Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S Golden Visa scheme that granted residency to non-EU citizens in exchange for large investments ended on Thursday.
The initiative was launched in 2013 to attract foreign capital in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
It granted residency permits to those who purchased property worth at least €500,000.
READ MORE:
- End of the Golden Visa in Spain: Government moves to annul law that grants residency to wealthy foreigners who invest €500,000 in property
- Revealed: The most popular locations for ‘golden visa’ homebuyers in Spain – including the Costa del Sol
Residency was also given to people who invested €2 million in Spanish public debt or €1 million to companies in the country, investment funds or venture capital or bank deposits in financial institutions.
But most of the visas ended up linked to property purchases with job or project creation of any impact being minimal.
Analysts also believed that some people took advantage of the scheme to launder money.
In April 2024, the government announced it was scrapping the visa due to the housing crisis in certain parts of the country.
It said that 90% of Golden Visa purchases were in cities like Madrid and Barcelona, as well as coastal tourist areas including the Balearic Islands, the Costa Blanca, and the Costa del Sol where rising housing costs have squeezed local residents.
780 visas were granted last year between January and February with an average investment of just over €657,000.
Up to 2023, Spain gave 14,576 such visas via property investment.
Most of the beneficiaries came from China, Russia, the UK, the US, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela and Mexico.
In 2022, the European Commission urged member states to end programmes that grant passports or residency in exchange for financial contributions.
The government said it was following the recommendation from Brussels and pointed out that similar schemes had been scrapped by Ireland and Portugal.
Just Greece, Hungary, Malta, and Italy are still running ‘cash for residency’ incentives.
