The Andalucian Regional Government will launch its sixth major auction this September, selling more than 30 public properties across several provinces.
The Ministry of Finance said the aim is to sell “heritage assets that, in the opinion of the technical teams, are underutilised or entail a high cost of conservation and maintenance,” El Correo Web reports.
Andalucia’s 6th auction since 2019
This will be the sixth major sale of public assets since Juanma Moreno took office as president of the Palacio de San Telmo.
Since 2019, five auctions have already been held, with €138 million raised through the sale of 24 properties. Of that, Idealista notes, “€124.6 million was raised through auction. The remaining amount was raised through a special competition and direct sales, adding an additional €13.7 million.”
Some of the region’s most recognisable buildings have gone under the hammer. El Correo Web recalls that the first auction in 2019 included “the Post Office Building in Málaga (€23.5 million); the Palacio de la Tinta in Málaga (€21 million); and the former leisure residence in Cádiz (€11.8 million).”
Idealista adds that “among the transferred properties that have become private property, we can find historic buildings such as the Japanese, Austrian and Israeli pavilions at the ‘Expo de Sevilla 92’… and even the headquarters of the Bank of Spain…”
Not every property has sold successfully. The February 2024 auction raised €7 million, while the most recent in May 2024 “focused on the sale of three tourist villas and two leisure residences, two of which sold for a total of €1.4 million” (according to El Correo Web).
The unsold properties are now being processed for direct sale. According to Idealista, “the Andalucian government has decided to put these up for direct sale: the tourist village of Huéscar (Granada), the leisure residence of Siles (Jaén) and the leisure residence of Pradollano (Granada), with which it hopes to raise 7.4 million euros before next October.”
The government argues that these sales convert neglected or costly sites into valuable investment. But, some question whether Andalucia is selling off too much of its history in the pursuit of revenue.
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