The country registers this result, right after France, in a context where the development of new shopping centers in Europe is slowing down: the sector registered a 23% decline in the volume of new openings last year.
France registered the largest volume of new openings last year, more than 326,000 m2 of inaugurations in 2017. A mature market that registered a 28% drop in the construction of new commercial spaces.
Spain occupied the second place in the volume of space opened, and has the second largest pipeline of shopping centers until 2019, with emphasis on the 75,000 m2 of Torrejón de Ardoz.
In 2017, were inaugurated 3.8 million m2 of shopping centers in Europe, 23% less than 2016. This is indicated in the latest edition of European Shopping Center Development, by Cushman & Wakefield, according to which is expected the opening of 6.6 million m2 by the end of 2019.
According to the consultant, the current stock of shopping centers at European level amounts 166.5 million m2, 109.7 of which are in Western Europe and the rest in Central and Eastern Europe. In the second half of last year, Turkey was the country with the largest volume of shopping centers under construction, over 495,000 m2, followed by Russia's 330,000 and Poland's 298,000.
C&W highlights the known maturity of the shopping center industry in Portugal, which translates in the volume of supply. It has a commercial density of 312 m² per 1,000 inhabitants, higher than the European average and of countries like Spain, United Kingdom, France or Italy. "It’s also in the performance of the Portuguese shopping centers that the maturity and professionalism of the sector is shown, with the prime income of shopping centers currently being €100 / m2 / month, higher than Spanish, Italian or German markets.”