A common theme in conversations about real estate in Spain often revolves around its overall affordability, which is a big factor why Spain often wins kudos for its cost of living.
 
Affordable housing
True, inflation pressures have had an impact on prices. Another important factor boosting demand for real estate here is the growing popularity of Spain among foreigners as a great place to retire, or to work remotely, or to invest.
 
Still, experts agree that the housing market in Spain remains reasonably priced overall, representing a very attractive proposition. That includes many of the most desirable locations that offer high standard of living in combination with delightful weather, sea resort-type of lifestyle and proximity to cultural landmarks.  
  
Affordability aside, what about the other big segment of the market — luxury housing? What are the areas with the biggest concentration of million-dollar homes?   
 
Luxury homes: exclusivity with prices to match
Some interesting answers to these questions are offered in a recent analysis by Idealista, one of Spain’s leading real estate companies. The survey, which was based on the ads placed on Idealista website, shows that the distribution of such high-value properties is far from even. While each of the 50 Spanish provinces has at least one home advertised for over one million euros (roughly $1.07 million), nearly 70% of available properties in that bracket are located in just four provinces — Malaga, the Balearic Islands, Madrid and Barcelona.
 
Idealista’s data shows that as of August 1, 2023, Spain had 40,375 luxury homes on the market with prices exceeding one million euros. And nearly half of them were in the two areas world-famous for their scenic coastline and fabulous beaches – the Balearic Islands accounting for 23.8% of the total, and the Malaga province, which encompasses the famed Costa del Sol, with 22.5%. Next on the list were the Community of Madrid (12.1% of the total), Barcelona (11.2%) and Alicante, which accounted for 10.7% of homes on the market exceeding 1 million euros.
 
Drilling further down in the luxury homes segment, the company identified an even more exclusive field of ultra-luxury properties advertised at the price of more than 3 million euros. The majority of those (36.3% of the total) were mainly concentrated in the Malaga/Costa del Sol region. The Balearic Islands were second, with 34.5% of the ads.
 
The leading position of Costa del Sol in the ultra-luxury segment is hardly surprising given the reputation of such “playgrounds for the rich and famous” as Marbella’s Golden Mile that feature some of the most exclusive properties, where 10 million euros may be just the bottom plank of the price bracket.

As Idealista noted in its review of most exclusive luxury parts of Marbella,
the most expensive areas there “have 18-hole golf courses, sheltered private beaches, exclusive clubs, tennis, horse-riding and sailing facilities and houses prices to match.”