The end of the Golden Visa will have a limited impact, according to experts.

The President of the Government announced the end of the ‘golden visa’, and the Council of Ministers has only taken 24 hours to make the warning materialise. The Government has begun the process to eliminate the granting of residence permits to non-EU foreigners who invest more than 500,000 euros in housing. Idealista/news has spoken to the main luxury real estate agencies in the country to find out their position on this decision. And they believe that, although it is a blow to the sector, as it removes an option that could be attractive to some investors, the expected damage is very limited, as the motivations of foreign investors in Spain, in particular, are mostly indifferent to obtaining the ‘golden visa’. However, they point to the decision as a sign that foreign investment is not welcome in Spain.

The golden visa was originally introduced as a way to attract international clients from outside the EU and the Schengen Area to Spain. However, the actual number of transactions involving this ‘golden visa’ scheme has been very low since its entry into force in 2013. “The vast majority of international customer transactions in Spain are from within the European Union or do not involve the golden visa scheme. Therefore, the actual impact on prices and transactions has been and will be extremely limited. However, it is likely that now, with the announcement of the cancellation of the golden visa, there will be a temporary rush of investors planning to make use of this scheme,” explains Lucas Fox.

2016-2023 | Golden Visa | Residence permits to non-EU foreigners for property investment.