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STONE’S THROW from the bustling arcade of Atocha railway station in central Madrid are

the offices of Spotahome, a startup that matches tenants and long-term rentals. Set up five years

ago, it lists 65,000 properties in 11 European cities and employs more than 300 people. An example

of Spain’s small but fast-growing startup scene, its success reflects an economic resurgence in

Madrid and some other European cities. The supply of rental properties has grown since Spain’s

deep housing crisis, notes Alejandro Artacho, its boss. Demand comes from exchange students, as

well as an expansion that has lured foreign businesses and workers. Spain’s population fell after

recession struck for the second time in three years in 2012, as more people moved abroad than

came in, but that trend reversed in 2016.

Since 2018 a slowdown in trade and manufacturing, concentrated in Germany and Italy, has

cast a pall over the euro area. But matters would be far worse had other countries and sectors not

held up. Spain alone accounts for a tenth of the zone’s GDP, but in recent years has contributed a

fifth of growth and an outsize share of new jobs. Across the bloc sectors that rely on domestic

demand have expanded, as recovering labour and credit markets have boosted household and

business spending.