A private pan-European real estate platform, “Henderson Park”, has acquired the new Aloft Madrid Gran Vía in Spain for 57 million euros from SafeGuard Real Estate Management, based in Singapore. The hotel, developed in collaboration with Rockwell Group, is Henderson Park’s fourth investment in Spain, and Nick Weber, founding partner of the platform, said his team is still “positive about the prospects for the Spanish market and in particular for Madrid and Barcelona”. He added that both cities are attracting a growing number of international business and leisure travelers as the country’s economy improves. 

Spain’s most popular destination in terms of visitor numbers is Madrid, attracting around 10 million tourists in 2018. The international airport has reached a record 58 million passengers in 2018 with 58 million, while the city is now one of the leading locations for MICE participants with 110,000 conference and event guests last year. The demand for hotels has increased over the last three years, and developers are paying attention and investing millions in privileged locations to get a greater variety of demographic data. According to an analysis of hotel investment by the international hotel consultant, 2018 was a record year for Spanish investment, with 4.86 billion euros in hospitality offers changing hands. According to the data, a total of 223 transactions (2017 over 185 transactions) represented an average room rate of 128 euros and an increase in total investment volume of 24.6 percent over 2017, putting Spain in second place behind the United States. Kingdom (where investment is estimated at £6.5 billion), but for the first time ahead of Germany (where €4 billion was estimated for total investment in 2018). Global companies are increasing investment across the country.

In December, US travel and hospitality group Apple Leisure Group signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Spanish Alua Hotels & Resorts, integrating the three-year hotel chain into ALG’s European operations. Under the terms of the agreement, ALG assumed management responsibility for more than 4,000 rooms in 16 hotels (including 12 with the Alua brand) throughout Spain. In July, ALG opened the Secrets Mallorca Villamil Resort & Spa, the first property of the Secrets brand of AMResorts in Spain, after a renovation worth 3.5 million euros. One of the five leading foreign hotel chains in the country. The Pestana Hotel Group of Portugal was founded six years ago in Barcelona and opened the Pestana Plaza Mayor Madrid in the Spanish capital in May. And in March, Hyatt entered into franchise agreements with a subsidiary of Hesperia Hotels & Resorts to open the 170-room Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid and the 280-room Hyatt Regency Barcelona Fira. The hotels mark the brand’s entry into Spain.