RAVAL PROPERTY

2008. This guide to property in Barcelona is now out of date. I will try and update it sometime this year. However, I can tell you that Barcelona property prices have become significantly over-valued, and are starting to fall. I expect falls of 20% or more over the next 12 to 24 months.

Property in the Raval District

• The Raval lies across the Ramblas from the Barrio Gótico and stretches over to the Ronda De Sant Pau.
• The Raval has always been one of Barcelona's poorest districts, home to the most recent immigrants in each period, and a den of iniquity catering to the tastes of sailors given its proximity to the old port.
• Today, as ever, the Raval is very much an immigrant district, with a high proportion of immigrant groups living there. Many locals from Barcelona will not choose to live in a district with this type of resident profile if they can avoid it.
• The Raval suffers from some of the highest levels of petty crime in Barcelona and this is a serious problem for people who live or rent in the area. Many tourists are also affected by petty crime during their brief forays into the district. Petty crime means that renting out property in the Raval, whether on short or long term contracts, can be a serious problem for owners and rental management companies.
• Much of the Raval is comprised of poor quality housing stock set along narrow streets (a function of the districts origins as a deprived neighbourhood). Many properties for sale in the Raval will need significant refurbishment and few buildings have lifts installed. Furthermore the municipal government's plans in the district mean that many properties are 'afectada'. This means that, at some point in the future, owners might be served with a compulsory purchase order and be forced to sell their properties to the local government below the market price. Buyers of property in the Raval should always have a lawyer check whether a property is 'afectada' or not.
• Some say that the Raval has great potential for gentrification and hence capital appreciation. It is well situated in the centre of the city and according to this theory all that is needed is for prices to rise sufficiently to push out the criminal elements and suck in trendy professionals with money looking for a new hip and edgy central district. The process starts with early pioneers who can cope with the risks and who are drawn in by the relatively low prices. They are followed by entrepreneurs opening trendy bars, restaurants, shops and galleries, much as has happened in areas of North West London and lower Manhattan in New York. This creates a virtuous circle that improves the area and opens up the market to more risk-adverse buyers who are attracted by the central location. This was expected to happen once Barcelona's Museum of Modern Art (MACBA) was opened in the Raval, and to a certain extent it has in parts of the Raval above Calle Hospital and between the MACBA and The Ramblas. These are also streets in which some of the best buildings in the Raval are to be found and in which the Municipal government has invested resources into improvements. However the process seems to have lost momentum with the result that the top corner of the Raval between the MACBA and The Ramblas and above Calle Hospital is attractive and safe by the standards of the Raval, whilst the rest of the district leaves a lot to be desired in terms of crime, housing stock and facilities. Will the process of gentrification continue to the rest of the Raval? Given its central location and the shortage of space in Barcelona it is likely that it will. However it is going to take longer than expected.
• As a general rule the worst areas of the Raval are below Calle Hospital and also in the triangle between Ronda De Sant Antoni, Joaquín Costa and Sant Antoni Abad. In the 'bad' areas the closer to The Ramblas the better.
• When buying in the Raval we recommend using more caution than for other areas of Barcelona. Most property will need refurbishment, which is a big headache for overseas buyers. Other than it's central location it is not a convenient district to live in and there are high levels of petty crime, relatively poor housing stock and a significant number of properties that could be affected by compulsory purchase orders in the future. Furthermore it is not an ideal district for renting properties; good quality rental agents do not like managing property in the Raval because their tourist clients and staff are much more likely to experience personal safety problems. Our research shows that despite the high number of properties for sale in the Raval, there are relatively few apartments for rent (not including properties for rent to immigrants which is a rental market best left to the 'experts'), which says something about the difficulty of renting out property in the Raval. On the other hand the Raval's location in the centre of the city and close to many of Barcelona's main tourist attractions means that it has considerable room for improvement, which, if it were to happen, would be reflected in rising property prices. In our opinion this improvement is likely to happen but will take time and may not be a smooth process. In the meantime most of the Raval is only suitable for intrepid buyers who are in a position to cope with owning property in the Raval. In particular buyers with plans to rent out property in the Raval should be very clear about the rental market in the Raval before proceeding to buy.

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Click on these links for more information on Barcelona property by district:

Barceloneta Property
Born Property
Barrio Gótico (Gothic Quarter), Old Town, Ciutat Vella Property
Raval Property
Ensanche (Eixample) Property
Gracia Property
Sarrià - Sant Gervasi Property
Pedralbes Property
Sant Martí & Poblenou Property
Poble Sec Propert