Two weeks ago the President of the Community of Madrid participated in an event in support of several five-star hotels, within an event called Luxury Hotel Sustainability Conferencewhich housed a palace located in the Barrio de las Letras. Isabel Díaz Ayuso assured that the region was experiencing “one of our best moments thanks to these luxury hotels. “They have helped Madrid take this step thanks to the quality of services they provide.”
The praise addressed to the representatives of the Four Seasons, the Urso or the Villa Magna was followed by a speech in which Ayuso outlined the objectives he seeks to attract customers willing to pay the 900 euros that a night costs in his rooms. “They and their children will want to live among us in the future, to work, to start their family here, to study, to put down roots,” he declared before saying that “it is a tourism which is committed to the good taste”. .”
In one sentence, the leader of the regional PP outlined the guidelines of the policy that her party applies in Madrid to create the conditions that attract a category of citizens with very high purchasing power. Regarding housing, the City Hall has just approved a special plan to build apartments in Velázquez which will sell on average for 13 million euros each. This example is one of many that have made it almost impossible to find apartments under a million in the Salamanca neighborhood and that this area is the seed of what is beginning to be called the new miami due to the abundance of many new neighbors arriving from Latin America with large capitals.
Many of these new Madridistas are constantly looking for exclusivity and are willing to pay 255 euros for an entry ticket to the summer rooftop cinema in Canalejas, as El País recently reported, or pay large sums of money to belong to a club reserved for millionaires which has just opened its doors on Serrano Street, next to Puerta de Alcalá.
The latter place is called The Library, a cellar bar with high prices per glass (you can pay up to 94 euros for a champagne) and a Wine Society limited to 90 members, with an entry fee of 6,000 euros to access its services. and an obligation to spend annually on wines of at least 20,000 euros. “The company promotes connection and learning in an environment of luxury and absolute privacy,” they say about this environment on their website, where, among the luxury photos, a quote from Karl Marx attracts attention. ‘attention.
The series of luxury services also includes private education at high prices, infrastructures that the Community and the Town Hall also facilitate, to the point of forcing the law to its maximum in certain cases, such as that of Brewster, the open school of Chamberí in progress passed without a license. He did it in a historic building next to the Quevedo roundabout, which the regional government had previously consolidated, spending three million euros of public money there. Tuition fees for this center range from 6,000 euros per year in tuition for students aged 3 to 4 years old to 22,344 for the final year (between 17 and 18 years old).
Mayor Almeida has also shown, like Ayuso, his public support for the luxury sector, to which he has devoted himself since his arrival in Cibeles. During a conference given to Círculo Fortuny at the start of his first mandate, he stressed “the importance of taking care of tourism with high purchasing power” and that his government’s actions aimed to “strengthen” the “high-end tourism” which “It must also be about gastronomy and quality of life.”
But the spearhead for attracting all these tourists and potential Madrid residents are exclusive sporting events, macroconcerts like those hosted by the Berbabéu and hotels. The mayor himself regularly participates in events and meetings with the latter’s leading brands and also develops many special projects aimed at transforming old office buildings into four and five star tourist accommodation.
Thanks to its policy, the brands Brach (Gran Vía 20), Nobu Hotel (C/ Alcalá 26), Melia Colection (C/ Atocha 83), Radisson Collection (C/ Moratín 52) or Nômade People (Gran Vía 11), a five-star hotel that will elevate the category of the Iberostar it replaces. It remains to be seen whether this luxury fever manages to overcome the first major setback suffered by the sector in the city, after the bankruptcy of the main operator of the Canalejas gastronomic gallery.
If the Four Seasons continues to make losses and with an occupancy rate of around 50%, its figures could end up affecting nearby projects like the second UMusic that the Universal chain wants to open in Madrid: it will be right opposite and it will build will have to join three buildings protected for five years of work. His optimistic economic plan aims to come close to what the rest of luxury hotels currently charge the wealthy who visit Madrid: 137 euros per restaurant dinner and 113 euros for each theater entry.
