Golden real estate visas have soared by 5,300 authorizations in the last two years, reaching a total of 14,576 residence authorizations in Spain at the end of 2023. Since the creation of this opportunity for foreign investors, the 2013, 9,286 concessions were authorized until 2021. But in 2022 and 2023 the Spanish Government encountered a notable increase in requests, of 57%. In addition, during the first two months of 2024, 426 visas had been authorized, so the pace has remained constant. The Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, explained yesterday that the elimination of this figure aims to "stop speculation". "These investments put pressure on the market and increase the price of housing", he argued.
It is the Russian invasion of Ukraine that marks a before and after in the granting of golden visas in Spain. The Spanish Government admits an increase in requests from Russian investors after the war, although it disassociates it from a movement of wealthy families close to the Putin regime. In number, in the last two years almost 2,200 citizens of the Russian Federation have accessed the residence program for investors by acquiring a property for more than half a million euros. At the end of 2022, official records indicated 969 concessions to Russians. Yesterday the Ministry of Housing reported 3,174 authorizations until December 31.
Despite this notable increase from Russia, the list of golden visas remains dominated by investors from China, with a total of 3,324 concessions since 2013.
In a second tier of beneficiaries of golden visas to invest in housing are citizens of the United Kingdom. Minister Rodríguez explained yesterday that Brexit influenced these bets on Spanish real estate. They are followed by investors from the United States and Ukraine. At a lower level are the concessions of permits to investors from Iran, Venezuela and Mexico.
The main location in which the beneficiaries of the golden visas have invested is Barcelona, which concentrates a third of real estate bets. 19% went to Madrid; 18%, in Malaga (in Marbella, specifically); 10%, in Alicante; 5%, in the Balearic Islands, and 4%, in Valencia. The Spanish Government highlighted yesterday the impact of these privileges for foreign investors in very specific markets. In Barcelona, for example, investments made through golden visas have reached 5.3% of annual operations. In Marbella they have reached 7%, and in points in the Balearic Islands they have exceeded 10%.
The real estate sector has criticized the measure en masse and questioned whether it should serve to cool the housing market in Spain. This position was added yesterday by the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, who also questioned its usefulness. "Are foreign people stressing the areas from a real estate point of view?", he asked. Minister Rodríguez wanted to respond to these criticisms by explaining that there is a "consequential need" to eliminate real estate gold visas in Spain. He added that "speculation has increased significantly since 2022".
The general secretary of CC.OO., Unai Sordo, wanted to go further and, although he recognized that the effect of the measure "is limited", he advocated acting on "rentism", because housing "is an economic slab" for the country.
In order to speed up the elimination of gold visas as much as possible, the Spanish Government wants to introduce an amendment to the modification of the law of the S ól, which is in parliamentary processing.
