Record Corporate Property Sales were Registered in Spain Before Covid

2019 was a record year in terms of corporate property sales in Europe, with a 33% increase to reach €23.1 billion. Spain established itself as the fourth most active country on the continent.

Real estate sales in Europe registered a record figure last year, reaching 23.1 billion euros, according to data from the consultancy JLL.

This volume was 33% higher than in 2018, a growing trend that the experts at the consulting firm expect will continue in 2020, due to the need that some companies will have for liquidity following the Covid-19 crisis.

In the case of Spain, companies completed 37 sales operations involving real estate assets worth €1.5 billion during 2019. Those figures represented an increase of 10% in terms of transacted volume and 48% in terms of the number of transactions, since, although the number of corporate sales increased, they were smaller deals than in 2018. This figure consolidates Spain’s position as the fourth largest market in Europe, after the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Conren to Build 108 Homes on the Site of Hotusa’s Failed Luxury Hotel in Barcelona

The fund manager has purchased a plot on Paseo de Sant Joan where the Hotusa chain had been planning to build a five-star hotel.

The real estate manager Conren Tramway has acquired a plot of land located at the intersection of Paseo de Sant Joan and Avenida Vilanova, in the Eixample district of Barcelona, next to Arco del Triunfo metro station.

For more than a decade, the land has belonged to the Hotusa hotel group, which had planned to build a unique luxury hotel on the site. However, first, the refurbishment and expansion of the nearby metro station, and then the approval of the hotel moratorium launched by the city’s mayor Ada Colau when she arrived at the town hall (which prevents the opening of new hotels in the city centre) put paid to those plans. As such, the hotel group has now decided to sell the plot.

The Crisis will Cause GDP to Fall by More than 10% in the Islands and by 8% along the Mediterranean Coast, but those Areas will Lead the Recovery in 2021

The Balearic Islands (-17%) and the Canary Islands (-13%), as well as the entire Mediterranean coast (-8%), are leading the falls in GDP during this crisis but are expected to recover more quickly in 2021.

The Balearic Islands (-17%) and the Canary Islands (-13%), as well as the entire Mediterranean coast (-8%), are leading the falls in GDP during this crisis but are expected to recover more quickly in 2021, boosted by the engine of the Spanish economy but also the sector most affected by the crisis, tourism.

BBVA Research’s Regional Observatory estimates that the recovery this year will depend on “the duration of the restrictions, how they impact the capacity used and the public policies to mitigate them.” In this way, after the strong GDP contractions of 2020, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands will be the autonomous regions with the highest growth rates, of 9.6% and 7.8%, respectively. However, their absolute GDPs will still be 5% below the levels reached in 2019.

The Protocol for Reopening the Hotel Sector does Not Include Capacity Limits

The draft protocol for the reopening of hotels, presented to the Government on Thursday and pending approval by the Ministry of Health, does not establish percentages or limits in terms of capacity.

On Thursday, the draft protocol for the reopening for hotels and tourist apartments, prepared by the Institute for Spanish Tourist Quality (ICTE), in collaboration with the hotel employer Cehat and the Secretary of State for Tourism, which has been the great proponent behind the creation of a single health protocol, was presented to the Government. Regional sector organisations, hotel chains and companies have also participated in its preparation.

Now, this unique guide, which aims to unify the guidelines for the reopening of accommodation establishments, only needs to be approved by the Ministry of Health, which is expected to happen this week. On Monday, 11 May – when phase 1 of the exit from lockdown begins for most regions – hotels will be able to reopen their doors, although in accordance with certain conditions.

Visits to Spain by Foreign Tourists Fell by 64.3% in March due to the Health Crisis

The decrease in the number of travellers caused a drop in spending – foreign tourists visiting Spain in March spent just €2.2 billion, down by 63.3% YoY.

Spain received only two million international tourists in March, which represents a drop of 64.3% compared to the same month in 2019, according to provisional data from the Frontur survey published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Wednesday. The main reason for this fall is the Covid-19 health crisis that is plaguing the country – and much of the world – after the State of Emergency was decreed on 14 March.

Naturally, the decrease in visitor numbers had an impact on spending – foreign tourists visiting Spain in March spent just €2.2 billion, down by 63.3% compared to the same month a year earlier, according to provisional data from the tourist spending survey published by INE on Wednesday.

The Protocol for Reopening the Hotel Sector will be Published on 8 May

The objective is to unify the guidelines to be followed for the reopening of hotels, to provide certainty and confidence to customers and hoteliers.

The Technological Hotel Institute (ITH), together with the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT), will publish guidelines for the reopening of the hotel sector on 8 May.

In phase 1 of the exit from lockdown – which begins on Monday 11 May – hotel establishments will be allowed to open their doors; therefore, the presentation of this protocol has been brought forward so that hoteliers can restart their activity with the necessary guarantees in place.

Overnight Stays in Non-Hotel Tourist Accommodation Fell by 63% in March

Overnight stays by residents of Spain decreased by 71.9% and those by non-residents decreased by 59.6%; meanwhile, the average stay amounted to 7.4 nights per traveller.

Overnight stays in non-hotel tourist accommodation – such as apartments, campsites, rural tourism accommodation and hostels – exceeded 2.4 million in March, down by 63.2% compared to the same month in 2019, according to provisional data published on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Overnight stays by residents of Spain fell by 71.9%, whilst those made by non-residents decreased by 59.6%; meanwhile, the average stay amounted to 7.4 nights per traveller. In this way, during the first quarter of 2020, overnight stays decreased by 21.4% with respect to the same period a year earlier.

The German Giant TUI Hopes to Bring Tourists to Spain from Mid-June

The world’s largest tour operator, TUI, is planning to start bringing tourists to Spain from the United Kingdom and Germany in the second half of June.

The world’s largest tour operator, TUI, planning to start bringing tourists to Spain from the United Kingdom and Germany, the main source markets, from the second half of June, according to Vozpópuli.

Brits and Germans can now book ‘all-inclusive’ packages in the main holiday destinations in the country, such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, through the tourism giant. TUI operates its own airline and holds agreements with numerous hotel establishments throughout the country.

The Spanish Hotel Sector will not Return to its Pre-Crisis Levels until 2022

The consultancy CBRE predicts that the markets most exposed to domestic demand, such as the Mediterranean region, will recover sooner, whereas the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, which depend more on international tourism, will take longer to recover.

The recovery of the Spanish hotel market following the Covid-19 pandemic will begin next year and the pre-crisis levels could be restored during 2022, according to the report “Spanish Market Outlook Covid-19”, prepared by the real estate consultancy CBRE.

In this sense, the hotel sector could experience a strong upturn in demand in 2021, with the recovery expected to span three different phases: first, domestic demand, then short-term demand, and finally, long-term demand.

A Luxury Tourist Complex in Nerja: the First Post-Covid-19 Project in Andalucía

With an investment of €311 million, the real estate company owned by the Larios family is planning to transform 250 hectares of agricultural land into a luxury hotel, residential and golf complex.

From land dedicated to intensive agricultural farming to a luxury golf and real estate complex. That is the plan that the Andalucían group Sociedad Azucarera de Larios (Salsa) has up its sleeve for the Maro cliffs area. The area spans 250 hectares and is located in the Malagan town of Nerja.

The project, called Maro Golf, was submitted to public consultation on 23 March by Nerja City Council. Then, the period of consultations and claims began, although that process was paralysed when the State of Emergency was decreed in Spain. Now, this development has become the first project to be validated by the administrative simplification decree that the Andalucían Government approved as part of a package of measures to mitigate the effects of coronavirus on the region’s economy.