article_detail

Many people haven't heard of Benahavís. It's a small town in Málaga province with just 9,472 residents, tucked into the hills behind Marbella on the Costa del Sol. And yet, according to new data published by the Spanish Tax Agency on Wednesday, it is now the second wealthiest municipality in the entire country by average declared gross income, at €79,041 per resident. A year ago it was 56th.

 

The jump, an 83% increase in a single year from €43,159 to €79,041, is extraordinary by any measure. Experts are clear about what typically drives this kind of spike in a small town: either a resident with exceptionally high income has declared extraordinary earnings, or high-income taxpayers have relocated their tax residence there. In Benahavís, there's little mystery about which it is.

 

The town is home to some of the most exclusive residential developments in Europe. La Zagaleta, a private estate of 900 hectares with only 420 permitted plots, was sold in 2024 to an Abu Dhabi holding group in a deal estimated at over €400 million. Average prices per square metre in enclaves like this run to around €7,679, with annual increases of up to 18% in some areas. Individual villas can reach €26 million.

 

The Ayuntamiento keeps municipal taxes at the legal minimum, including an annual refuse collection fee of just €18, making it an attractive place for high earners to formally register.

 

The profile of those residents is also distinctive. Benahavís has the highest proportion of registered foreign nationals relative to its local population of any municipality in Málaga, with significant numbers from the UK, Germany, Russia and Morocco. Many are wealthy retirees, entrepreneurs and tech business owners who have chosen the area for its climate, privacy and tax environment.

 

There's an important caveat, though. When a small number of very high earners skew the average in a town of under 10,000 people, that figure doesn't reflect what most residents actually earn. Spain's national average declared gross income stands at €33,239, and average income across Andalucía as a whole is around €24,566. Just a few kilometres from Benahavís, towns like Benamargosa have average incomes of around €14,000.

 

That gap is made even starker by the Tax Agency's wider findings. Guadahortuna in Granada province recorded the lowest average declared gross income of any municipality in Spain at €14,514, making it and Benahavís the two Andalusian bookends of a national ranking separated by more than €64,500.

 

Nationally, Pozuelo de Alarcón near Madrid remains in first place with €92,564, a position it has held for six consecutive years. The rest of the top ten is split between the Madrid and Barcelona metropolitan areas, making Benahavís the only municipality from outside those two regions to break into the top ten this year.

 

 

Image: wikicommons