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The regulation that will put an end to the so-called 'golden visa' scheme in Spain will come into force in April this year, a year after central government announced its intention to eliminate this means of entry to Spain. This is the route that has allowed non-EU citizens with large fortunes to obtain a residence permit in Spain in exchange for large investments made, investments that, in the case of property, must exceed 500,000 euros.
The Official State Gazette (BOE) has published the law that will eliminate this means of being granted a visa. This visa route was approved under the government of Mariano Rajoy and, more recently, has become the focus of public criticism, coinciding with a strong tension in housing prices, which will undoubtedly continue to mark the political agenda in the coming months.
Although the announcement was made in April 2024, it was on 14 November at a full meeting of MPs at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid that they approved the elimination of this visa, with 179 votes in favour and 169 against.
Note: the regulation that appears in the BOE includes a transitional provision that establishes that these visas will be respected for investors - or their family members - who have applied for this type of visa before the new law's entry into force. The same will occur with any 'golden visa' renewals, which will be processed and resolved in accordance with the regulations in force on the date when the visa was initially granted.
Although the elimination of this visa was initially justified as one of the factors driving up house prices as these wealthy individuals were indeed buying properties to acquire this visa, there are other types of investors who sought out this visa. For example, these visas are also granted to international investors who buy more than two million euros in Spanish public debt, or more than one million euros in shares in the Spanish stock market or holdings in Spanish companies.
The visa was also available to investors who injected more than one million euros in investment funds set up in Spain or in bank deposits in Spanish financial institutions. Another way to qualify for the visa was to create a business project to be developed in Spain that was considered and accredited to be of general interest.
Although it was regarded as a formula for attracting foreign capital, the fact is that the low number of golden visas issued (just 451 in 2022, 50% less than the previous year) does rather cast doubt on its effectiveness. Couple that with it being one of the main reasons for the rise in housing prices and it would seem it will not be greatly missed. Interestingly, this type of visa has also been eliminated in other countries such as Portugal and Canada.
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