  We analyze the $XY$ model characterized by an anisotropy $\gamma$ in an
external magnetic field $h$ with respect to its genuine multipartite
entanglement content (in the thermodynamic and finite size case). Despite its
simplicity we show that the quantity -detecting genuine multipartite
entanglement through permutation operators and being a lower bound on measures-
witnesses the presence of genuine multipartite entanglement for nearly all
values of $\gamma$ and $h$. We further show that the phase transition and
scaling properties are fully characterized by this multipartite quantity.
Consequently, we provide a useful toolbox for other condensed matter systems,
where bipartite entanglement measures are known to fail.
