Iberian retail has started 2026 with a combination that, not so long ago, did not seem so easy to see all at once: rising sales, recovering footfall and very high occupancy levels. After several years marked by the adjustment to e-commerce and by profound changes in consumer habits, the sector appears to have found a new point of balance. But this is not a uniform or automatic recovery. What the latest data show is a retail sector that is more efficient, more segmented and also more demanding.
Spain and Portugal are moving in the same direction, although at different speeds. In both markets, sales, footfall and occupancy are all growing at the same time, but Portugal is accelerating more strongly, while in Spain the ability of assets to convert footfall into consumption and experience is becoming increasingly important.
Spain: growth no longer depends only on attracting more visitors
According to CBRE’s May Retail Index, sales in shopping centres in Spain grew by 4.2% year-on-year in May, with footfall also up by 4.3%. Year to date, sales are up 6.0% and traffic 3.9%, while occupancy stands at 94.3%.
The reading is clear: the Spanish market continues to grow, but it increasingly depends less on pure volume and more on the quality of consumption. Attracting visitors is no longer enough; what matters is the commercial offer they find, how long they stay and how much they are willing to spend.
This is where the growing weight of the experiential component fits particularly well. CBRE identifies leisure as the category with the strongest accumulated sales performance in Spain, with growth of 21.6%. Cushman & Wakefield points in the same direction: in the first quarter of 2026, leisure was the most dynamic category, with a 33.1% increase, driven mainly by cinemas.
Portugal steps on the accelerator
Portugal is showing an even stronger performance. In May, sales grew by 12.5% and footfall by 12.8%, with occupancy at 95.4%. Year to date, the Portuguese market is up 7.0% in sales and 7.6% in footfall.
This suggests that, unlike in Spain, the main driver in Portugal remains the combination of more visitors and more consumption. In addition, growth is not concentrated in a single category. CBRE highlights in particular the strong momentum in electronics, with an increase of 20.3%, and in home and furniture, pointing to a very active consumer and a particularly dynamic retail environment.
Not all retail is performing in the same way
One of the most useful conclusions from the latest data is that Iberian retail is not growing homogeneously. The assets performing best are those capable of combining several factors at once: high occupancy, stable or growing footfall, solid operators and a commercial offer aligned with an increasingly selective consumer.
In Spain, Cushman adds that footfall in shopping centres increased by 5.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 and that retail parks recorded a 9.1% increase in vehicle traffic. Occupancy in shopping centres reached 95.5% of gross leasable area (GLA). These figures reinforce a broader idea: there are formats that continue to have a strong ability to attract visitors, but not all of them are capturing value for the same reasons.
Greater operational sophistication and renewed investor interest
The sector is not only improving operationally; it is also regaining relevance for capital. Cushman notes that retail investment volume in Spain reached €1.488 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 22% year-on-year. Prime yields stand at 3.60% in high street, 6.25% in shopping centres and 6.35% in retail parks.
This does not mean that all retail is equally attractive. What it does indicate is that investors are once again distinguishing more clearly between assets capable of sustaining income and occupancy and those that remain more exposed to commercial obsolescence.
Value no longer lies in volume, but in the ability to concentrate high-quality demand
That is probably the best conclusion Iberian retail offers today. Spain and Portugal are moving at different speeds, but they are heading in the same direction: towards a sector that is less dependent on the pure volume of visitors and more supported by the ability to turn footfall into sales, experience and dwell time.
For owners and investors, the reading is quite clear. The appeal of retail lies less in a broad-based recovery than in the ability to identify those assets capable of concentrating footfall, consumption and high-quality operators. That is where real value is being generated today.
