Ashurst Perkins Coie promotes María Antonia de Prada, planning law specialist, to counsel in its Madrid real estate practice
María Antonia de Prada (Nani), new counsel at Ashurst Perkins Coie in Madrid: planning law, real estate, renewables and data centres.
Ashurst Perkins Coie has announced the appointment of María Antonia de Prada (Nani de Prada) as new counsel in the Real Estate Law department of its Madrid office, as reported by Líder Legal on 5 November 2026. The promotion recognises her trajectory after five years at the firm, which she joined in November 2021, and strengthens the planning and land-use practice, in which she is a specialist, completing the advice to clients on sectoral, environmental and regulatory matters.
Until now a senior associate in the department, De Prada has more than fifteen years of experience advising on all kinds of Real Estate and Planning Law matters, with particular dedication to projects with ongoing urban development and assets with sectoral or regulatory complexity. Her portfolio includes advising funds, financial institutions and national and international investors on real estate investments, due diligence processes and the marketing of residential, commercial, industrial and logistics properties and assets, as well as renewable energy and data centre projects.
A profile between the transactional and the public
Within the department, the new counsel provides recurring advice on the analysis of the planning, environmental and regulatory viability of projects, in addition to full ad hoc advice on transactions. Her practice also reaches the public-law terrain: she has advised private sector clients on the drafting of planning instruments and in various administrative proceedings, including sanctioning proceedings and proceedings for the restoration of planning legality, as well as in administrative court litigation on planning, consumer, historical heritage and environmental matters. She is, in short, a hybrid profile covering the complete asset cycle: from purchase and financing to planning management and contentious defence.
The firm's statements
Ismael Fernández Antón, managing partner of the Real Estate Law department in Madrid, has said the appointment is "a more than deserved recognition of her talent, her technical rigour and her commitment to our clients", and has underlined the value of her "deep knowledge of Planning Law" for the firm's real estate practice, "especially at a time of strong activity in sectors such as logistics, renewable energies and data centres". Jorge Vázquez Orgaz, the firm's managing partner in Madrid, has recalled that "since joining Ashurst in November 2021, Nani has been a key member of the team" and has linked the promotion to "the firm's ability to drive the development" of its professionals. De Prada herself has expressed her satisfaction: "It is a source of pride to take on this new responsibility at Ashurst Perkins Coie. I am grateful for the trust of the firm and my colleagues, and I face this new stage with great enthusiasm."
An internal promotion in the Madrid office
The firm, which operates in Spain under the name Ashurst Perkins Coie, thus resolves an internal promotion in its Madrid office, where the real estate practice has maintained sustained activity. Vázquez Orgaz insists on that reading of continuity: "This appointment is, above all, recognition of the quality of her work, her commitment and the contribution she has made over these years, as well as the trust she has earned with clients and colleagues. We believe it is an achievement we can all be proud of, and one that reflects the quality of our professionals."
The counsel figure in firms' architecture
The appointment is also a sign of how large international firms structure their professional careers today: the figure of counsel (a highly specialised step between senior associate and partnership) makes it possible to retain and give visibility to very solid technical profiles in practices where the market demands deep regulatory knowledge. In real estate and planning, where the viability of a transaction depends as much on the planning analysis as on the financial engineering, that specialist profile is particularly valuable. It is the same logic of governance and internal career that this publication analyses when examining law firm governance and the management committee.
The move adds to the intense activity of hires and promotions running through the Madrid legal market this autumn, recent examples of which include the arrival of Remedios García as tax partner at Toda & Nel-lo and the hires of Ana Castedo and Guillermo Rodrigo at Osborne Clarke.
Due diligence and ongoing development: the work being promoted
The description of De Prada's practice shows where the highest-value legal work in real estate is concentrated today. On the transactional side, due diligence and marketing processes cover residential, commercial, industrial and logistics properties and assets, and the advice extends to two of the most regulation-intensive segments of the moment: renewable energy projects and data centres, where location, grid connection and sectoral permits condition the entire operation. On the public side, the drafting of planning instruments for private clients and intervention in sanctioning proceedings or proceedings to restore planning legality cover the risk flank of assets with ongoing development, precisely the type of file in which the firm highlights its specialisation.
The department she joins is thus reinforced in its dual dimension: a team led by Ismael Fernández Antón in the Madrid real estate practice, within an office headed by Jorge Vázquez Orgaz, which links this internal promotion to the strategy of growth with home-grown talent that both partners underline in their statements. De Prada's progression (from senior associate to counsel in five years) is also the kind of trajectory firms use to show their teams that the internal career exists, a retention argument in a market where senior planning profiles are scarce and contested.
The specialisation the new counsel brings (planning, environmental and regulatory viability) also fits the growing demand for preventive analysis from funds and investors, who factor planning risk into the price and calendar of their operations from very early stages.
A reading for real estate teams
For the firms and advisers operating in the same market, the move confirms three trends. First, planning law is once again a first-tier practice within real estate, driven by the regulatory complexity of logistics, renewables and data centres. Second, international firms are betting on consolidating specialists with the counsel category instead of forcing promotions to partner that do not always fit the firm's structure. And third, the internal career is gaining weight over external hiring as a way of strengthening teams, in line with the managing partners' statements about home-grown talent.
Market context: planning is hot
That the promotion falls on a planning lawyer is no coincidence. The sectors the firm itself cites (logistics, renewable energies and data centres) share one characteristic: they are real estate businesses whose profitability is decided at the planning and regulatory stage, not only in the transaction. Land transformation, use compatibility, environmental assessment and administrative processing have become the bottleneck (and the competitive differential) of Spanish real estate investment. A counsel with fifteen years of experience precisely on that flank strengthens the firm's offering where the market most demands it.
Frequently asked questions
What post will María Antonia de Prada hold?
Counsel in the Real Estate Law department of Ashurst Perkins Coie's Madrid office, where she had been a senior associate since joining in November 2021.
What is her specialisation?
Planning and land-use law, advising on the planning, environmental and regulatory viability of projects, as well as real estate investment, renewables and data centres.
What is a counsel in a law firm?
A highly specialised professional category between senior associate and partner, common in international firms for consolidating senior technical profiles.
How long has De Prada been at the firm?
Five years: she joined Ashurst in November 2021 as a senior associate, after accumulating more than a decade of prior experience in Real Estate and Planning Law.
Which areas does she litigate?
According to the firm's information, she has intervened in administrative court proceedings on planning, consumer, historical heritage and environmental matters, as well as sanctioning proceedings and proceedings to restore planning legality.
Sources
Fuentes
- Source. Accessed 7 November 2026.
The specific data in this article come from the official sources cited.
