Merlin shareholders have approved the takeover of rival REIT Metrovacesa.

Merlin, which invests in offices, shopping centres and logistics, said it would become one of the largest diversified commercial REIT vehicles in Continental Europe.

European listed real estate could attract €75bn in additional investment flows as a result of changes to global equity indices, according to the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA).

European loan portfolio activity is expected to rebound in the final four months of the year with close to €100bn in ongoing and as yet unannounced trade expected to close before the year end, predicts Deloitte’s Portfolio Lead Advisory Services (PLAS) team.

In its Deleveraging Europe H1 2016 report, published late yesterday afternoon, Deloitte said €44.3bn in loan sales had completed in the first half of the year. In addition, a further €67.8bn in European loan portfolio sales were ongoing. 

Spain and Portugal may have endured the same pain during the euro zone's debt crisis. When it comes to the recovery, the two nations are taking different paths.

While Spain's growth rates are some of the strongest in the 19-nation region, with confidence in economic prospects fueling a surge in investment, Portugal is paying the price for backtracking on key reforms.

Four in five European institutional investors plan to increase or maintain their exposure to real estate over the next two years, according to Aquila Capital.

The investment manager surveyed 64 investors in Europe in May and found that 80% were not going to cut their exposure and 38% were ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ about the outlook for the asset class.

Deutsche Asset Management has invested €493m in a Spanish retail property asset.

The company said its Madrid-based Iberian real estate investment business bought the Diagonal Mar shopping centre in Barcelona.

Spanish government bonds advanced, pushing the 10-year yield below 1 percent for the first time, as monetary easing by central banks across the developed world overshadows the nation’s struggles to form a government.

Meliá Hotels International (MHI) will form part of the Ibex 35 Spanish stock market index from August 8th, following the departure of FCC. The company was highly commended in a review conducted by the Technical Advisory Committee, published by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission. 

In 2015 Madrid registered 18 million overnight hotel stays, an increase of 8.7% compared to 2014. Only London and Stockholm saw a larger increase (9.8% and 9.7% respectively).
We notice a 12.8% increase in international overnight hotel stays in Madrid, numbering 10.2 million, making Madrid one of the fastest growing European cities.
Madrid ranks 6th in Europe in terms of hotel stock (82800 beds), an increase of 1.2% compared to 2014. 
Madrid, on a national level, is where tourists spend most. From January to May 2016 tourists spent €213 on average per day, an increase of 34.8% compared to the same period of last year.
Occupancy in Madrid in 2015 was 71.12% (up 4.27% compared to last year). People stayed on average 2 nights, slightly longer compared to 2014.
We witness the same growth rate in 2016. From January to May 2016 the occupancy rate was 72.94%, an increase of 2.31% compared to the same period last year.

TPG Capital and Partners Group’s joint acquisition of a series of retail assets in Spain and Italy was given green light last week by the European Commission after determining it would raise no competition concerns.

In Madrid, the area within the M-30 ring road accounted for between 40 and 50% of all office take-up in the crisis years. Given that the lion’s share of existing refurbishment projects are located within this area, it is logical to suggest that this trend will continue up until at least the start of 2017. We also expect that take-up will increase in the more consolidated business areas beside the A-1 and A-2 highways.

2015 was an exceptional year for the logistics sector in Spain (€662 million was invested) and this positive trend seems to continue into 2016 (Q1 in 2016: €320 million invested). The positive performance of consumption and industrial output, which began three years ago, has boosted the logistics market in 2015 and so far in 2016. Moreover, the shortage of high quality product has led to a slight increase in rents and above all to a stabilisation of prices.  

Prologis has acquired 70,000 square metres of land in Valencia for the development of two logistics buildings, each totalling more than 23,000 square metres.

Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2016. 

Local investors represent 47% of commercial real estate investments in Spain, but from which countries are the overseas institutional investors?

Hispania, through its subsidiary Bay Hotels & Leisure, has acquired Inversiones Inmobiliarias Oasis Resort for EUR28 million, from CaixaBank and Metrópolis.

Almudena Martin is scrambling to keep up with tourists flooding to the Canary Islands hotels where she works. Reservations are up as much as 20 percent this year as terror attacks and security worries elsewhere draw visitors to the safety of countries like Spain.

“There’s been a lot of last-minute bookings, we’ve had to hire new staff and redo our planning board for the summer to cope with new demand,” said the assistant general manager at Seaside Hotels, which has two five-star properties on the islands. “We also have many clients who have stayed with us twice this year because it’s a safe destination.”

In a sale-and-leaseback agreement, Barcelona-based hotel investment firm HI Partners has recently purchased the IFA Caterina Hotel, on Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands, for €42.4 million (€105,500 per room) from Lopesan Hotel Group. The 402-room hotel is in the island’s capital, Las Palmas, and its new owner will now invest €7 million in refurbishing the property. Lopesan will continue to manage the four-star hotel.

Holding group Baraka Global Invest, registered in the Region of Murcia and spearheaded by Orihuela-born businessman Trinitario Casanova, is reported to have offered 265 million euros for the emblematic Edificio España in Madrid, the same amount paid by Chinese group Wanda in 2014 when it was purchased from the Banco Santander. 

With continued woes in the Middle East, this summer hotel guests are traveling to traditional markets such as Portugal, Spain and Greece. A series of recent geopolitical trends and incidents could push more travelers to some European destinations, setting up clear sets of winners and losers this summer. Spain and Portugal are the most likely to benefit from guests deciding against booking trips to the Middle East and Turkish destinations for their summer travel. 

Advisers consider alternative investments key to growing their high-net-worth (HNW) business, but a lack of access to quality products stands in the way of larger allocations to the asset class, according to a financial adviser survey commissioned by Artivest.