Mark Stücklin
Spain ranks high in Knight Frank’s European Lifestyle Report 2024 that looks at where the rich favour relocating today, with Barcelona and Madrid in the top five cities, and Marbella in the top five resorts.
Wealth is on the move in Europe and some cities and resorts are more attractive than others for rich globe-trotters, known in the jargon as HNWIS (High Net Worth Individuals), details a new report from international property company Knight Frank.
“Seismic political and economic shifts are seeing the world’s wealthy vote with their feet,” writes the report’s lead author, Kate Everett-Allen, Head of European Residential Research at Knight Frank, pointing out that “a record 128,000 millionaires will relocate globally this year, surpassing the previous record of 120,000 set in 2023” citing research by Henley & Partners, a residency-by-investment (Golden Visa) consultancy.
Why are the HNWIs on the move, and where do they want to go?
Knight Frank surveyed more than 700 high-net-worth individuals from across 11 different countries and 28 nationalities segmented by generation from Post War to Gen Z to rank motivations for relocation by order of importance. The ranking results of the five most important motivations broken down by generation was as follows:
Top five cities
Paris was number one followed by Berlin; in other words the capital cities of the two most important members of the EU. In third place Barcelona was the only non-capital city in the top five, followed by Vienna and Madrid. Spain was the only European country to get two cities into the top five, and Barcelona was the only Mediterranean city in the top five.
Top five resorts
Verbier in the Swiss Alps was the top ranked resort destination, and Marbella on the Costa del Sol – Spain’s flagship beach resort – was in fifth place, with Monaco, the South of France (a big area!), and Chamonix sandwiched between them.
The UK didn’t make it into the top five of any category, though presumably the UK will be a big source of HNWIs looking to move to sunnier and happier climes in the not-to-distant future.
HNWIs heading for Barcelona should check out the Antares building in Diagonal Mar, a superb luxury development that advertise in the SPI showcase. This level of luxury in Barcelona costs a fraction of what it would in Monaco, where the Knight Frank report reveals that prime property prices are approximately six times more expensive than Barcelona.
Antares Barcelona
Award-winning Antares Barcelona is making waves as the highest ultra-prime residential building on the Catalan capital’s waterfront, with spectacular city and sea views from a seat of luxury.
