Systems of Higher Education in an international Comparison: Spain<title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../CSS/2col_leftNav.css" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <div id="masthead"> <h1 id="siteName"> Systems of Higher Education in an international Comparison: Spain</h1> <h1 id="subTitle"> Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Universidad Carlos III, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia</h1> <div id="globalNav"> <a href="../educationalsystem/school.html">Educational System</a> | <a href="../universitylife/living.html"> University Life</a> | <a href="../work/internship.html">Work</a> | Madrid | <a href="../valencia/valencia.html">Valencia</a>| <a href="../authors.html">Authors</a></div> </div>  <div id="content"> <h2 id="pageName"> Living in Madrid </h2> <div class="story"> <p> With becoming part of the European Union in 1986 and a more and more liberal immigration policy, Madrid became a magnet for all sorts of people withing in the 90s and it still is today. A result of this boom was the increasing demand for housing, further resulting in real estate prices skyrocketing from the mid of the 90s on. In the following seven years house prizes within Madrid have doubled. Since the average wage did not nearly catch up with this speed and the still growing demand for cheap houses, within the satellite cities around Madrid cranes have been popping up like mushrooms. <br /> Although this real estate boom is happening everywhere in Spain, Madrid is its very center.<br /> Within the wild years people were buying 4 apartments on credit in an apartment block that wasn't even build - just by looking at the architects blueprint. Once this building was finished people would sell three of their apartments and by the profit they made out of this, they could pay back their credit - so they got the fourth, their own, apartment for free. </p> <p> Besides these apartment blocks, that seem to be build from exactly the same blueprint, there is also another observation that can be made. Since a boom does always involve some people who earn a lot of money, and because Madrid has a lot of rich football players and other stars, there is a high demand for a posh alternative to these apartment blocks. This is why in the North and Northwest of Madrid whole villages consisting purely of high-priced villas have been built completly from scratch. Very often these villages are so called "gated communities" were a security service ensures that no strangers are allowed to enter.</p> </div> <div class="feature"> <h3> New Apartment Blocks </h3> <table width="100%" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td> <div align="center"> <table width="600" border="0"> <tr> <td> <img src="images/leganes_street2.jpg" alt="Apartment Block" width="600" height="450" /> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table width="600" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td> <div align="left"> <img src="images/leganes_street.jpg" alt="Leganes" width="600" height="450" />These apartment buildings are actually from the 70s, where, within a first boom, cities like Leganés and Getafe have been build from scratch around an older village. <br /> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <div align="center"> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <h3> The Rich Version </h3> <table width="100%" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td> <div align="center"> <table width="600" border="0"> <tr> <td> <p> <img src="images/swimmingpools.jpg" alt="Rich" width="600" height="534" /></p> <p> From a bird's eye view it seems strange that these "conveyor-belt-houses" are most Madrileños dream. Imagine all houses in Grünwald being of only two or three different shapes with same size and shape swimming pools. </p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <div> <em>Author: Arno Scherhorn</em></div> </div> </div>  <div id="navBar"> <div id="sectionLinks"> <h3> The City of Madrid</h3> <ul> <li><a href="geography.html">Geography, Population & Administration</a></li> <li><a href="sights.html">Sightseeing</a></li> <li>Living in Madrid</li> <li><a href="work.html">Working in Madrid</a></li> <li><a href="universities.html">Universities</a></li> <li><a href="free.html">Free Time & La Marcha </a></li> </ul> <h3> Carlos III</h3> <ul> <li><a href="carlos_general.html">General Information</a></li> <li><a href="carlos_geography.html">Geography</a></li> <li><a href="carlos_technicalcampus.html">Technical Campus </a></li> <li><a href="carlos_thedegree.html">The Degree </a></li> <li><a href="carlos_communication.html">Communication</a></li> <li><a href="carlos_comparison.html">Comparison</a></li> </ul> <h3> Universidad Politécnica de Madrid</h3> <ul> <li><a href="upm_history.html">History</a></li> <li><a href="upm_facts.html">Facts & Figures </a></li> <li><a href="upm_locations.html">Faculties & Locations</a></li> <li><a href="upm_fi.html">Faculty for Computer Science</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="relatedLinks"> <h3> Related Links</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.munimadrid.es/" target="_blank">Ayuntamiento de Madrid</a></li> </ul> </div> </div>  <div id="siteInfo"> (C) 2008, Stefan Edbauer, Arno Scherhorn, <a href="http://www.juergentreml.de/">Jürgen Treml</a> </div> <br /> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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