THE HISTORY OF SHOPPING CENTRES IN SPAIN
The 70s and 80s The 90s The 2000 Decade

2000 DECADE
From 2000 onwards, the golden age of shopping centres began, with strong and sustained growth. Development is not limited to merely a few kinds of centre and the diversity of new centres as a whole is a principal characteristic of the dawn of this century.   The architecture marks an important trend, as innovative designs are incorporated to underline the identity of the centres. Bonaire (Valencia), Parque Principado (Oviedo), Ponte Vella (Orense), Espacio León (León) and La Villa 2 (Tenerife) are examples of this.

This concept is taken to its ultimate expression at Gran Vía 2 (Barcelona), Plaza Mar 2 (Alicante) and Plaza Norte 2 (Madrid), where the architecture is as much a driving force, if not more, as the commercial mix.

	A daring concept of the retail mix may also underscore the identity of shopping centres, as show the cases of Madrid Xanadú and Palacio de Hielo in Madrid, who integrate winter sports among the anchors of the centre.

A further new trend is the medium and large centres which do not sell foodstuffs and which are located close to hypermarkets that already exist, in order to complement one another.  These include Odeón (Narón), MN4 (Alfalfar) and La Morea (Pamplona). A large furniture store is used at Airesur(Seville) as the anchor instead of a hypermarket.

	However, in most cases, the hypermarket is still the main attraction, together with the fashion shops and cinemas. This is the case with Avenida M40 (Madrid) , Rincón de la Victoria (Malaga), Plaza de la Estación (Madrid), Los Alcores (Alcalá de Guadaira), Los Prados (Oviedo), etc.

The new centres are usually bigger than before, with more choice of shops and larger retail outlets, to benefit from critical mass and to satisfy consumers that are ever-more demanding.  Centres like TresAguas (Alcorcón), Mataró Park (Mataró), Equinoccio Park (Valladolid), Gran Plaza (Roquetas de Mar), Parque Astur (Asturias) and Gorbeia (Vitoria) are examples of this.

Another trend is that shopping centres have become instruments for the urban planning of the periphery and the centre.   The development of new residential neighbourhoods brings with it the development of commercial facilities as demonstrated by El Tormes (Salamanca), Berceo (Logroño), Parque Miramar (Fuengirola), 7 Palmas (Las Palmas), Itaroa (Pamplona), Luz del Tajo (Toledo) and Travesía (Vigo).

	Urban planning in the town centre is far less extended. However, centres like El Boulevard (Vitoria), Meridiano 16 (Tenerife) and Zubiarte (Bilbao) are fine examples.

Another development in the town centre can be observed at railway stations. RENFE is executing a plan on a national scale to promote shopping centres at its train stations, with openings in Pontevedra and Salamanca. It also had installed a shopping centre at the historic Príncipe Pío building (Madrid).

	However, refurbishments of centric neighbourhoods with the help of retail development are isolated cases in Spain.   Only in port areas can you perceive a generic trend of district refurbishment. This is the case with El Muelle (Las Palmas) and Puerto Marina Shopping (Benalmádena), Panoramis (Alicante) and Aqualón Puerto (Huelva).

Barcelona deserves a mention here as it has renewed its districts using large-scale events as the base.  La Maquinista is an important anchor in the recovery of an underprivileged district and Diagonal Mar forms part of the opening out onto the sea of the Forum zone.

During the 200 decade, shopping centres spread along the coastal areas in general: Dos Mares (San Javier), Puerta de Alicante (Alicante) La Marina Finestrat (Benidorm); El Ingenio and Rincón de la Victoria in Malaga; Atlántico en Las Palmas.   Centres spring up in tourist areas targeting wealthy tourists. This is the case at Marina Banús (Marbella), Las Américas (Tenerife) and Biosfera Plaza (Lanzarote).

Another important trend is the proliferation of leisure centres throughout Spain. On the one hand there are the cinema operators that promote centres anchored on a cinema with a restaurant area. Ocimax Mallorca, UGC Cine Cité Los Barrios and Vila Lauren (Vilanova i la Geltrú).  On the other hand there are leisure centres with a broader offer, such as Heron City (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia), Opción (Alcorcón), Diversia (Alcobendas), Nassica (Getafe) and Plaza Mayor (Málaga).

The Factory Outlets are also spreading out, whether combined with an additional commercial offer, like Festival Park Mallorca and San Vicente, or remaining individual, like Factory Guadacorte, Las Rozas Village and Factory Sevilla.

	Finally, the retail parks are gaining ground, with medium-sized stores such as Capuchinos (Salamanca) and Vista Alegre (Zamora) as their most important component. Some larger ones also have a shopping mall inside, like Megapark (Madrid and Bilbao), Commercia-Kinépolis (Granada) and Las Cañas (Viana). .

Consult the inaugurationsection for information on centres that opened in 2005.(pdf in Spanish)