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Date Published: 09/05/2023

Spanish government considers tightening requirements for golden visas

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The golden visa scheme is likely to continue in Spain but investments will need to be much higher

Spanish government considers tightening requirements for golden visas

The Spanish government is considering toughening the requirements for golden visas following calls to scrap the entire scheme last February. The initiative currently offers a residency visa to non-EU nationals and their families who invest more than 500,000 euros in Spanish property.

The golden visa scheme was initially introduced back in 2013 in the midst of the financial crisis in a bid to stimulate investment in the housing market in Spain. However, left-wing party Más País argues that granting Spanish residence to wealthy foreigners doesn’t benefit the economy and hinders locals from purchasing property, thus generating a “very negative” chain effect on the housing market.

The new plan being studied involves forcing potential financiers to up their “significant capital investment” from 500,000 euros to closer to 1 million. For those who opt to purchase public debt or invest in business, the threshold would be in the region of 2 million euros.

Ireland opted to abolish the scheme earlier this year and the UK scrapped a similar system in 2022. Portugal also opted to terminate the visas in order to “combat real estate speculation.”

In fact, EU leaders have long been sceptical about the ethics of the Spanish golden visa and worry that it provides a ‘back door’ for dirty money since no checks are conducted on where this enormous amount of capital actually comes from.

If the visas are to remain in play, Más País has proposed a total reform of foreign investments in housing “guaranteeing their effects on the real economy and without distorting the real estate market in Spain.”

The government confirmed that 4,940 golden visas were granted to non-EU nationals between 2013 and 2022, with 45% issued to Chinese citizens alone. Russians were issued with 969 visas (19.6% of the total) while 2.7% were awarded to Ukrainians.

In other news: Air Europa announces fresh wave of strikes in Spain

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