Spain cancels the golden visa for potentates

Madrid. The Spanish government, chaired by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, decided to put an end to one of the figures that allow obtaining the so-called golden visa, that of real estate investment exceeding half a million euros (9 million 500 thousand pesos), which opens the door to legal residence for at least three years and the immediate repatriation of family members and spouses. This measure, which was approved as a result of the 2013 economic crisis, has benefited 368 Mexicans, some of them businessmen or people looking to change their place of residence. Among them, the politician and former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto stands out, who obtained his residency in 2020 and renewed it at least until 2028.

Need for foreign investment

The calls golden visas They are intended for businessmen or people with high purchasing power who are seeking to settle temporarily in Spain. This measure was approved in the midst of a rampant economic crisis, given that the country urgently required foreign investment and especially when it was suffocated by the immense stock of empty homes (more than 250 thousand in 2014), many of them owned by banks. after its owners were evicted due to non-payment of the loan. The then government of right-wing Mariano Rajoy approved the measure to attract capital from other countries and provide an outlet for those empty properties.

Las golden visas They are processed urgently, so that a person who requests them can have their papers in order to live, work and invest in Spain within a period of 30 days, in addition to starting the procedures for the repatriation of their family members and spouses. . An impossible wasteland for the rest of the migrants or applicants for a residence visa, whose files can take months, even years.

This measure is designed for people with large fortunes, to whom the possibility of investing with a minimum of 2 million euros in public debt is opened; one million euros in shares, funds or deposits; 500 thousand euros in real estate, and, finally, by presenting a business project with a favorable report from the Economic and Commercial Office (visas) or the International Trade and Investment department (authorizations).

Fears

The government of Pedro Sánchez intends to eliminate only the figure that affects investment in real estate for non-residents of 500 thousand euros, motivated largely by the fear that it is being used for money laundering from organized crime, drug trafficking or political corruption, as the European Union already expressed a couple of years ago.

According to data from the Ministry of Housing, since 2013 a total of 14,576 visas have been granted solely for the figure of investment in real estate, the majority of which were granted to citizens from China (22.81 percent), Russia (21.78), United Kingdom (7.53), United States (5.19), Ukraine (4.08), Iran (2.95), Venezuela (2.56) and, finally, Mexico, with 2.53 percent, which means that around 368 people they have obtained it since its entry into force.

The majority of these investments have been in Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, that is, beach locations, so it is suspected that many of them are used as second homes and at the same time obtain legal residence in Spain. , especially non-EU citizens.

The estimate of the housing stock in Spain amounted to 26 million 811 thousand 833 in 2022, according to the statistical bulletin published in July 2023 by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda. So the granting of 14 thousand residence permits for investment in the entire period 2013-2024 is considered to have an impact low in prices. Furthermore, it is stated that home buyers are mostly Spanish (84.88 percent) and foreigners (15.44 percent) are, for the most part, from the European Union, except from the United Kingdom.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, explained that with the project to repeal this law, which will become a reality in the coming months, they intend to give a step to offer an exceptional response, in specific places, to an exceptional problem.

Although the names of the Mexicans who have received this form of residence in Spain cannot be released, it was revealed at the time that one of them was former president Enrique Peña Nieto, who obtained it in 2020 for a duration of three years, so he had to renew it in 2023 for a period of five more years, according to the Spanish immigration legislation itself, so his residence in Spain is guaranteed at least until 2028.

Beneficiaries

The identity of the rest of the nationals who have this residence visa is confidential information, although the Ministry of Economy did explain that the majority of Mexican investors in the Spanish real estate market open branches of their companies in the country and usually pass short periods in Spain, such as the magnate Carlos Slim (who owns one of the most important housing portfolios in the Iberian country through Realia) or the company Be Grand, owned by businessman Nicolás Carrancedo, which has specialized in luxury homes. Or the real estate manager Terralpa, which has projects worth several hundred million euros. Or the Amodio brothers, with the construction company OHLA, which has significant investments in the real estate market.

So most of the 368 Mexicans who obtained the golden visa They did it to change their address or have a second home and also a legal residence of at least three years in a country of the European Union, with all the benefits that entails. And without the legal requirement to remain in Spain for its renewal, as has happened in numerous cases.