Spain sees record tourism and foreign property activity in first half of 2017

Foreign investors are snapping up Spanish property in record volumes… and using it for their very own holiday enjoyment, data shows.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Spain’s property market and tourism industry is in rude health, with the latest data from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and the National Statistics Institute (INE) showing that the first half of 2017 was a record year in many ways…

Foreign investment in Spanish property reached €888 million in the first six months of the year, which is way up on the amount spent over the same period in 2016 – just €330 million in comparison.

JLL expects that overseas buyers will spend more than €1 billion on Spanish property this year, which will mark the eighth year in a row that foreign investment in real estate in the country has increased.

On the tourism front, Spain has been firing on all cylinders for a couple of years now, but the INE data reveals that 36.3 million tourists visited Spain in the first half of 2017 – that is BEFORE the months of July and August, typically the busiest, are taken into account.

This sets Spain on course to smash last year’s record, and could see more than 80 million tourists visiting over the course of 2017, which should be enough to see Spain claim global tourism top spot.

The data also revealed another growing trend: the convergence of tourism and foreign property ownership. So far in 2017, some 8.5% of all tourists to Spain stayed in their own holiday accommodation, ie, properties they bought for the distinct purpose of holidaying in. This is the highest figure recorded so far, and is only set to increase.

A decade on from the crisis and Spain’s property market is not only back on its feet but thriving. The appeals of owning a second property in Spain, be it to enjoy holidays with friends and family or to relocate to has endured and I have no doubt that the country will welcome another record year of international investment,” said Marc Pritchard, Sales and Marketing Director, Taylor Wimpey España.