In an exclusive interview with Iberian Property, Nicolás Cox, President of CBRE Chile and Argentina, and Miguel Moraes, Director of Cross Border Iberia and Brazil at CBRE, discuss the growing flow of Latin American capital into Spain, the different motivations of Chilean and Argentine investors, and the emerging two-way investment corridor between Iberia and Latin America.
Latin American capital is gaining weight in the Iberian real estate market, driven by a combination of geographical diversification, stability and access to Europe. For Nicolás Cox, President of CBRE Chile and Argentina, Spain has become one of the natural destinations for this capital, although the motivations vary significantly between markets such as Chile and Argentina.
Latin American investment in Iberia has reached €2.801 billion since 2016, with Spain accounting for 91% of the total. While this represents only around 2% of total accumulated real estate investment in Iberia over the period, it is a relatively stable flow with significant potential to grow. Mexico leads the ranking, with €1.445 billion invested since 2016, followed by Brazil, with €623 million — including Portugal — and Argentina, with €546 million. Together, these three markets account for 94% of all Latin American investment in Iberia over the past decade.
Following a record year in 2024, when investment reached €661 million, activity accelerated again in 2026, with €258 million invested in the first half of the year, driven primarily by Argentina and Mexico.
Spain as a diversification platform
According to Cox, one of the main drivers behind the growing interest in Spain is the need to diversify portfolios that have traditionally had significant exposure to the United States. The geopolitical environment and greater difficulty in allocating capital to certain markets are encouraging investors to look towards new geographies.
Spain offers a particularly compelling combination in this respect. It acts as a gateway into Europe, has relatively low country risk and offers real estate development standards and models that are familiar to part of the Latin American investment community, particularly Chilean investors.
Returns may be somewhat lower than those available in certain Latin American markets, but the trade-off is greater stability. Spain also offers considerable market depth in sectors such as hospitality and second homes, alongside a broader range of products and investment strategies.
For this type of capital, therefore, the equation is not simply about the initial yield on an asset. It also incorporates stability, wealth preservation and the ability to use Spain as a platform from which to access a much broader European real estate market.
A capital base with significant equity and a preference for local partners
The investment profile arriving in Spain also has an important characteristic: access to equity. Latin American investors crossing the Atlantic tend to commit a substantial proportion of their own capital and look for local partners who can help them understand and execute opportunities in the Spanish market.
This approach is consistent with capital that, in many cases, has a long-term, wealth-preservation perspective. In particular, the preservation of wealth and protection of capital remain significant considerations for Argentine investors, while Chilean investors are more strongly driven by geographical diversification and exposure to new asset classes.
The process is also becoming increasingly professionalised. Family offices, specialist vehicles, private equity funds and institutional investors are playing a growing role, gradually moving these flows away from the traditional perception of investment being driven primarily by individual high-net-worth families.
Two Latin American markets, two investment rationales
Although Chile and Argentina share an interest in Spain, Cox identifies differences in the nature of their strategies.
For Argentine investors, wealth preservation remains particularly important. Spain can provide a stable jurisdiction in which to protect and diversify wealth, while offering exposure to a deep European market.
For Chilean capital, meanwhile, the move into Spain is more closely linked to geographical diversification and access to new asset classes. The similarities between certain real estate standards and development models in the two countries can also facilitate market entry.
In both cases, however, real estate investment retains a strong legacy and long-term wealth-preservation component. This helps explain the preference for markets and assets where stability and long-term visibility carry as much weight as the initial return.
The flow of capital is becoming increasingly two-way
The relationship can no longer be viewed solely through the lens of Latin American capital moving into Spain. Miguel Moraes, CBRE's Director of Cross Border Iberia and Brazil, also point to growing interest from European investors in Latin America, particularly in markets such as Chile, Colombia and Argentina, where certain assets can offer return differentials that are increasingly difficult to find in Europe.
One example illustrates the investment equation. A core asset in Madrid may trade at around a 4% cap rate, while a comparable asset in Santiago could offer approximately 6%. If the investor can also finance at around 3% in Chile, there is a spread of roughly 300 basis points between the asset yield and the cost of debt, materially changing the potential return profile.
That does not mean that a higher return automatically translates into a better opportunity: the differential comes with different levels of risk, liquidity and market depth. But it does illustrate why the investment relationship between Iberia and Latin America could increasingly evolve into a more balanced, two-way corridor.
In this context, European interest in Chile is acquiring an additional strategic dimension. Its institutional stability, close economic relationship with Europe and strengthened trade links following the entry into force of the EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement are reinforcing its position as a financial and corporate hub for the Southern Cone. From that position, Chile could also act as a platform for accessing other Latin American markets.
From individual transactions to a more structural investment corridor
The key question is whether these movements still represent isolated transactions by large family fortunes and corporate groups, or whether they are laying the foundations for a more structural capital corridor between the two regions.
The data already points to recurring activity. Latin American investment in Iberia has exceeded €2.8 billion since 2016, while the growing presence of family offices, funds and specialist vehicles points to an increasingly institutionalised flow of capital.
The next stage will depend on broadening the investor base and investment strategies in both directions. Identifying specific opportunities, structuring transactions and having access to local market expertise will become increasingly important as these flows mature.
This is precisely where CBRE's Cross Border Latam-Iberia platform, launched in 2024, is positioned. The platform aims to facilitate this investment corridor through a "local with local" approach, connecting specialist teams across the different markets and supporting investors and companies as they execute cross-border real estate strategies.
The evolution of the relationship is therefore likely to be less about one major movement of capital in a single direction and more about deeper integration between two markets that are increasingly recognising each other as investment platforms. Spain offers Latin American capital access, stability and European market depth; Latin America, in turn, offers European investors return differentials and opportunities that may become increasingly difficult to overlook.
What is emerging is a capital corridor that extends beyond individual transactions: a two-way investment relationship in which diversification, wealth preservation and the search for returns are encouraging investors on both sides of the Atlantic to look beyond their traditional markets.