Barcelona overtakes Madrid and becomes the city that attracts the most hotel investment in the country
The Catalan capital attracts nearly 600 million with deals such as the sales of The Hoxton Hotel or the Barceló Raval
BarcelonaBarcelona closed 2015 with over 16 million tourists, a figure that has continued to grow since the pandemic, but which has still just missed its all-time high of 16.14 million tourists in 2019. And the more travelers visit the city, the more its hotels are worth. This confirms the upward trend in investment seen in recent years.
The Catalan capital was the city that attracted the most investment in the entire country during 2025, with a volume of €598 million, almost 5% more than the previous year, according to Christie & Co., a consultancy specializing in the tourism sector. This continues a growth trend that began in 2023, although it does not surpass its peak of €872 million reached in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, when many hotels changed hands to cope with the crisis caused by COVID-19. What Barcelona did achieve in 2025 was to overtake Madrid as the leading destination, capturing 31% of all investment made in Spain. Since 2022, Madrid had become the city attracting the most hotel investment, leaving Barcelona in second place, but last year it had to settle for €355 million, compared to the Catalan capital's €598 million. "All investors have Barcelona on their list," emphasizes Alberto Martín, investment director at Christie & Co. The main transaction recorded in Barcelona in 2025 was the purchase of The Hoxton hotel at the end of the year for €110 million, according to industry sources. The Swiss asset manager Partners Group and the American real estate investor Trinity Investments acquired this Poblenou property from the British investment firm Norlake Hospitality. The Hotel Barceló Raval also changed hands, acquired for €70 million by the German fund Real IS from Union Investment, another German investment firm. Separately, the year also began with activity from Meridia, Javier Faus's fund, which sold the Hotel Hesperia del Mar in Catalonia for 25 million euros, renaming it Catalonia Barcelona Beach. At the end of the year, the hotel chain founded by the Vallet brothers also acquired the Hotel Gallery in Meridia, which became in its 30th establishment in the city and has become the Catalonia Boulevard.
The sector also saw Canadian manager Brookfield acquire the Generator hotel chain in Europe from British firm Queensgate for €776 million. In Barcelona, it has a hostel in Corsica with Bruc. The most controversial transaction was the new ownership of the Palace Hotel, which has become the property of the Algerian state. to settle The debts of tycoon Ali Haddad.
The highest transaction in history
A period of great dynamism for the hotel sector, a trend also reflected at the national level, where urban destinations like Barcelona and Madrid were overtaken by holiday destinations. Investment reached over €4.2 billion, approaching the all-time record of €4.86 billion achieved in 2018. "The tourism sector has been gaining relevance in investors' portfolios globally: they see it as a sector as profitable and secure as any other. Furthermore, Spain has competed with other competitors," said Martín.
The largest transaction completed this year in Spain, and in the entire history of the sector, was the purchase of the Mare Nostrum complex in Tenerife by the Spring Hotels chain for €430 million. This transaction alone represented 17% of all investment made in Spain and, moreover, had a Catalan connection, despite taking place in the Canary Islands. Despite its strong presence in the islands, Spring Hotels was founded in 1985 in Barcelona through Diagonal Plaza, the company that owns and manages the chain, established by the Catalan Plaza and Vidal families.
Interest will continue in 2026
Despite the strong investment figures recorded in Barcelona, the sector is beginning to talk about a certain stabilization, especially due to the drop in American tourists, one of the city's most important markets. The Catalan capital saw revenues and prices decrease by 1% in 2025 compared to the previous year, while employment remained stable year-on-year after becoming accustomed to accumulating increases. "We've come from years of strong growth, and Barcelona has begun to stabilize. In contrast, other destinations in Spain have continued to expand. Madrid and Marbella have held up better," notes Bruno Hallé, a partner at the consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield. This slowdown, for the moment, is not impacting investment. "There's still a lot of interest in buying in Barcelona. With the hotel moratorium, there's very little supply, and the only option is to acquire existing properties, which have increased in value. I don't think that was the intention, but the PEUAT (Special Urban Development Plan for Tourist Accommodation) has made hoteliers richer," says Hallé. "The more profit hotels make, the higher their valuation, just like any other business. Furthermore, there's a symbiotic relationship between the hotel and the destination: if Barcelona does well, its hotels do well too," adds Martín. That's why the sector expects transactions to continue in 2026, also because the funds that bought hotels during the height of the pandemic want to sell assets they bought cheaply and that have already generated significant profits.