BCN: luxury magnet

As numbers attest, the luxury sector is experiencing growth worldwide. But one of the cities that is consolidating its position in the luxury market even in times of crisis like nowadays is the city of Barcelona. Catalonia’s capital is the main point of this type of tourism in the Iberian Peninsula that attracts capital and discrete fortunes; a situation that started in 1992 with the Olympic Games. A projection that in recent years has been marked by the creation of the Barcelona brand focused on luxury which has in the Passeig de Gràcia its greatest exponent, as explains Robert Tomàs, Professor of Applied Economics at UAB.

Only the work by public and private promoters wouldn’t have created the luxury sector as strong as it is. Barcelona has other intrinsic factors to explain why is the city so attractive. The most prominent among these is the Mediterranean climate with predominantly sunny weather and pleasant temperatures throughout the year. However, the sun is not the unique factor to attract rich tourists. According to Miren Etxezarreta: “They come very conditioned by the mild Mediterranean climate, but also because there are more facilities with the purchase of properties here than in their origin countries”. Moreover, she has the suspicion that some dark business could be made in Barcelona.

People from around the world come every year to Barcelona, even though, the biggest part of rich tourists come from only one country: Russia. Figures moved by the sector employers indicate that 75% of the clientele comes from the Siberian country, according to Miguel Angel Solá, Manager of Dreams Luxury Group. Last years, his companies noticed “a major presence of Russian as well as some Chinese and Arabs. Percentage of Europeans, including those Catalan or Spanish, is a very low turnover, a clear minority in the luxury sector today”.

What is happening with the Russians?

As mentioned, Russia provides the most luxury consumers in Barcelona. This feature, however, is not exclusive of the Catalan capital. “Nowadays, the Russians are the only ones that can consume luxurious products”, asserts Solá.

Why can only Russians consume luxury? It has its roots back to the USSR. This is something that Miren Etxezarreta doesn’t have any problem to explain: “In the fall of real socialism in the Soviet Union, two decades ago, there was an acquisition of capital by powerful people. It was the bureaucracy tied to the Communist Party”.

Etxezarreta argues that “the heads of the companies (public until the fall of the USSR) took advantage in the transfer of communist economy to a market economy. Due to the very low wages, the workers agreed to sell its stakes in exchange for money. Then, bureaucrats acquired companies formerly owned by workers”. By this way, “the most rogues became the de facto owners (controlling most of the shares) of the country’s major companies that control resources like the national oil, gas or coal”.

In 2013, twenty-four years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, those ones who taken advantage are still wealthy. The new riches in Russia are the children of the last communist generation “with a lower average age, from 30 to 40 years,” Miguel Ángel Solá (Manager Luxury Dreams Group) says. These new clients don’t look forward pomposity, as their parents used to do; they pursue modernity. “They are being Europeanized”, stresses Solá.

Our map (click here for a bigger view) shows various relevant places of the luxury sector in Barcelona

such as shops, residential areas, fairs and hotels (with pricing), and also inequality in the city.