Finance, housing, and the city: notes on recent transformations in the Spanish real estate-financial circuit

This article analyzes the recent transformations within the Spanish real estate-financial circuit. We argue that, during the post-crisis period (2007–08), economic activity in Spain has been reorganized by the emerging logics and dynamics of financial accumulation. This shift has largely been driven by the entry and operations of international real-estate investment funds in Spain’s major cities, facilitated by reforms in the regulatory framework for finance and urban legislation. The evidence highlights a broadening of the way in which social housing is treated as a financial asset, resulting in the eviction of hundreds of residents and the transformation of the built environment and urban life.