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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Juliette Garside

How Spain put up wealth taxes – without chasing away the billionaires

The Planeta building in Barcelona
The Planeta building in Barcelona, a recent addition to the property empire assembled by the Zara founder Amancio Ortega. Photograph: Shutterstock

With its green curtain of hanging gardens, the Planeta building is one of Barcelona’s most recognisable office blocks. Earlier this summer, it was acquired as part of a Monopoly board spending spree by Spain’s richest man, the Zara fashion label founder Amancio Ortega.

Through his Pontegadea family office, which invests his personal wealth, Ortega has also just snapped up the five-star Hotel Banke in Paris, an apartment building in Florida, and a half-share in the operator of Teesport in the north-east of England, adding to a property portfolio already worth €20bn. Why the rush?

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