A record number of real estate in Spain is used by Polish buyers on the Costa del Polo

Karol Minarchuk, a 34-year-old insurance specialist, heard that a friend of his had bought an apartment on Spain's Mediterranean coast and decided it might be a good way to diversify capital that was slowly being eaten up by rising inflation. Prices in many parts of Spain were lower than in the increasingly tight real estate market in Warsaw, where Minarchuk lives with his family. But he had another consideration: his three-year-old daughter. "Let's not hide the fact that the situation in Ukraine also influenced our decision," Minarchuk told Notes from Poland. "The family situation changes a little bit when the baby comes ... and if something happens, we would like to take our family away so they can be in relative safety." In February this year, he bought a 90-square-meter apartment in Torrevieja, a city of 80,000 people on the southeastern Costa Blanca. Minarchuk has thus become one of a rapidly growing number of Poles buying real estate in Spain. In 2022 alone, Polish citizens bought almost 3,000 Spanish properties, a record number and 160% more than the previous year.

This trend points to changing economic dynamics in the European Union, as Poland and other eastern members have caught up with and, in some cases, surpassed their western counterparts. When Poland joined the EU in 2004, it was the bloc's second poorest country in terms of GDP per capita relative to the cost of living (known as purchasing power standards, or PPPs). However, by 2021 it had surpassed Portugal on this measure and is now approaching Spain. During this period, Poland's GDP per capita in PPP terms rose from 47% of the EU average to 77%. Meanwhile, on the income side, Poland's average annual wage in purchasing power terms has risen from 56% of Spain's in 2000 to 86% in 2021. Preliminary data for 2022 and 2023 indicate that the gap has narrowed further. While average wages in Spain are still higher than in Poland, real estate prices in Poland are often higher than in Spain and are rising rapidly.

Magda Eder-Krul, 43, bought an apartment in Torrevieja last year, moving there from London, where she had lived for nearly two decades after emigrating from Poland. She notes that she could have returned to Poland after Brexit, but prices on the Spanish coast are lower than on the Baltic Sea. And there's a lot more sunshine. "It seems to me that if the vacation season in Kolobrze [a popular Polish resort town] lasts two months and here it lasts nine months, and the price per square meter is a few thousand zlotys cheaper, people prefer to buy here," she says. According to the Polish real estate website Sonar Home, the average price per square meter in February this year in Kolobrze, a city of 46,000 people, was 10,220 zlotys (2,270 euros). In Torrevieja, the figure was 14% lower at 1,948 euros per square meter, according to Spanish website Indominio. "Everyone who can afford to buy property in Poland can afford to buy in Spain," says Jerzy Kurasandzis, owner of Casprom, a Spanish real estateagency that caters mainly to Poles. He notes that more of his Polish clients are opting for more luxurious or larger properties.

Eder-Kruhl says some of her Polish friends buy two or three apartments, some rent, some buy for themselves, taking advantage of the wide range of properties that came on the market when some British owners decided to sell after Brexit. For her, however, the move was about wanting to live a better life. "I think I have a Mediterranean soul," she says, adding that she enjoys long talks until the morning with sangria and trips to the local farmers' market. Representatives from two real estate agencies told Notes from Poland that while some of their Polish clients move to Spain from other European countries, like Eder-Kruhl, the vast majority come directly from Poland. "Everyone buys, from retirees to working families, from people who want to invest to those who want to rent. The range is very wide," says Anna Dabrowska, a 43-year-old real estate agent who moved with her family to the area two years ago. She adds that although Poles have long been interested in the possibility of buying property in Spain, the real boom began after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, when people began to look for a safe haven - both for themselves and their money - "just in case". The number of Polish clients served by her real estateagency Alegria has doubled in the past year to an average of 30-40 people a month. "People are afraid for their money lying in a bank somewhere, which they feel h

All this demand from Poland has had a noticeable - and audible - impact on Torrevieja. Polish voices can be heard on the streets; many businesses, particularly real estate agencies, advertise their services in Polish. You can even find a knock-off of Zabka, Poland's largest chain of convenience stores. On the Facebook page "Poles in Torrevieja and its surroundings" (Polacy w Torrevieja i okolice), more than 7,500 Polish users search for advice on buying or renting property in Torrevieja. Just 10 kilometers from the center of Torrevieja, in the neighboring town of Los Montesinos, a Polish store opened last month. The business is run by Anna Szymianiak, 48, who moved to the area from England earlier this year. The opening was met with enthusiasm from the local Polish community, with shoppers looking for items such as buckwheat and potato starch, essential for classic Polish dishes and unavailable in Spanish stores. "We opened this store to provide Poles with a little Polish flavor," Szymianiak says from behind the counter. In the refrigerator next to her, Polish sausages are neatly stacked, and on a nearby shelf are bottles of Polish vodka in different flavors. "We wanted them to have our Polish beer, our Polish pickles, our Polish sausage, when you take all that and add [Spanish] weather, it will give you 100 years of happy life, I think," she adds, laughing. Back in the center of Torrevieja, Minarchuk takes up her new apartment after several