'Golden visa' warning as Spain changes rules

Ryan Paton

9 April 2024 at 3:22 pm·1-min read

The move could impact British people planning to move to Spain -Credit:Getty Images

The Spanish government has announced plans to cut the "golden visa" scheme.

The current rules means non-EU citizens who invest more than £429,000 in Spanish property can live and work in the country for three years. However, Spain's prime minister has confirmed the scheme will be cut to provide affordable housing.

On Tuesday, Pedro Sanchez said: "Today, 94 out of every 100 such visas are linked to real estate investment… in major cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, Valencia or Palma de Mallorca that are facing a highly stressed market and where it’s almost impossible to find decent housing for those who already live, work and pay their taxes there.”

The "golden visa" scheme has been in place since 2013 and government figures show almost 5.000 permits have been issued. The rules were designed to attract wealthy foreign investors to the country.

However, the EU has urged members against such schemes as there are concerns it is inflating house prices. Mr Sanchez said the reform was part of the government’s push to make housing “a right, not a speculative business”

Since Brexit, Golden Visas have been popular with some people from the UK moving to Spain as it allows them to stay longer than the 90-day limit on non-EU citizens. Spain's move to scrap the Golden Visa comes after the UK, Ireland and Portugal have all recently moved to end similar schemes allowing people to settle in the country in exchange for buying property.

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