Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, son of Brazil’s socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, lives a luxurious life in Madrid that only the top 0.8 percent of Spaniards can afford, according to a report by the Brazilian outlet Poder 360.
Fábio Luís, a businessman commonly referred to with the nickname Lulinha (“Lil’ Lula”), is the oldest of President Lula’s five children. Lulinha is currently the target of three separate probes on allegations of corruption, irregular behavior, and influence peddling involving Brazilian federal government institutions. Marco Aurélio Santana, President Lula’s former chief of staff and one of his closest advisers, is also a target of the ongoing probes.
Far from living a lifestyle in accordance with the ideology professed by his socialist president father, Poder 360 published an analysis indicating that the younger Lula’s lifestyle in Madrid is at a “level that few Spanish workers can attain.” According to the outlet, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva resides with his family at a luxurious condominium complex in La Moraleja, an affluent residential district in the Spanish capital of Madrid. International actors, businessmen, and Brazilian soccer stars also reportedly live in La Moraleja.
According to the outlet, the rental property is a 2,690-square-foot apartment with three bedrooms and is located inside a gated community that features “access control, swimming pools, sauna, gym, a party room, meeting space, coworking space, and green areas.” Poder 360, with the help of Spanish real estate experts, estimated the apartment’s monthly rental and other related expenses at 5,800 euros ($6,770).
The outlet explained that it is a widely common practice in the Spanish real estate market for property owners to require that tenants show proof that they earn at least three times the requested rent amount. As such, Poder 360 emphasized, President Lula’s oldest son would have to demonstrate that he has a monthly income of at least 17,400 euros ($20,300) — which translates to an annual income of approximately 208,800 euros (roughly $243,687) — to justify the luxurious apartment’s rental fees.
“This figure helps illustrate the level of income needed to maintain the lifestyle that Lula’s son currently enjoys in Madrid,” Poder 360 noted.
The Brazilian outlet, citing statistical information published by the Spanish newspaper El País over the weekend, explained that only 0.8 percent of Spanish workers earn an annual gross salary of over 100,000 euros. Poder 360 emphasized that, based on the criteria used in its analysis, President Lula’s son Lulinha, “earns more than twice as much.”
“The median gross salary in the country [Spain] is about 24,500 euros per year. To be among the top 10 percent of earners, one must earn 52,000 euros. To be among the top 1 percent of earners, a worker must earn more than 97,500 euros annually,” Poder 360 detailed. “The income required for Lulinha’s housing is, therefore, more than double the threshold for entering the top 1 percent of Spanish workers.”
Poder 360 affirmed that it was not able to identify a source of income in Spain tied to Fábio Luís Lula da Silva “consistent with the observed cost of living.” According to the Brazilian outlet, the younger Lula founded a Madrid-based tech company called Synapta in January 2026. However, Lula’s lawyers have reportedly affirmed that the company is “considered inactive by the Spanish tax agency.”
The outlet detailed that it received no response from Lula and his legal team by press time. Poder 360 reportedly sent a letter to the apartment complex on Thursday, August 20, offering another chance for the president’s son to comment — but, according to the outlet, “the doorman, acting on Lulinha’s instructions, refused to accept the letter and denied that Lula’s son lived there.”
“This lack of explanation comes at a time when Lulinha is under investigation by the Federal Police in three separate probes on suspicion of influence peddling and corruption. He is not a defendant in any of them,” Poder 360 wrote.
According to CNN Brasil, one of the three probes currently targeting the younger Lula involves allegations that the president’s son helped businessman Antônio Antunes secure medicinal cannabis contracts with Brazil’s National Social Security Institute (INSS). Brazilian outlets have widely referred to Antunes as the Careca do INSS (The INSS Baldy) over his alleged involvement in a much more complex corruption scheme involving the Brazilian Social Security Institute.
Per CNN Brasil, the other two probes involve allegations that the younger Lula improperly acted to benefit a technology company secure a deal with the federal government’s Dataprev tech company. The third one involves allegations that Lula improperly helped a group of individuals receive preferential treatment with the national government.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva referred to the ongoing probes targeting his son in a Sunday interview with TV record. President Lula affirmed that he is addressing the subject “with much seriousness,” affirming that “nobody is above the law,” but that the “presumption of innocence must always be respected.”
“No one is above the law if they’ve made a mistake. That, therefore, is my role as president. My son knows that if he’s made a mistake, he’ll be tried, he’ll be punished, or he’ll be found innocent, but he has to prove his innocence,” Lula reportedly said on Sunday.
President Lula was convicted and sentenced to over two decades in prison in 2019 on corruption charges tied to his purchase of a luxury beachfront property in Sao Paulo. However, Brazil’s top court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), overturned Lula’s convictions in 2021 on procedural grounds, presenting no exonerating evidence against the conviction. The STF’s decision allowed Lula to run for president again in 2022. Presently, the incumbent Brazilian president is seeking reelection for a fourth term in the October 2026 presidential elections.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.