Invesco Real Estate has appointed Alejandro Monge to head its Spanish acquisitions.

He joins from Rodamco, where he was head of investment responsible for the acquisition and sale of real estate assets.

Having built a Spanish portfolio worth €1.2m for Rodamco, Monge, 38, has been brought in to drive Invesco’s plans to invest €200m in Spanish markets. Invesco currently manages €18.7bn of real estate assets in the US and Europe, €100m of them in Spain.

Widespread investor exuberance over Barcelona retail has touched the firm. Madrid and Barcelona it describes as “areas of attractiveness” for retail, with transport hubs Malaga, Valencia and Zaragoza topping the provincial list for warehousing.

A decade-long upward trend has convinced the firm that Spain’s macroeconomic growth is sustainable – despite the dubious distinction of the highest inflation in Europe.

Tim Nalder, Invesco’s head of Spain, expects little macroeconomic change in the next few years. “They need to control inflation and liberalise markets. The trade imbalance is the biggest issue,” he said. “But the Spanish economy has come a long way very quickly.”

Invesco opened its Spanish office in 2004, staffing it at the time with employees moonlighting from its German operations. Within 18 months it expects to augment Monge’s small team with five new people.