Wealthy buyers from Poland, the United States, and Gulf-based nations are flooding into Spain’s capital city of Madrid and its famous Costa del Sol coastline, searching for a secure luxury retreat amid the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as political upheaval in the United States.
Spain’s Mediterranean coast has historically attracted sun-seekers from Britain and Germany, but a more diverse group of investors looking to protect their assets against global instability has entered the market in recent years, according to half a dozen real estate agents, European housing market analysts, and a property attorney who spoke with Reuters.
Official government figures back up that observation.
“Whether it’s Ukrainians or Poles settling on the Costa del Sol, or Americans coming to Spain, the common factor is the geopolitical situation,” said Rebeca Caballero, who leads the international department at realtor Gilmar.
Property registration data from last year shows that foreign buyers were involved in more than 39% of all home sales across major tourist provinces, including Malaga on the Costa del Sol, Alicante on the Costa Blanca, and the Balearic Islands.
That wave of foreign investment has contributed to soaring property prices in a country where housing has become a significant political flashpoint. Spain’s central bank has called for coordinated government action to increase housing supply, citing an estimated shortage of 750,000 homes nationwide.
Polish buyers, hailing from one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies, have been purchasing Spanish coastal properties since 2020. However, their activity has tripled since the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year they made up 4% of all foreign purchases — up from just 1.6% in 2019.
“The strongest wave of investment came after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine … with a frenzy of purchases made over the phone,” said Agnieszka Marciniak-Kostrzewa, who founded a Marbella-based real estate agency.
Marlena Bartkowiak represents that wave of buyers. The 46-year-old, who runs a transport company in Poland, bought an apartment in Benalmadena on Andalusia’s Costa del Sol as a contingency plan when the war began.
“Spain came to mind as it was somehow the least involved in all sorts of political manoeuvring on the European stage,” said Bartkowiak, who continues to live primarily in Poland.
Neinor, one of Spain’s largest property developers, sold 70% of its upscale 102-home Santa Clara development completed in Marbella last year to Polish clients. Polish buyers also dominate purchases in a 64-floor skyscraper currently under construction in the coastal city of Benidorm.
“Spain right now is a diversification play on security grounds,” said Paloma Perez Bravo, CEO of real estate firm Dils-Lucas Fox.
Just as conflict near Poland’s eastern border has fueled Polish investment, real estate professionals are now seeing a fresh wave of demand from Gulf-based investors following the outbreak of the Iran war. Three real estate companies told Reuters they are currently negotiating luxury property deals on the Costa del Sol with buyers from Dubai, as the conflict has damaged the emirate’s reputation as a peaceful sanctuary for the wealthy. At least two transactions have already been finalized.
Marciniak-Kostrzewa recently completed a sale to a Polish client living in Dubai who was looking for a safer home base for their family.
While Dubai has attracted wealthy foreigners with its zero property tax policy, realty lawyer Maria Ruiz Lopez noted that regional wealth tax exemptions and allowances in Madrid and the Costa del Sol make those areas particularly appealing to high-net-worth buyers compared to other parts of Spain.
“We believe there will be an opportunity to attract those seeking an alternative to Dubai … partly because conflicts make Spain appear as a calmer option,” said Mario Lapiedra Vivanco, deputy CEO at Neinor, which has already closed a transaction with a buyer from Dubai.
American buyers have also entered the picture in growing numbers. Gilmar’s Caballero pointed to a surge in U.S. investors — many of them of Hispanic heritage — purchasing Spanish property since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year.
“It’s not just violent conflict, but also the political and social pressure,” Caballero said. “Many do it as an investment. And others see it as a Plan B, because they don’t know what’s going to happen in the United States.”
Between 2024 and 2025, Gilmar reported that U.S. investments jumped from 0.5% to 6.2% of its total property transactions, with Americans surpassing British buyers as the top foreign purchasers on the Costa del Sol.
Across Spain as a whole, Americans represented 2% of all foreign property purchases and paid the third-highest average price of any nationality, trailing only Swedes and Germans, according to data from the General Council of Notaries.
The growing pool of international buyers has pushed home values upward. Real estate agents handling properties priced between €1 million and €20 million (roughly $1.13 million to $22.68 million) say the rising values make Spanish real estate an increasingly attractive investment, reinforcing the buying trend and distinguishing the market from others in Europe.
Spain’s warm climate and stable economy are additional draws for prospective buyers.
Jack Harris, a London-based partner in Knight Frank’s international residential team, said luxury home prices in Spain have climbed by as much as 9.5% year-over-year — a faster pace than comparable markets in France and Italy.
“Spain has been something of an outlier in terms of performance across Europe over the last 12 months,” Harris said.
