Madrid Is Learning From Its Property Crash

  • Aftermath of bust left housing shortage in Spanish capital
  • Plans for new industrial and housing development show recovery

Apartment blocks in the Francisco Hernando housing development in Sesena.

Photographer: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg

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Sesena, a town that came to symbolize the excesses of Spain’s last real estate boom is building again -- albeit in a more prudent way.

A decade after a ghost barrio of thousands of new apartments in the parched Castilian countryside became a symbol of out-of-control speculation during Spain’s property-driven financial crisis, the town -- 34 kilometers (21 miles) south of Madrid -- is dusting off plans to build thousands of new homes.