Fixing a Spanish property myth

It's all about the Brits! A classic view of who buys property in Spain 

Viz like this is common in Spanish property reporting and only serves to reinforce a myth: That Spain is utterly reliant on Brits to prop up its housing market.

This isn't true.

If we look at the data more holistically, the picture quickly changes: If three overseas buyers walk into a Spanish estate agent, the chances are one is British, and two will be from western Europe. A fourth may be Chinese, American or Russian.

Fully three quarters of foreign buyers are NOT British. Would you know this when glancing at the chart above?

(Hint: If you looked at the scale and did the maths, you're probably in a minority)

At the sharp end of property sales this is problematic; it leads to too much marketing focus on Brits, and too little on other nationalities.

The ranked approach

These days good viz has to perform a difficult trick: Be educational, actionable and simple enough to consume in a few seconds.

Re-working the chart in a ranked style creates more balance. It also allows us to bring in an intriguing second metric, without risking cognitive overload: