In August 2018, the real estate portal Idealista decided to place an eye-catching sign on a residential building located in Madrid, right in a strategic location so that it would be visible to the hundreds of thousands of drivers who travel the northern stretch of the iconic M-30 every day. In large letters, the message proclaimed: “There is life beyond the M-30”. At the time, this slogan not only caught the attention of those who saw it, but also served as a suggestive invitation to explore real estate opportunities beyond the central core of the city, where prices were already excessively high and beyond the reach of many families in Madrid.
The context of the message was clear: the more central areas of Madrid had become a virtually inaccessible market for the middle class. The idea was to encourage prospective buyers and tenants to consider outlying neighborhoods, where the supply was wider and prices, in theory, more reasonable. The poster reflected a palpable reality of the time, marked by price pressure in the heart of the capital and the need to seek alternatives outside the traditional boundaries.
However, in 2024, that same sign is still hanging, almost as a silent witness to the passage of time and the profound changes that the real estate market has undergone in these years. While in 2018 it was still possible to find a certain price difference between the central almond and the periphery, the current situation is quite different. Rental prices, far from stabilizing, have skyrocketed in practically every corner of the city, making both the center and the peripheral areas less and less affordable for Madrileños. What was once an invitation to explore alternatives now seems an ironic reminder of a problem that affects the entire city, no matter which side of the M-30 you live on.