A Spanish political party has introduced legislation to abolish the Golden Visa through real estate

Más Pas, Spain's left-wing political party, proposes to abolish the country's Residency by Investment scheme for foreigners who invest in real estate in the country.

The Golden Visa system, which was implemented in Spain in 2013, allows foreigners to receive a Spanish residency visa by purchasing real estate valued at least €500,000 in the country.

Más Pas is now proposing that this form of investment brings no benefits to the country and should be phased out, leaving the only method to obtain a Spanish Golden visa to create a business project involving job creation or innovation.

The party has introduced legislation in Congress to end the Golden Visa by property purchase, claiming that the practise has driven up home prices in the nation.

The leader of the Más Pas, igo Errejón, stated in an interview for News and Online Radio Cadena SER 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 stated that the government has little control over where the money for real estate purchases originates from, a concern shared by the European Union.

“How easy it is for some gentlemen to come and request a residence permit and buy a house 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,” Errejón said during the interview.

If the bill is passed, articles 63 and 64 of Law 14/2013 would be amended, thereby eliminating the acquisition of real estate in Spain as a means of obtaining residency in the nation.

According to data for the first half of 2022, Spain's Golden Visa programme remains one of the most popular in Europe for international investors. Nonetheless, the government has frequently been chastised for the manner it runs the scheme, particularly by EU officials, as well as other countries operating Golden visas and passports, for serving as a money laundering vehicle, including for Russian oligarchs.

Due to Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine in March of last year, the Spanish government banned the granting of Golden visas to Russians. From the start of 2020 to the end of January 2021, 492 Spanish Golden Visas were awarded to Russian citizens.

By fLEXI tEAM