The most expensive flat for sale in Spain has been revealed as a two-storey penthouse of some 517 square metres in the Chamberi area of Madrid - a snip at 7,440,000 euros.

The duplex, actually two apartments converted into one, has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a 100-square metre sitting room, with a downstairs terrace of 133 square metres and a first floor terrace of 295 square metres with its own pool. The penthouse has a separate servants' entrance and up to seven car parking spaces are also available, at the bargain price of 90,000 euros each.

The apartment building itself is protected by 24 hour security and has its own indoor pool and gymnasium.  There are spectacular panoramic views across Madrid from the 8th floor penthouse.

Out of curiosity, over a thousand people have clicked on the website promoting the property, but only two people have really shown any interest.  "There are very few people here in Spain who could buy it," explained Marta Rusomano, owner of HQ Realty Inmobiliaria, the estate agents promoting the property.  "We think it will probably be sold to a foreigner," she continued.  In actual fact, one of the two people who have been shown around the penthouse is from India.

The second most expensive apartment in Spain is a 450 square metre property in the Salamanca district of Madrid, which was recently sold for six million euros, followed, in third place by a 300 square metre apartment in the Tres Torres area of Barcelona, which was sold for four million euros.

If you work the price out per square metre, however, Spain's most expensive apartment is a 214 square metre penthouse in the Los Jerónimos area of Madrid, adjacent to the Parque del Retiro, which is on the market for 4,308,000 euros (i.e. 21,131 euros per square metre).

Spain's most expensive property altogether is a house on the exclusive La Moraleja urbanisation, also in Madrid which is on the market with ReaMadrid estate agents.  The price tag for this 825 square metre house with eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms set in 23,000 square metres of land is 16,500,000 - a monthly mortgage of 63,154 euros.

Yet for buyers in this league, these properties in Madrid must look like bargains compared to the world's most expensive apartment, which was sold in Hong Kong last week for a whopping 56 million dollars.