SPAIN’S GOLDEN VISA
According to ‘El País’ the Spanish newspaper over 27.000 residency permits have been issued to individuals and their family members, under the ‘Golden Visa’.
The Spanish government introduced a legislation offering these residency permits to large investors and highly qualified individuals.
Since it all started in 2013, it has brought 2.16€ billion in investment to the country, 72% of this which has gone into property.
To obtain this visa there are a certain set of spending requirements. One must spend a minimum of €2 million on Spanish treasury bonds, or 1€million in stock or deposits or purchase any property valued at 500.000€ or more in Spain.
During the first year the visa was offered only 500 investors applied, bringing in around 700€ million. To raise the number of applicants the government decided to ease the conditions allowing direct relatives to be included in the visas, as well as extending the period of residency from two to five years.
The most recent figures have shown the number of investors in Spain has since then quadrupled.
Chinese and Russian Millionaires are in the top half of the investors in Spain through this visa. Chinese have invested 716€ million in property, financial assets and business projects, where the Russians come in second, having invested 567€ million.
These golden visas are also being granted in other countries of the European Union, prominently in Portugal, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
In conclusion, this has positively affected Spain’s economy as well as second residency market, seeing a positive growth. Foreign buyers are on the rise again, having acquired 55,512 properties in Spain during 2016, that is an increase of 18.8% on the previous year, making it one of the best years since the recession in 2008.
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