Over the course of your career, you have overcome a number of financial crises. Perhaps the most important – not least because of your role at the time – was the 2008 property crash, what was the biggest thing you learnt from that financial crisis?

The decisions taken after the property bubble burst in 2008 not only allowed us to overcome this particular financial crisis, but also build better defences for weathering any future financial storms. This enabled us to overcome the crisis that was triggered by the pandemic and gain greater room for manoeuvre in terms of monetary and fiscal policy. What’s more, the 2008 credit crunch helped us to better understand the long-term economic cycle and to be able to anticipate and better deal with future times of financial crisis. It also gave us liquidity, improving our financial muscle and boosting our ability to buy, and it also showed us just how important talent management is.

According to CBRE, one of the main threats to the economy are bullets and ballots in a year that has been dominated by international conflicts and elections across almost half of the globe. In your opinion, what are the main clouds on the horizon?

One of the main threats is the rise of non-liberal political systems and acclamatory democracy. We are starting to see this negative influence – which stems from political extremism, ideological and geopolitical tensions, and growing, populist regimes – in Spanish politics and I think it is down to the two major parties to shift the focus away from this. Other clouds on the horizon are the decline in market rules, the replacement of fundamental ethics and social justice by relative values and positivist beliefs, corrupt elites and inequality.

As Chairman of the Círculo de Empresarios, in your opinion, what changes need to be made by the Government to drive growth in the real estate sector?

In Spain, the real estate system has only been partially restructured. However, there is still much work to be done in terms of reducing bureaucratic red tape and the degree to which governments are involved in land management processes. The country still operates using a system that was put in place at the end of the civil war, one that has prevented the rental option from fully developing and has led to money remaining tied up in property given it has left no room for financial investment. To change this, we need to professionalise the rental market and increase supply via public-private partnerships. We need a rental housing system that is equipped to deal with the challenges of today and we will achieve this when Spain has a private company with a rental property portfolio of 100,000 homes. A company large enough to handle the system, the administration that goes with it and investors and tenants. The residential development market is highly fragmented. This is why we also need a professionalised real estate system, with a developer capable of delivering the likes of 20,000 homes per year. This would give us a big enough volume to access capital market financing, assets could be valued better and projected results would be better for example.

Propery ownership is one of the major scourges on the domestic economy. What measures would need to be adopted to improve this situation?

We have a problem of supply when it comes to housing. We need 200,000 new homes a year and only 60,000 are being built. To turn this situation around, we need to open up the housing market, create land, attract capital and develop social housing via public-private partnerships. Rental housing is a highly strategic sector, but the economy cannot remain rooted in a system in which individuals buy property as a way of investing their savings. We need a major Spanish listed company, with professional investors that is specialised in rental housing.

The finance sector is very important for real estate. What is the relationship like between both sectors, what should it be like?

I think the finance sector learnt a great deal about real estate risk following the 2008 property crash and since then has corrected the dangerous over inter-dependence that previously existed between the two sectors. They now have a healthy relationship, with both sectors doing an excellent job of managing risk. Today, the finance sector operates impeccably well and any decisions that are made are all perfectly justifiable from a risk point of view or in terms of the rates of financings offered to individuals for mortgage subrogations.

According to The debt funding gap for European Real Estate, a report published by CBRE at the end of 2023, we estimate that the debt funding gap will be largest in , with €114,000 million between 2024 and 2027. What sectors will have the biggest gap and how can we bridge this gap?

This gap could be reduced with better-managed, capitalised companies. This would help towards restructuring the sector and allow for capital market growth. We need a large private company with enough financial muscle to buy public or private housing, commission new-build housing, and operate premium quality rental housing, effectively and efficiently managing resident associations with a servicer that can ensure all tenants’ needs are met etc. Large companies need to be listed in order to attract capital market investment.

What does CBRE bring to the real estate sector? What do you value most about the company?

Its contribution is invaluable for the real estate sector: experience, quality management, talent and knowledge that you are in a safe pair of hands.

You have spent your career in the banking sector and this has also involved working with businesses in the energy, real estate and even mobility industries. How has the real estate sector changed over the years, the role it plays in Spain’s economy and its relationship w¡th other sectors?

The real estate sector is central to our economy, and has been instrumental in terms of Spain’s economic growth. Its has been pivotal in improving the well-being of families with better-quality housing stock, providing office supply which has boosted the business world and helping the logistics and retail sectors prosper. However, the system needs to be restructured to allow bigger players into the market and bring us in line with Europe – this is the only way we can truly become competitive.