As per the latest development, Spain is all set to do away with its popular ‘golden visa’ program. For your information, it’s the scheme that helped foreign investors gain residency by investing €500,000 in property. This announcement was made by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday. The decision comes as Spain aims to tackle the rampant speculation plaguing many of its cities.
During a visit near Seville, Sanchez declared, “We will eliminate the so-called golden visa program, which grants residency in exchange for a €500,000 property investment.” The move, slated for approval at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, aims to combat speculative property investments hindering access to housing for numerous young individuals and families.
Introduced in 2013 during economic struggles to attract foreign capital, the scheme grants non-EU investors a three-year work and residency permit in return for investing at least €500,000 in property or a Spanish company. Sanchez highlighted that currently, a vast majority of these visas are linked to property investments, heavily concentrated in major cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands.
The Prime Minister further emphasised the intense housing market pressures in these regions, making it exceedingly challenging for residents who live, work, and contribute taxes to find adequate housing. If reports are to go by, in response to escalating housing crises, several southern European countries have also gone ahead to either tighten rules or discontinue similar visa schemes that were established during the financial crisis.
Portugal terminated its golden visa program in February 2023, which had significantly inflated housing prices, while Greece recently heightened regulations, increasing the required investment to as much as €800,000. Reports add that criticism surrounding such visa programs has grown, with many denouncing them as a ‘European disgrace,’ arguing that residency permits should not be granted solely based on wealth.
In 2019, Brussels urged member states to crack down on these schemes, warning of their potential to facilitate corruption and money laundering, particularly benefiting affluent Chinese and Russian investors. The move to abolish Spain’s golden visa program reflects a broader European effort to address the social and economic ramifications of such schemes.