Portal de l’Àngel & Preciados As Spain’s Costliest High Streets

21/11/2014 – El Pais

Fast-moving, central streets of Madrid and Barcelona host the most expensive display windows in Spain. And not because there are high-end shops, but because of the cost involved in opening a business in there. Portal de l’Àngel street (a fragment pictured) in Barcelona tops the ranking. Also known as the Inditex Street due to being monopolized by Amancio Ortega‘s clothing brands, tenants at this artery are asked to pay 3.249 euros per square meter monthly, informs Cushman & Wakefield in its recent report. It is followed by the Preciados street in Madrid, where prices average at 2.940 €/m2/month.

The real estate advisor collects data about rental costs on main avenues all around the world. Thus, there is no comparison between the Spanish most expensive and the average prices dictated on the Fifth Avenue in New York (29.822 €/m2), the Causeway Bay in Hong Kong (23.307 €/m2) or the Champs Elysees in Paris (13.255 €/m2). Still, the Catalan capital is found among the top 20 most expensive commercial streets on the globe. This year it takes the 14th position.

Until 2010, the Preciados in Madrid was Spain’s costliest. Third there ranks the Paseo de Gracia street in Barcelona, fourth is the Serrano and the Ortega takes the fifth position, both situated in Madrid. Further on, the list highlights Malaga, Bilbao, Valencia, Seville, Palma de Majorca and Zaragoza.

According to the company, huge international brands unceasingly want to have a store on one of the main streets of Barcelona, motivated by constant tourist flow seen on these avenues. For instance, Japanese Uniqlo has been trying to open a shop in Barcelona for ‘ages’, with no success though.

 

Original article: El País (by Lluís Pellicer)

Translation: AURA REE