NEW data has revealed the Spanish municipalities where international house hunters now completely dominate the property market, pushing domestic buyers into the minority.
Andalucia leads the charge with one inland Malaga village seeing more than 60% of all its property interest coming from abroad.
Competa, a whitewashed mountain town about 18km inland from the Costa del Sol, is the region’s most extreme example, according to first-quarter figures from Idealista.
Foreign searches there account for 61.3% of the market, meaning nearly two out of every three potential buyers are looking from outside Spain.
READ MORE: Property prices in Spain have more than doubled since 2014
British investors remain the driving force in the village, followed closely by the Dutch and Germans.
The trend sweeps across the southern region, with the inland Almeria town of Oria hitting 58.5% foreign demand.
Further along the Malaga coast, the tourist hotspot of Nerja sits at 56.1%, driven heavily by Swedish and British house hunters.
But the most concentrated expat haven in the entire country is found in the Balearics.
Canyamel, a small coastal resort in the northeast of Mallorca, tops the national table with a staggering 67.2% foreign demand.
German buyers maintain an absolute stranglehold on the island, accounting for more than half of all overseas searches.
Meanwhile on the Costa Blanca, the upscale coastal town of Moraira sees 57% of its market driven by international buyers.
READ MORE: Revealed: The Costa Blanca’s most expensive places to buy a property as prices continue to soar
Dutch and Belgian buyers have surged to the top of the pile in Alicante province, pushing the British into second place.
Nationally, Alicante remains the province with the highest proportion of foreign interest overall.
Across the province as a whole, nearly one in three potential buyers is now searching from outside Spain.
Addendum: Top 20 municipalities for foreign demand
- Canyamel (Baleares) 67.2%
- Cala d’Or (Baleares) 67.1%
- Cala Ratjada (Baleares) 63.3%
- Competa (Malaga) 61.3%
- Oria (Almeria) 58.5%
- Frigiliana (Malaga) 57.1%
- Moraira (Alicante) 57.0%
- Benitachell (Alicante) 56.9%
- Nerja (Malaga) 56.1%
- Tijarafe (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) 55.1%
- Benissa (Alicante) 53.0%
- Pajara (Las Palmas) 52.6%
- Empuriabrava (Girona) 50.5%
- Roses (Girona) 49.8%
- Mogan (Las Palmas) 47.4%
- Antigua (Las Palmas) 46.5%
- Iznajar (Cordoba) 43.9%
- Abanilla (Murcia) 37.8%
- Fuente-Alamo (Murcia) 37.2%
- Los Alcazares (Murcia) 37.0%
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