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Update 09.04.24: An announcement has been made by the leader of the Socialist Government in Spain, that his government plans to amend or repeal the “Golden Visa” legislation. Currently no timetable for these changes has been suggested and there is opposition to any revision. That said, this discourse, that started in May 2023 may result in some material changes. We will endeavour to keep you up to date with these as we are made aware of them and their precise impact.
Hot on the heels of the Portuguese announcement that they propose scrapping their version of the Golden Visa, comes chattering from Madrid that the Spanish Government is being asked to consider altering the rules surrounding the application for its version of the Golden Visa.
If you are not entirely sure of what a Golden Visa is and why it may well be something of interest to you please check out my previous post – Could your Spanish residency concerns be solved by obtaining a “Golden Visa”?
I mentioned recently in this blog Discover your taste for Marbella the pitifully poor numbers of Spain’s version of the Golden Visa that had been issued to UK passport holders. More recent figures confirm that between 2013 and 2022, a total of just under 5000 such visas were issued, suggesting the campaign introduced under Mariano Rahoy’s government of moons ago, may not have been a resounding success.
That said, it still survives and if my office is anything to go by, we currently have a number of qualifying property purchasers keen to take advantage, for so long as there is availability. My view is that there should be further would be purchasers for whom the value of the Golden Visa is self evident.
Of the Golden Visas already granted, nearly sixty percent had been issued to a combination of Russian and Chinese investors with the balance being made up of Ukrainians and several other nationalities including the British post Brexit/2020 and US residents.
It’s vitally important to realise, and for many looking at possibly relocating to Spain from say, the UK, USA, Canada and the UAE, unless you hold or are able to secure an EU passport Would an EU Passport assist your Marbella property journey? the window on your dream of enjoying life in Spain, may well be closing or at least be substantially altered.
One of Spain’s smaller political parties, Mas Pais (More Country), a left wing green leaning group, founded in September 2019 by those disaffected by the under-performance, in their eyes, of Spain’s major socialist party, the PSOE – particularly in relation to social reform – last week tendered a Bill. This called for the elimination from the eligibility rules of the Golden Visa of the property qualification.
Their argument appears to be that the purchase of a property into which each applicant is required to invest not less than €500,000, is resulting in a fueling of property speculation and amounts to a distortion of the market.
I get their politics but to me it’s clear that if, annually, around 600,000 properties are purchased in Spain, with foreign purchasers making up around ten percent of that number, then the 5,000 Golden Visas granted since inception (ten years ago) are barely mathematically significant in assessing the impact of foreign buyers seeking to ride on the coattail of property speculation. No, this proposal seems to sit alongside the unworkable suggestion made in January 2023 by the President of the Balearic Islands – Mallorca, Ibiza etc – to the Spanish central government, that steps should be taken in order to prevent non-residents from buying property in the Islands.
Ok so lets run with Mas Pais’ proposal. They require a rule change to scrap the property purchase element and focus Golden Visa applications being based solely as a result of a “significant capital investment” of more than €2m in public debt or more than €1m in the equity of a Spanish company or financial institution. Certain cash investment rules, outside of a property purchase, already apply but the aim would be to remove the property driver from the equation.
While I can see the attractiveness of an entrepreneur seeking to persuade the Golden Visa issuing department in Madrid that his/her investment of €1m in their own enterprise should be sufficient to qualify I suspect that would not be what was intended.
The other mantra of Mas Pais seem to suggest that there is a lack of usual due diligence being exercise by a combination of the Banks, Notaries and Lawyers when it comes to identifying the source of funds that are applied to Golden Visa property purchases. What rock have these politicians been living under over the recent past? Back in the Real World do they not know just how tough the Anti-Money Laundering rules of the Bank of Espana et al are?
My main rallying cry here, is if you are interested to consider whether your and your family’s future might be best served by qualifying for a Golden Visa, please don’t delay.
It’s fair to say that Portugal has not yet taken the proposed legislative action, discussed earlier in the year. Given pressure on the current Spanish government, amendment to the Golden Visa legislation may follow the granting of political support in other areas of Government policy, so while I’ll seek to keep you apprised, I’d welcome your interest. Please also share with friends.
Should you be interested in discussing the legal process involved in buying a property in the Marbella region, we would be delighted to assist you. Our multi-disciplinary team of bi-lingual, highly experienced and wholly independent Abogados and Asesores Fiscales are ready to help you.
Please call me, Mark FR Wilkins, during usual business hours on +34 600 343 917 or, if you prefer, or e-mail me at mark@roslegal.es
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