The Idealista property website has presented information regarding searches for properties to rent in Spain that were made by people in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion.
The website says that searches multiplied significantly. In January and February, they were up 77% compared with the same two months of 2021 and 92% compared with 2020. The implication is that many people had begun to plan their departure from Ukraine in the face of the Russian threat. Idealista adds that it demonstrates the importance that Spain will have in welcoming Ukrainian citizens, despite the distance between the two countries.
By province, Barcelona was the most popular with 26% of searches, followed by Alicante (19%), Valencia (16%), Malaga (13%) and Madrid (6%). Five per cent and below were Santa Cruz de Tenerife (5%), Las Palmas (1.6%), Tarragona (1.5%), Gerona (1.4%), the Balearics (1.3%), Cadiz (1.1%) and Almeria (1.1%).
Idealista notes that the increase in search for rented property in Spain was mirrored in Italy and Portugal, the two other countries where the website has a presence. For Portugal, the number of searches rose by a whopping 855%. Of the three countries, Portugal had 44% of searches during January and February, followed by Spain (35%) and Italy with 21%.