Madrid is a city decentralized towards the north, partly thanks to the shape of the M-30 ring road, which serves as a psychological border, but also because the north has been the business hub, and as Edu Saz, an architect specializing in real estate, explains: “It has been a more desirable area to live in and generally has higher prices.”
This has created a historical imbalance in the capital between the wealthier northern part and the southern area, which , despite being closer to the city center, has always been more modest and also more accessible to the working classes. However, this phenomenon is gradually becoming blurred.
The “spillover” to the southern neighborhoods of Madrid
Edu Saz talks about this phenomenon, known in English as “spillover,” which occurs when excess demand for housing exceeds supply in the city center, ultimately driving people to the outskirts. In the specific case of Madrid, with the disappearance of the physical barrier of the M-30 thanks to Madrid Río, the southern neighborhoods have been the first to experience this process of gentrification. Puerta del Ángel, Los Cármenes, San Isidro, and Usera are absorbing much of this search for housing because house prices here used to be lower, although they are increasingly approaching the figures on the other side of the Manzanares River.
At the same time, these neighborhoods are experiencing small “spillovers” because, as Edu Saz explains, “Madrid has grown along main roads. For example, in the south, you have Calle General Ricardos, and the houses on that main road tend to be of better construction quality than those in the interior of the neighborhood, which tend to be of poorer quality.” Therefore, the most sought-after houses are usually those on these long main streets, which are the hub of the area and also have better public transport connections.
This phenomenon shows no signs of stopping in the near future. In the words of Saz: “The focus on Madrid, not only in Europe but also internationally, means that more and more people want to move here,” and the supply of housing does not meet the demand, even with new urban developments such as Los Berrocales, Madrid Nuevo Norte, and others that have been built in the southeast of the capital.