Flight club

It’s the frenetic start of the new term at IE Tower in Spain’s capital and both students and staff are finding their feet. Up on the 25th floor, monocle’s effervescent host, IE University president Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, offers some healthy reassurance. “In Madrid, there’s always time for a good lunch,” he says. “This is a big part of the attraction.”

Around the table, talk focuses on the future. “Education is changing – and Madrid along with it,” says Iñiguez de Onzoño, pointing to the private university’s exponential growth to 10,000 students since opening its state-of-the-art high-rise campus in the ultra-modern Castellana business district three years ago. “Today, education is less about coercion and more about enticement; many of our students talk about the ‘good life’ and being part of a dynamic campus connected to the city.”

The executive president calls Spain “a gateway between Europe and the Americas”. Indeed, IE’s success wouldn’t be what it was without its intake from the wider Spanish-speaking world. Currently, about 85 per cent of IE’s enrolment comes from abroad, with 15 per cent from Latin America.

This growing percentile is part of a bigger story reshaping Madrid. Many students are moving from the Americas with their entire families, putting further strain on an already-stretched property market but also invigorating the economy. As well as a slew of new investments, there’s plenty of spending in retail, restaurant and service sectors.

“I would love to stay in my country but there’s too much instability and insecurity,” says fourth-year undergraduate student María Victoria Felipe di Toro, a Venezuelan who is also president of the university debate club. “When I moved to Madrid, I would still send five friends my live location as a precaution before I got into a taxi,” she adds. “Being able to walk down the street, catch public transport or be out at night without fear or anxiety took some getting used to but it fosters a better study experience.” She does admit, however, to the dilemma of being a skilled immigrant. “Will we stay? How do we navigate living between two different realities? What responsibility do we have to improve the situation at home?”

A group of Latam students gather in one of the campus’s capacious lounge areas to expand upon the conundrum. “Home is always calling but individual development is also important,” says Carlos Rodríguez, an international mba student from Colombia.

Madrid’s magnetic lifestyle has one particularly adamant convert in Stefanie Reis. The International mba student left a project-manager role in her family’s logistics firm in Brazil to study business in Madrid. She has little intention of returning home – for now. “Even though I could earn five times more in Brazil, I like the flow of life in Madrid,” she says. “People aren’t just living to work here.”

But the boom in Latinos isn’t just students. In the well-heeled Salesas district (see here), Venezuelan Victor Rocha Laporta is taking us for a stroll to his favourite coffee spot. He opened his consultancy, Laporta Properties, in 2019 to help compatriots stride into the Spanish capital with confidence. It has since grown into a fully fledged agency, helping clients navigate Spanish bureaucracy and purchase turnkey properties, as well as overseeing renovations. “I began with only Venezuelans but as of 2022, 50 per cent of my clients are Mexicans in search of high-end properties,” says Laporta, explaining how Venezuelans have since discovered a lucrative business by renovating and selling upgraded properties back to this growing cohort. “What I enjoy most about my job is having clients see Madrid as a refuge – for themselves and for their money. The instability in our countries brings a lot of fear; my business brings peace of mind.”

Investment by Latin American companies in Spain climbed to €2.83bn in 2023, up 138 per cent from the previous year. It’s a boon for the wider economy but the influx of capital means  that some are being priced out. Increased demand saw housing prices rise more than 10 per cent at the start of 2024, making Madrid the fastest rising market in Europe. Tensions around rising prices have also put the issue of mass tourism and immigration in the sightlines of protests and fractious political debates.

Despite burgeoning anxieties, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez recently announced a large expansion to Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez airport to extend its capacity to 90 million passengers by 2031 and strengthen routes with Latin America and Asia. But Sánchez’s left-leaning government has mooted plans to end the country’s golden visa, which fast-tracks residence for foreign nationals investing more than €600,000. To date, the politically sensitive scheme remains in place.

Meanwhile, cultural shifts are changing the city. Restaurants have started loosening kitchen opening hours to cater to slightly earlier Latam schedules. Others have introduced fixed dining times to capitalise on increased demand, much to the chagrin of locals known for enjoying a languid sobremesa. “Immigrants bring freshness,” says Venezuelan restaurateur and fashion entrepreneur Eliza Arcaya. She offers us a plate of tequeños (fried pastry rolls filled with cheese) at Murillo Café, which she opened behind the Prado Museum in 2007. “Back then everything closed in the middle of the day,” she recalls. “I wanted to create an open-all-day bistro, like I was used to in Caracas.” It’s now a social embassy of sorts for Latin American expats.

“There’s always been a fraternity between Spain and Venezuela – family, linguistic and historical ties – mean we blend in easily. Many Spaniards have affection for us because their families went to Latin America to make their fortunes,” she says. “I wanted my children to grow up in a country with a solid legal framework and foundation.” The city is making some moves so its residents can breathe with relief. The view from IE’s top floor showcases the capital’s rapidly transforming urban landscape, with one of Europe’s biggest residential and commercial developments, Madrid Nuevo Norte (New North), surrounding the tower. An ambitious upgrade of the Chamartín railway station will soon cover the train tracks, making way for thousands more houses, futuristic office space and a new central park.

IE is also making a bid for the future, with acquisitions in New York, Saudi Arabia, and The Global College, a co-ed day and boarding school in Madrid’s leafy El Viso neighbourhood, which offers an IB diploma programme. The Global College’s president and ceo, Lucía Figar, is a former education minister and explains the city’s winning pitch to monocle with succinct poise. “It’s the city factor: climate, culture, centrality and social life,” she says, after wrapping a tour with two parents interested in enrolling their daughter here. “Apart from being safe, confident and vibrant, Madrid is also an easy city.” — L