Leganés, Spain: a derelict plot listed at 900,000 euros — bargain or madness?

900,000 euros for a ruin in Leganés: it's no joke, it's the land market

The video is real, and so is the price. What looks like a Pantomima Full sketch is just the tip of the iceberg of how urban land is sold on the outskirts of Madrid. Behind the damp patches, the woodchip wallpaper and the Climalit windows lies a deal for 14 future homes that the numbers try to justify.

The first thing that stands out is that what's for sale is not a house, but a plot with two derelict buildings. The value lies not in what is built, but in what can be built. According to circulating calculations, the plot allows a buildable area of around 1,500 square metres, enough for 14 flats of 80 usable square metres each (assuming 75% usable floor area over built area). At those figures, the land price per flat would be about 65,000 euros. Adding construction costs (around 1,800 euros/m2), each flat would cost over 200,000 euros to build, not counting taxes or developer margins. The estimated selling price is around 300,000 euros per unit, leaving a tight but realistic margin.

That said, the video is deliberately grotesque. The agent, dressed up as if attending the Goya Awards, wanders among the rubble boasting about the property's "rustic charm". Some see a viral marketing strategy to draw attention to the plot; others, an example of the industry's cynicism. The truth is that in Leganés, a densely populated municipality with good transport links to Madrid, urban land is rising in value. The property is in the Candil neighbourhood, near Getafe hospital and the A-42 motorway, but with no metro or Renfe commuter rail. The location is not premium, but housing demand in the southern belt remains high.

Critics argue that 900,000 euros is absurd for land in an area with hardly any services and a buildable capacity that may not be as high as it seems. Demolition costs and planning uncertainty would also have to be added. Some point out that the asking price is just that: an aspiration. The property will probably sit on the market for years until someone accepts a more realistic price, around 150,000-200,000 euros, as sceptics suggest.

But some have seen this before. In Barcelona, a similar case: a buyer purchased a ruin for 600,000 euros in a central location, struck a deal with a construction firm to build 8 flats and ended up making almost 2 million. The key lies in the real buildable capacity, urban planning rules and execution timelines. In Leganés, the land is classified as urban, with no outstanding development costs, which reduces risk.

The calculation that would change everything

In the most detailed analysis circulating, the figures are broken down: 1,500 m2 of buildable area, 14 flats of 80 usable m2, a construction cost of 1,800 euros/m2, and a selling price of 300,000 euros per home. With those numbers, the project's gross margin would be approximately 1.4 million euros, enough to cover the land cost and leave a profit. However, timelines, financing interest and the possible need to demolish the existing buildings could erode that margin. Any developer stepping in needs a cool head and a well-calibrated tape measure.

The paradox is that the video, which looks like a parody, accurately reflects the state of the market: land prices that encourage building developments to be sold later at 300,000 euros, in an area where the average salary doesn't stretch that far. But that's another story.

What if the price isn't so absurd after all?

The most likely outcome is that the property will not sell for 900,000 euros. But it's not unthinkable that an investor with deep pockets buys it for a somewhat lower figure and develops the homes. In the current context of scarce supply in Madrid, any buildable land in the metropolitan area finds buyers. The question is whether the market will bear another 300,000 euros per flat in Leganés. The answer, as almost always, will be given by time. Meanwhile, the video keeps circulating on social media, and the agent has probably already pocketed his commission.