Since last Friday, April 4, the residence permit for foreigners investors in Spainthe famous golden visas or “Golden Visa“, will cease to apply completely in the European nation after more than 12 years of having entered into force; since, from 2013 to 2024, more than 14 thousand permits were recorded by real estate investments.
Golden visas for foreigners who were external to European Union (EU) were approved by the government of the conservative Popular Party in February 2013, taking into consideration the “prick of the real estate bubble” that Spain suffered at that time, so you could Obtain this “Golden Visa” just for the purchase of real estate.
The people interested in the golden visa had to buy some territorial property whose value was greater than € 500 thousand (Q4 million 256 thousand) In Spain or they could also make various investments in bank deposits, public debt, shares, investment funds and business projects of general interest in the European country.
However, in May 2024, the president of the Spanish Government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejónannounced that it would eliminate this type of visas by ensuring that “they were causing access problems to residential buildings in certain cities”, such as Madrid and Barcelonaand that housing is a right, not a business.
More than 14 thousand visas between 2013 and 2024
The Executive Power in Spain stressed that between 2013 and 2024 they had been granted 14 thousand 576 golden visas For investments in real estate, and also mentioned that in the last five years “exponential had been registered”, especially after the Brexit (The output of United Kingdom of the European Union) and the war between Ukraine and Russia.
According to the Spanish government, the cities of Barcelona In the northeast, Madrid In the center, Malaga In the south and Alicante, Valencia and the Balearic Islands In the East, they had concentrated more than 90% of all authorizations granted in the last six years, which had mainly benefited Russian and Chinese citizens.
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Given this situation, the Spanish authorities made the decision to review and harden These permits, so the entrepreneurs support law was modified, with the aim of limiting the purchase of housing by the Non -community foreignersby introducing a new tax on added value (VAT) 100%.
Unfortunately for the European nation, Spain is living and suffering a great housing scarcity, Especially for rent, so prices have uploaded “hugely“, especially in the most Tourism and in the main cities of the country, as the six previously mentioned and Seville, Toledo and Ceuta.
After the permanent elimination of the “Golden Visa”, various experts in the Spanish real estate sector believe that the abolition of golden visas “will have a impact very limited“, taking into account the profile of the homes that foreigners usually buy and the shortage production in the country to respond to demand.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce in Spain, José Luis Bonet, He described this decision as a “political practice consisting of gaining the popular favor”, since the real problem of the nation was the lack of real estate, so it also saw a “smoke curtain to hide the failure in housing policies “.
🇪🇸 | Pedro Sánchez announces the end of the “Golden Visa” that allows the residence visa in Spain with investments exceeding € 500,000 in real estate. However, it will continue to water subsidies and immigration aids that enter Spain illegally. pic.twitter.com/qqiqynngrh
– ʜᴇʀqʟᴇs (@herqles_es) April 8, 2024