Madrid registers a record in hotel investment and Barcelona collapses due to the ‘Colau effect’
Madrid it is fashionable The capital has registered a record hotel investment of 803 million euros in 2022. This is data that represents its best historical record to date, concentrating around 24% of national investment and More than tripling the figure registered in Barcelonaaccording to the latest report published by Colliers.
In addition to being the city that has registered the most operations, Madrid has also concentrated those with the highest volume. Of the 19 operations registered last year in the capital, seven of them stand out for exceeding the 50 million euros in volume. In fact, they highlight those within the luxury hotel sector.
Contrary to what has happened in Madrid, Ciudad Condal, once a leader in the sector, has seen its attractiveness diminish. Barcelona, with only seven operations registered, and 225 million euros of investment has lost part of its prominence.
Colau effect
The industry experts consulted are clear about this. The urban plans approved by the Ada Colau city council are behind this collapse in hotel investment. Specifically, the Special urban plan for tourist accommodation (PEUAT) that regulates the implementation of tourist accommodation establishments, as well as youth hostels, tourist housing and shared homes. It is a moratorium imposed since 2013, but it has had several editions. The last one was fulfilled at the end of December 2021 and entered into force on January 26, 2022, with the publication in the BOPB.
«There is a very important legal issue in Barcelona which is the moratorium that the PEUAT supposes, of which there are already two versions and that limits the construction of hotels in very specific areas and that logically makes the difference», explains Óscar Pirelli, secretary of Exceltur. Speaking to THE OBJECTIVEPirelli highlights the fact that this legislation does not exist in Madrid, which makes the volume of investment and projects very different between cities.
From the Colau town hall, they defend that this regulation responds to the need to make the city’s tourist accommodation compatible with a sustainable urban model, based on the guarantee of fundamental rights and the improvement of the quality of life of residents. The reality translates into less investment and, consequently, less employment in the tourism sector in the city. At the same time, there has been a decentralization effect towards more peripheral areas, such as Hospitalet de Llobregat or Sant Adrià de Besòs.
Madrid’s dynamism
After more than 20 years as a benchmark in the tourism sector, Barcelona is losing strength. Since the 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona had opted for a public-private collaboration model that had established it as a leader in tourism management.
«In this last government of Colau it is true that some decisions that have been made have caused a loss of dynamism and attractiveness in the city» admits Pirelli. This also affects tourism development, “something that does not happen in Madrid, which, with a tourism management model of less public-private collaboration, has been applying more liberal measures, making the city attractive,” adds the expert from the Alliance for Tourism Excellence.
«The difference between the two cities was very important. You just have to see the income per room », she adds. Something that is equalizing. According to the Barcelona City Council, the PEUAT also has the purpose of regulating temporary accommodation in collective teacher residences for temporary accommodation on area land.
The offer of tourist establishments remained stable in Madrid until 2017. From that moment on, an expansion phase began with international chains that do not yet have a presence in the city. This interest in Madrid will continue in 2022 and 2023 with 38 planned establishmentss, according to Colliers. However, in Barcelona the number of beds has grown in a more balanced way due to the hotel moratorium imposed since 2013.
luxury sector
In Madrid, operations as relevant as the acquisition by Sancus Capital of the 51% stake of the Mexican RLH Properties in the Rosewood Villa Magna and Bless Hotel Madrid hotels, the purchase of the Hotel Princesa Plaza – framed within the sale of the Triángulo Princesa to Brookfield- or the sale of the Hotel Faranda Florida Norte to Round Hill, have contributed to the achievement of this signing milestone of a record investment.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona last year, the acquisition by the German Union Investment of the Hotel Barcelona 1882 -now championed by Radisson with its Blu brand-, as well as the acquisition by Invesco of the Hotel Occidental Barcelona 1929, framed in the purchase of a portfolio of hotels owned by Principal RE with two other assets in Malaga and The Hague.