Inheritance and inequality: Spain’s widening wealth divide
Wealth transfer
Fecha: marzo 2026
Marina Asensio, Daniel Manzano
SEFO, Spanish and International Economic & Financial Outlook, V. 15 N.º 2 (March 2026)
Wealth inequality in Spain has increased markedly since the early 2000s, with divergence both across age groups and within generations. Older households have consolidated their position through asset revaluation, while younger cohorts face lower homeownership rates and weaker income growth, limiting their capacity to accumulate wealth. Housing plays a central role in this process, amplifying disparities between owners and non-owners and reinforcing differences across generational cohorts. At the same time, intragenerational inequality has intensified, particularly among younger households, where wealth is increasingly concentrated at the top of the distribution. Intergenerational transfers are set to become more significant as population ageing progresses and cohort sizes shift, raising average inheritance per capita. However, these transfers are unevenly distributed and closely tied to existing wealth concentration.
As a result, inheritance may reinforce rather than reduce intragenerational disparities.