don Quixote, but the project became a byword for speculative greed and corruption. Only 5,000 homes ended up being built. Hernando, who began his project in 2004, failed to tell homebuyers he hadn't secured access to water or that the town had no public transport or schools. Hernando died in 2020. When the market collapsed, initial investors saw the value of their property plummet, while many homes ended up in the hands of banks.
Business Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Madrid's ghost towns revived as Spain's housing crisis escalates
[SESENA, Spain] The first call came two minutes after estate agent Segis Gomez posted a listing in Sesena, a development near Madrid that gained notoriety as one of the so-called 'ghost towns' created when Spain's property bubble burst in 2008. Half-built and half-empty for more than a decade, these days the squatters have gone from this development 40 km south of the capital and middle-class families, driven out of the city centre by an acute housing crisis, are moving in. Construction, meanwhile, has restarted. Demand is so strong in Sesena that Gomez has a waiting list of 70 people for each property. Property prices have recovered their original value after plunging to less than half during the crisis, he said. As anger grows over the cost of housing in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made providing affordable homes one of his main goals – even as he encourages population growth through immigration. The size of the challenge is clear in Madrid, which grew by 140,000 people in 2024, but only registered permits to build 20,000 new homes. Short supply is being exacerbated by a boom in holiday lets, record migration and onerous planning laws. 'The problem is that we can't match supply and demand quickly enough. So prices go up, or people have to trade price for distance,' said Carles Vergara, a real estate professor at IESE Business School in Madrid. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up Sesena has been adopted as a commuter town as Madrid overflows, even though it is located in the neighbouring Castile-La Mancha region and still lacks good transport links to the capital and public services, which caused homebuyers to reject it in the past. Its founder and original developer, Francisco Hernando, had a vision of 13,000 affordable apartments with gardens and swimming pools on the Spanish plain where author Cervantes set his best-known work Don Quixote, but the project became a byword for speculative greed and corruption. Only 5,000 homes ended up being built. Hernando, who began his project in 2004, failed to tell homebuyers he hadn't secured access to water or that the town had no public transport or schools. Hernando died in 2020. When the market collapsed, initial investors saw the value of their property plummet, while many homes ended up in the hands of banks. Today, Sesena teems with life as parents drop children at its three schools, drink coffee in its bars and visit recently-opened gyms and pharmacies. Impact Homes, a developer, is constructing 156 one-to-four bedroom apartments it expects to complete this year. Next door, another building has already pre-sold 49 per cent of its units, it said in an email. 'Sesena is at 100 per cent,' said Jaime de Hita, the town's mayor. Nestor Delgado moved to Sesena in 2021 with his family from Carabanchel in south Madrid because an apartment cost 20 per cent less to rent. In May, he bought a house with his wife for 240,000 euros (S$352,105). 'We chose (Sesena) because we can afford it,' Delgado, 34, said. The trade-off is rising before 5 am to be among the first in the queue for the 6.30 am bus to Madrid to arrive at his construction job by 8 am or face an hour's wait for the next bus. Other ghost towns are also coming back to life. Valdeluz, a development 75 km east of Madrid originally envisioned to house 30,000 people, was abandoned a quarter of the way through when the property bubble burst. Mayor Enrique Quintana told Reuters the town's 6,000-strong population is swelling with people from Madrid and could expand by 50 per cent in the next four years. A development on the edge of the village of Bernuy de Porreros, 100 km north of Madrid, which as recently as six years ago was mostly abandoned, is now bustling with activity as handymen put the finishing touches on homes. Lucia, a 37-year-old state employee, bought her house in April. Her daily commute to Madrid involves a 15-minute drive to the train station in Segovia and 28 minutes on the high-speed train, which costs her 48 euros for 30 trips thanks to a frequent traveller discount. The development began to revive when Spain's so-called bad bank Sareb, which was set up to take bad loans from the financial crisis, in 2021 began selling the homes for as little as 97,000 euros. Four years later, one property was resold for double that, said resident Nuria Alvarez. Until recently a relatively compact city, Madrid is on the way to becoming a metropolis like Paris or London, with commuter zones stretching beyond its administrative boundaries, said Jose Maria Garcia, the regional government's deputy housing minister. The metropolitan area's population of 7 million will grow by a million in the next 15 years, the government estimates. Madrid has a deficit of 80,000-100,000 homes that's growing by 15,000 homes a year and plans to build 110,000 homes by 2028, Garcia said. Sesena, meanwhile, is once again dreaming big. Its mayor, de Hita, said the town is securing permits for a new project dubbed Parquijote, with a proposed investment of 2.3 billion euros to build a logistics park that will create local jobs, along with 2,200 homes. It's no quixotic fantasy, de Hita said. 'This time we have learned from what happened,' he said. 'It is fundamental that we look for growth by learning from the past.' REUTERS
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Madrid's ghost towns revived as Spain's housing crisis escalates
By Corina Pons and Charlie Devereux SESENA, Spain (Reuters) - The first call came two minutes after estate agent Segis Gomez posted a listing in Sesena, a development near Madrid that gained notoriety as one of the so-called "ghost towns" created when Spain's property bubble burst in 2008. Half-built and half-empty for more than a decade, these days the squatters have gone from this development 40 km (24.85 miles) south of the capital and middle-class families, driven out of the city centre by an acute housing crisis, are moving in. Construction, meanwhile, has restarted. Demand is so strong in Sesena that Gomez has a waiting list of 70 people for each property. Property prices have recovered their original value after plunging to less than half during the crisis, he said. As anger grows over the cost of housing in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made providing affordable homes one of his main goals - even as he encourages population growth through immigration. The size of the challenge is clear in Madrid, which grew by 140,000 people in 2024, but only registered permits to build 20,000 new homes. Short supply is being exacerbated by a boom in holiday lets, record migration and onerous planning laws. "The problem is that we can't match supply and demand quickly enough. So prices go up, or people have to trade price for distance," said Carles Vergara, a real estate professor at IESE Business School in Madrid. Sesena has been adopted as a commuter town as Madrid overflows, even though it is located in the neighboring Castile-La Mancha region and still lacks good transport links to the capital and public services, which caused homebuyers to reject it in the past. Its founder and original developer, Francisco Hernando, had a vision of 13,000 affordable apartments with gardens and swimming pools on the Spanish plain where author Cervantes set his best-known work Don Quixote, but the project became a byword for speculative greed and corruption. Only 5,000 homes ended up being built. Hernando, who began his project in 2004, failed to tell homebuyers he hadn't secured access to water or that the town had no public transport or schools. Hernando died in 2020. When the market collapsed, initial investors saw the value of their property plummet, while many homes ended up in the hands of banks. MADRID'S EXPANSION Today, Sesena teems with life as parents drop children at its three schools, drink coffee in its bars and visit recently-opened gyms and pharmacies. Impact Homes, a developer, is constructing 156 one-to-four bedroom apartments it expects to complete this year. Next door, another building has already pre-sold 49% of its units, it said in an email. "Sesena is at 100%," said Jaime de Hita, the town's mayor. Nestor Delgado moved to Sesena in 2021 with his family from Carabanchel in south Madrid because an apartment cost 20% less to rent. In May, he bought a house with his wife for 240,000 euros ($272,808). "We chose (Sesena) because we can afford it," Delgado, 34, said. The trade-off is rising before 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) to be among the first in the queue for the 6.30 a.m. bus to Madrid to arrive at his construction job by 8 a.m. or face a an hour's wait for the next bus. BACK TO LIFE Other ghost towns are also coming back to life. Valdeluz, a development 75 km east of Madrid originally envisioned to house 30,000 people, was abandoned a quarter of the way through when the property bubble burst. Mayor Enrique Quintana told Reuters the town's 6,000-strong population is swelling with people from Madrid and could expand by 50% in the next four years. A development on the edge of the village of Bernuy de Porreros, 100 km north of Madrid, which as recently as six years ago was mostly abandoned, is now bustling with activity as handymen put the finishing touches on homes. Lucia, a 37-year-old state employee, bought her house in April. Her daily commute to Madrid involves a 15-minute drive to the train station in Segovia and 28 minutes on the high-speed train, which costs her 48 euros for 30 trips thanks to a frequent traveller discount. The development began to revive when Spain's so-called bad bank Sareb, which was set up to take bad loans from the financial crisis, in 2021 began selling the homes for as little as 97,000 euros. Four years later, one property was resold for double that, said resident Nuria Alvarez. Until recently a relatively compact city, Madrid is on the way to becoming a metropolis like Paris or London, with commuter zones stretching beyond its administrative boundaries, said