In Spain, there is an increase in foreigners buying houses or apartments worth 500 thousand euros – or more – on Iberian soil he will no longer be assigned a residence permit that you can get today.
The president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this on Monday: “We will modify the law approved by the People’s Party administration in 2013, which allows you to obtain a residence visa if you invest in housing in our country.”
In an event from Dos Hermanas, a town in Seville where he participated in the delivery of houses to families living in Andalusia, Sánchez assured: “We will start the procedure to eliminate the call “Golden Visa” (Golden Visa), which allows access to the residency regime when investing more than half a million euros in real estate”.
The measure, which came into force during the presidency of Mariano Rajoy, also finds application in countries such as Italy, Austria and the island of Malta. Ireland and Portugal, which had offered it to attract investments, have already canceled it.
Because, starting from 2022, the European Commission is asking the governments of the countries that compose it to review this policy the dangers they may pose to the safety of Schengen Area, as the territory made up of the 27 member countries of the Union is called and in which its citizens move freely.
The “golden visa” came into force during the presidency of Mariano Rajoy. Photo: archiveAnd why, moreover, they could hide crimes such as money laundering: usually not investigated What is the origin of this non-EU capital? which will be so happily invested on European soil.
The Association of Real Estate, Commercial and Personal Registries of Spain clarifies how the legislation in this regard works in its territory: “The so-called ‘golden visas’ were created in 2013, regulated by the Law on Entrepreneurs and their Internationalisation. The acquisition of a residence permit in Spain is permitted, via the satisfaction of one of the three conditions: make real estate investments equal to or greater than 500,000 euros; have at least one million euros in deposits or more than two million in government bonds; or start an entrepreneurial project considered of general interest in our country”.
Russians and Chinese
“Today, 94 out of a hundred visas of this type are linked to real estate investments and they are concentrated in cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, the Balearic Islands and also the city of Valencia – listed the president of the government -. That is, the territories that are facing a very stressed real estate market and where it is almost impossible to find decent accommodation for those who work there, live there and pay taxes every day”.
In 2022, just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Spaniards stopped counting how many Russian citizens had benefited from these golden residence permits.
“Spain has become the golden visa paradise for brick and mortar investments,” the newspaper El País declared at the time. Russians and Chinese are the two nationalities that benefit the most.”
In its latest report, dated December 29, 2023, the organization Transparency International, which works against corruption and corporate crimes, highlights that “since 2013, Spain has granted 6,200 golden visas, compared to 99,091 investment residence authorizations since 2017 to 2022”.
Golden visas They do not imply actual residence in Spain of those who obtain them as required by the authorizations.
Chinese citizens are those who have obtained the highest number of residence permits in Spain. Photo: BloombergAccording to Transparency International, of these almost one hundred thousand residence authorizations, 51,829 were granted to the holders and the remaining 47,262 to their family members.
“96.1 percent of these authorizations were granted through the acquisition of real estate,” reads the report which denounces “significant risks of corruption, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion”.
Chinese citizens are those who have obtained the highest number of residence permits in Spain.
The Russians follow: since the law came into force, they have invested in nearby Spanish properties 3.5 billion euros.
The list of beneficiaries also includes: Colombians, Indians, Americans, Venezuelans and Mexicans.
No to speculative deals
“We will take the necessary measures to ensure that housing is a right and not a mere speculative business,” said Pedro Sánchez.
Even if the initiative is not from his party, the PSOE, but from Más País, the political formation that broke away from Podemos in 2019 and which today is part of the amalgam of left-wing forces that converged in Sumar, the minister’s party of Work, Yolanda Diaz.
From there, Ernest Urtasun, his spokesperson and Minister of Culture, assured this Monday that “the golden visa They are a European disgrace. “It cannot be that someone is granted a residence permit just because he is a multimillionaire.”
“We have been calling for the PSOE to adopt this measure for a long time,” Urtasun added.
The decision to abolish the golden visas that the PSOE-Sumar coalition government intends to adopt was cross-referenced this Monday with the Statistical Yearbook of Real Estate Registration 2023 just published in Spain. There it seems that last year, 15% of homes sold across the country were purchased by foreigners.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.