The government has given out 5,000 golden visas in ten years, half to Chinese high net worth

The government estimates that 4,940 so-called golden visas (golden visa, in English) has been issued since 2013, when CEO Mariano Rajoy introduced this figure through a law to support entrepreneurs. This type of residence permit is granted to foreign wealth that meets certain conditions, such as buying a house for more than 500,000 euros or investing more than 1 million euros in Spanish companies.

The executive authority thus responds to the request for information from More land, a formation that recently registered a bill in Congress to abolish this privileged access to residence, as other countries such as Portugal have recently done. The argument used by the group is that this type of investment has contributed to inflated housing prices and speculation in the market.

As stated in the Government’s response to Más País Deputy, Íñigo Errejon, 45% of these visas were issued to Chinese nationals, a total of 2,263. In addition, the great Russian riches, which are currently under the magnifying glass of the municipal authorities due to the sanctions of the Putin regime, make up about 20% of the total number, with 969 visas. The executive power also emphasizes that citizens of Ukraine received 2.7% of permits, 136.

Not yet knowing whether the government will revoke these permits or not, more and more countries are discouraging or directly limiting foreign investment in the real estate market, with the aim of preventing housing from becoming a speculative asset and curbing price growth. At the beginning of this year, Canada banned the sale of homes to foreigners who do not use them as a permanent residence. The goal is to ease prices in one of the world’s most inaccessible markets, fulfilling one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign promises.