Jose Maria Garcia, the regional government's deputy housing minister. The metropolitan area's population of 7 million will grow by a million in the next 15 years, the government estimates. Madrid has a deficit of 80,000-100,000 homes that's growing by 15,000 homes a year and plans to build 110,000 homes by 2028, Garcia said. Sesena, meanwhile, is once again dreaming big. Its mayor, de Hita, said the town is securing permits for a new project dubbed Parquijote, with a proposed investment of 2.3 billion euros to build a logistics park that will create local jobs, along with 2,200 homes. It's no quixotic fantasy, de Hita said. "This time we have learned from what happened," he said. "It is fundamental that we look for growth by learning from the past." ($1 = 0.8797 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
Euronews
25-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
What are the most dynamic and sustainable European cities? These are the winners
ADVERTISEMENT London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen and Oslo are the five European cities in the top 10 of the world's most dynamic and liveable cities, according to the IESE Cities in Motion (CIMI) index . The 2025 CIMI ranking assessed 183 cities across 92 countries based on nine key criteria: human capital, social cohesion, economy, governance, environment, mobility and transportation, urban planning, international profile and technology. For the third year in a row, London continues to lead its regional and global position in the ranking, standing out in areas such as human capital, governance, urban planning and international profile. The UK capital stands out because of its internationally renowned universities and a rich array of cultural institutions, institutional stability, high-quality public transit systems and strong commitment to sustainable mobility, including shared bicycles and e-scooters. However, it faces challenges in terms of social cohesion and the environment. Edinburgh and Glasgow outperform London in their commitment to cultural and social inclusion. Meanwhile, Paris retains second place in Western Europe and third place in global rankings, scoring the best on its international influence, strong human capital and effective urban planning. However, areas such as environmental sustainability and social cohesion offer opportunities for improvement. Berlin retains the positions held in the previous edition: third in Western Europe and fifth globally. Germany's capital is recognised for its governance and technology, but it has significant room for improvement in its economic performance. European cities consistently perform well in this index. "There's no single reason behind Europe's success, but there are patterns," said Pascual Berrone, head of the strategic management department at IESE Business School, and Joan Enric Ricart, professor of strategic management at IESE Business School. "They have generally stable political systems and reasonable urban planning, along with advanced public and private transport options."
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The 10 most prominent cities in the world
If you want to understand the scale of a city's international reach, the IESE Business School has a novel approach: count the number of McDonald's (MCD) within the city limits. In the university's 2025 Cities in Motion report, the popular fast-food chain's presence is used to illustrate the strength of an international city's economy, its openness to international commerce, and the consumption preferences of its residents. In the United States, some economists argue that the fast-food chain's popularity is an economic indicator. When McDonald's sales fall, it's often the case that Americans are struggling financially and have less discretionary income. On its own, this theory is still subject to debate, but in the IESE report the number of McDonald's in a given city is one of several metrics used to determine a municipality's international prominence. 'The future of cities will depend not only on their size or wealth, but also on their ability to innovate, anticipate, and respond with agility to emerging challenges,' said the study's co-authors Pascual Berrone and Joan Enric Ricart. 'The key to urban progress lies in combining strategic vision with operational flexibility.' Other metrics used to determine which cities have the strongest international profiles include the number of passengers per airport, the number of hotels per capita, and the number of meetings and conferences held in each of the 183 cities that the report ranks. 'This last metric is particularly relevant,' the report explains, 'as such events are typically held in cities with a wide range of international hotel options, suitable infrastructure for large meetings, frequent international air connections, and high security standards.' The most internationally prominent cities are distributed across regions, but the U.S. remains a dominant cultural force, per this particular study. In the top 10, there are two European cities, five American cities, two Asian cities, and one city in the Middle East. Click through to see the 10 most internationally prominent cities in the world. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
