Benahavís Is Now Andalucía's Richest Town: What the Numbers Really Say

Benahavís Is Now Andalucía's Richest Town: What the Numbers Really Say

Benahavís is now the richest municipality in Andalucía and the second richest in Spain by average declared income. The latest figures from Spain's tax agency, the Agencia Tributaria, put the average gross income of its residents at €79,041.

Behind the headline is a more interesting story: how the ranking is calculated, why the figure nearly doubled in a year, who actually lives in Benahavís, and how a small white village became one of the most sought-after addresses in Europe.

What the data says

Benahavís tops all 566 Andalusian towns in the statistic, with only Pozuelo de Alarcón in Madrid ranking higher nationally. The figures come from the Agencia Tributaria's annual income-tax statistics by municipality, published on 30 September 2026 and covering income declared for 2024.

Ranking	Area	Average gross income
#1 in Spain	Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid)	€92,564
#2 in Spain, #1 in Andalucía	Benahavís (Málaga)	€79,041
#3 in Spain	Boadilla del Monte (Madrid)	€76,478

Benahavís earns roughly 2.4 times the Spanish average and almost three times the Andalusian one. It also out-earns Marbella, its far better-known neighbour, by more than double.

What the ranking measures, and what it doesn't

The ranking reflects the income declared by people who file their Spanish tax return in Benahavís, not the wealth of everyone who owns a home there. A few details explain the headline:

• It is 2024 income. Spanish returns are filed the year after income is earned, and the Agencia Tributaria publishes town-level figures about a year later. The 2026 release is the latest available.
• It is an average, not a median. In a town of about 9,500 people, a handful of very high earners can lift the figure sharply.
• The jump was dramatic. Average income rose from €43,159 in 2023 to €79,041 in 2024, an increase of about 83%. Benahavís climbed from 56th to 2nd place nationally in a single year.
• One-off events count. Large property sales, inheritances or wealthy residents becoming Spanish tax residents can all push the average up in a given year.
• Not every town is included. The statistic covers municipalities with more than 1,000 residents and excludes the Basque Country and Navarra, which run their own tax systems.

So the ranking may move next year. What it confirms is that Benahavís is increasingly where high earners choose to live and pay tax, not only where they own a holiday home.

An international community

Benahavís is one of the most international towns in Spain: about two in three residents were born abroad. According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), 5,919 of its 9,256 registered residents at the start of 2024 were born outside Spain, around 64%.

The population is small for the space it occupies. The municipality covers 145 km², yet had only 9,472 registered residents on 1 January 2025. Most of the land is mountain and river valley, and much of the housing sits in low-density gated communities such as La Zagaleta, La Quinta, El Madroñal and Monte Mayor.

That mix of space, privacy and a global community is a large part of the town's appeal.

What it means for property

Home prices in Benahavís are at an all-time high. According to idealista, the average asking price reached €5,602 per m² in September 2026, up 6.5% on a year earlier and the highest level the portal has recorded for the town.

The income ranking and the property market tell the same story from two sides. Buyers are not only purchasing holiday homes here; more of them are living in Benahavís year-round and declaring their income locally. That kind of resident demand tends to support schools, restaurants and services through the whole year, not just the summer season.

Average figures hide a wide range, though. Price per m² varies greatly between the village centre, golf-side apartments and estates such as La Zagaleta, so local knowledge matters when comparing value.

Beyond the numbers

Long before it was a byword for luxury, Benahavís was a Moorish hilltop settlement with nearly a thousand years of history.

• An Arabic name. Benahavís comes from the Arabic Bināʾ Ḥabīsh, "the building of Ḥabīsh", possibly a Moorish prince who ruled from Montemayor Castle in the 11th century.
• A strategic castle. The ruins of Montemayor Castle still stand above the coast. It changed hands between rival factions before the area surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs on 11 June 1485.
• A long rivalry with Marbella. Philip II granted the village its founding charter in 1572, which began a dispute with Marbella over the territory that lasted around three and a half centuries.
• Mountains, rivers and the sea. The village sits about 7 km from the coast, on the southern slopes of the Serranía de Ronda, between the Guadalmina, Guadaiza and Guadalmansa rivers.
• The "dining room of the Costa del Sol". Benahavís is known for an unusually high number of quality restaurants for its size, serving everything from traditional Andalusian dishes to international cuisine.

The result is a rare combination: a whitewashed Andalusian village and its history, surrounded by some of the most exclusive residential estates in Europe.

Thinking about Benahavís?

Each community in Benahavís has its own character, price level and lifestyle, from the village centre to the gated estates in the hills. If you are considering a move or an investment, talk to the Smartmove Marbella team for an honest view of the market.