Madrid and Barcelona are the most expensive cities to rent a property. Both cities have the 20 most expensive neighbourhoods in the country, with prices almost double the average rent in Spain. On average, you paid a rent of €11.66/m2 at the end of 2023.
The most exclusive neighbourhoods in Madrid are Almagro (€24.22/m2), Goya (€23.62/m2), Palacio (€23.07/m2) and Castellana (€23.03/m2). In Barcelona, El Camp de l’Arpa del Clot (€23.02/m2) is the most expensive neighbourhood.
Rental price above 2,000 euros
Renting a property of 85 m2 in one of these locations means a monthly rent of more than €2,000, an unprecedented figure, according to the statistics of the real estate portal Fotocasa.
“It is the first time the rent of a property in one of these areas in Spain exceeds this amount. These neighbourhoods show the existing interest in living in a prime area where only the most privileged can afford luxury. The price development in these neighbourhoods has also been exacerbated by the great imbalance between supply and demand. This has caused the price to continue to rise in the last three years”, said María Matos, director and spokesperson for Fotocasa”
The list of the ten most expensive rental areas is completed by Madrid’s Recoletos district (€22.94/m²) and Sol (€22.64/m²), along with Barcelona’s Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim del Poblenou (€22.83/m²), El Camp d’en Grassot i Gràcia Nova (€22.82/m²) and El Raval (€22.66/m²).
Rents in other cities also up
The expert highlights that although Madrid and Barcelona lead the price rankings, other locations such as Valencia, Las Palmas and Malaga are following in their footsteps. Rents have also risen sharply there. This is the case, for example, in Puerto Banús (€21.18/m²) in the municipality of Marbella in Malaga. But prices are also rising in the north of Spain. Such as in the Área Romántica (€20.98/m²) in San Sebastián in Gipuzkoa, and the Zona Playa (€20.83/m²) in Laredo in Cantabria.
Region of Valencia
Valencia is also on the list, with a total of six neighbourhoods. The first 3 on the list recorded a year-on-year increase of 19%;
- Sant Francesc (€18.68/m²)
- El Carmen (€18.09/m²)
- Penya – Roja – Avda. Francia (€16.88/m²)
- Russafa (€15.96/m²)
- El Cabanyal – El Canyamelar (€15.69/m²)
- El Pla del Remei (€15.59/m²)
In the Valencian Community, the neighbourhoods of Playa Poniente, in the municipality of Benidorm, and PAU 5, in the municipality of Alicante, with an annual growth rate of 19.1%, are among the fifty most expensive neighbourhoods, with prices of €19.09/m² and €17.06/m², respectively.
Increases of more than 20%
Analysing the price evolution from year to year, we can see that the largest percentage price increases are recorded in the province of Valencia. This is the case in the Arrancapins district (€14.39/m²), located in Valencia, and Canet d’En Berenguer (€15.05/m²), located in the municipality of Canet d’En Berenguer, with increases of 29.9% and 23.9%, respectively.
In Asturias, Salesas – Foncalada – Campoamor (€11.18/m²), in the municipality of Oviedo, registered a growth of 29.0%, while in Barrio del Centro (€12.36/m²), in Gijón, it is 25.1%. Granada also saw an increase of more than 20% in the Angustias – Chana – Encina district (€9.02/m²), namely 23.6%.
