Author: Mark Stücklin
Posted on October 9, 2026

French demand for Spanish property has recovered over the last two years, raising an interesting question: could growing political instability and economic uncertainty in France be encouraging more French buyers to look across the Pyrenees?

French buyers were involved in 1,334 Spanish property purchases in Q2 2026, up 7.4% compared with the same period last year. This follows growth of 9.6% in Q2 2025, suggesting a partial recovery after the sharp decline of 24% recorded in 2024.

However, French demand for Spanish property is still growing more slowly than the foreign market as a whole, which expanded by 11.3% in Q2. As a result, the French share of foreign purchases slipped to 5%, down from 5.2% a year earlier and 8.5% in 2017.

Using Q2 2017 as an index of 100, French demand now stands at 101, compared with 172 for the overall foreign market. In other words, French purchases are barely above their 2017 level, whilst total foreign demand has grown by 72%.

Is France’s political turmoil encouraging buyers?

The recovery in French demand is particularly interesting against the backdrop of growing political and economic uncertainty in France.

With political polarisation, social tensions, government instability and mounting public debt raising concerns about the country’s financial outlook, some French households may be looking to diversify their assets or establish a foothold abroad.

Spain, with its proximity, relatively attractive property prices and familiar lifestyle, is an obvious destination.

Could the recent recovery in French purchases partly reflect a desire to hedge against political and financial risks at home? It’s a plausible explanation, though the property data alone cannot establish a connection.

The rolling trend tells a more cautious story

The four-quarter rolling total, which smooths out fluctuations in individual quarters, suggests the French market is more stable than the recent quarterly growth figures might imply.

French buyers were involved in 5,052 Spanish property purchases in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2026, down 2.3% compared with the equivalent 12-month period a year earlier.

That leaves rolling demand close to its level in 2017 and well below the post-pandemic peak of 6,262 reached in 2023.

So whilst the last two second quarters have shown encouraging growth, there is little evidence yet of a sustained surge in French demand. Given the political and financial uncertainty across the border, however, this is a market worth watching.