Spanish Political Party introduces bill to scrap Golden Visa by investment in real estate

The Spanish left-wing political party, Más País, wants the Government to scrap the country’s “Residence by Investment” scheme for foreigners who invest in real estate in the country. The scheme, which is also known as the Golden Visa program and was introduced in 2013, is one way that enables foreigners to obtain a Spanish residency permit by purchasing real estate worth at least €500,000 in Spain and its territory.

Más País is now arguing that this type of investment does not bring any benefits to the country, and as such should be scrapped, so that the only way to obtain a Spanish Golden visa remains by launching a business investment project with job creation or innovation.

The party has submitted a bill to Congress to scrap the Golden Visa by the purchase of property, under the argument that the outside investment has driven up the prices of housing in the country for residents.

In an interview with Radio Cadena SER, the leader of the Más País, Íñigo Errejón, said that it is different to invest by purchasing a home or another type of real estate, and it is different when foreigners invest money in businesses, which later contribute to the growth of the Spanish economy.

He also noted that the government does not control or investigate where the money to purchase real estate comes from, a concern that has been also raised by the EU Commission.

“It is too easy for some people to come and request a residency permit by buying a property with half a million euros. It looks almost colonial. We have presented a very simple reform, to eliminate this class advantage that is given to some, which is bad for transparency and for containing housing prices for our citizens,” Errejón said during the interview.

If the bill is approved, then articles 63 and 64 of Law 14/2013 would be modified, eliminating the purchase of real estate in Spain as a way of getting residency in the country.

Spain’s Golden Visa program remains among the most favourite in Europe for foreign investors, as data for the first half of 2022 shows. The country has, however, often been criticized for the way it operates the scheme, including by the EU authorities, alongside other countries operating Golden visas and passports, for being a money laundering tool, including for Russian oligarchs.

In March, last year, the Spanish government suspended Golden visa issuance for Russians, due to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military. From the beginning of 2020 until the end of January 2021, a total of 492 Spanish Golden Visas were issued to Russian citizens.