Madrid’s high-end developments are expanding shared wellness facilities as buyers expect more than a pool. The extras can raise flat prices and push monthly community fees into the thousands.
In Madrid’s premium districts, asking prices of €20,000 per square metre are no longer unthinkable. Some singular projects reach €30,000. Developers are adding shared facilities to compete for buyers, and the cost can affect both property prices and monthly community charges.
The pool is no longer the main attraction.
Indoor pools and gyms were among the first additions. Sales material now features rooftop solariums with bar counters, along with private dining rooms. Other spaces are set aside for yoga or pilates. Some schemes add libraries or hair salons. Larger spas may include a Turkish bath and plunge pools, as well as massage rooms.
Natalia Pérez, a senior consultant at Knight Frank, says the trend took hold in recent years largely through Latin American buyers and, to a lesser extent, Americans seeking the facilities they expect at home. Álvaro González, chief executive of Spain Sotheby’s International Realty, estimates that 90% of buyers for this type of property are foreign. Pérez puts the split at 50% international and 50% Spanish.
Foreign buyers remain a substantial presence across Spain, but Madrid’s pattern differs from the national one. In the first half of 2026, they acquired about 51,630 homes nationwide, 3.8% more than in the same period of 2025 and 8% more than in the second half of 2025. Those purchases accounted for 14.9% of transactions, according to Idealista’s analysis of land-registry figures. In the Madrid region, foreign purchases fell 19.7% year on year, from 5,289 to 4,248, while the average price paid rose 15.4% to €4,379 per square metre. North American buyers paid the highest average price among foreign buyer groups in the periods covered by Idealista: €4,336 and €4,311 per square metre.
Spanish buyers have also become more demanding, Pérez says. In a high-end development with a high price per square metre, buyers ask about amenities. They will not pay those sums if the facilities are missing. Beltrán Soto, director of Messer Living, says international developers were the first to include extensive common areas. Spanish promoters initially hesitated over construction costs and the housing space they would have to give up.
That trade-off means fewer flats, but higher-quality homes and a higher price per square metre, Soto says. González says amenities can improve sales prospects and help raise prices, including in the refurbishment of Madrid’s classic buildings. Shared facilities have since become standard in new developments of a certain level, Soto says. That includes projects in central areas priced at around €14,000 per square metre. These prices sit well above the market-wide average of €4,379 per square metre for homes bought by foreign buyers in Madrid, reported by Idealista.
The wider Spanish housing market saw prices rise as transactions slipped in the first half of 2026. About 346,030 home sales were registered, 1.9% fewer than a year earlier. The national housing-price index rose 12.2% year on year in the second quarter, following increases of 12.9% in the first quarter of 2026 and the fourth quarter of 2025. More than 705,000 home sales were recorded in Spain in 2025, the highest total since 2007.
Running these spaces takes more than a conventional property administrator, according to Soto. Messer Living offers residential management modelled on a boutique hotel director. Optional services include arranging a haircut or massage in the building. Owners can also ask for their fridge to be stocked before they arrive home.
The monthly bill can run to several thousand euros. Soto says Spanish buyers often ask about community fees first. Pérez says even Spanish clients understand they may pay at least €1,000 a month. Buyers spending around €1 million find the charge difficult, while those paying €3 million or more tend to accept it.
Madrid is also a major centre for property investment. By the end of September 2026, it accounted for €6.471 billion, or 46% of Spain’s total real-estate investment, according to Observatorio Inmobiliario. That figure exceeded Madrid’s investment total for all of 2025, though it covers the property market as a whole rather than only luxury housing.
A Hiscox report describes a parallel shift inside Spain’s mansions. Older generations seek space for art collections and family jewellery. Younger owners are turning rooms into wellness facilities, including gyms with modern equipment and cryotherapy chambers, says Eva Peribáñez, Hiscox Spain’s director of art and private clients.
