“Chinese investors are buying your house. » Stuck under car windshield wipers, these flyers have flooded neighborhoods in the south and east of Madrid since the government announced plans in April to eliminate golden visas. residence permits granted since 2013 to foreign nationals who purchase real estate worth more than 500,000 euros in the country. “We will take the necessary measures to ensure that housing is a right, not a commodity of speculation”declared the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, including the measure in a plan intended to counter the sharp rise in rents and real estate prices and the difficulties of finding accommodation in the country's main cities. In ten years, rent prices have doubled in Madrid. In Barcelona, it jumped 65%.
Seven months later, the elimination of “golden visas” has just been approved at first reading in the Congress of Deputies, Thursday November 14, through an amendment included in a law of“efficiency of justice”. It will still have to go before the Senate before its final approval. And until then, “investors who, before the date of entry into force of this provision, have submitted the corresponding application, will be able to receive the visa”, specifies the text. Enough to encourage a further acceleration of requests.
In recent months, the announcement of the end of “golden visas” has had the opposite effect to its stated objective: investors are rushing to seize their “last chance”, requests for information are surging in specialized agencies, and legal consulting firms are increasing their advertising campaigns aimed at their international clients. “Buyers are in a hurry, because it seems that in 2025 these visas will no longer exist, explains Chen Tianchi, manager of the Barcelona office of the Eticasa real estate agency, which specializes in advising Chinese buyers. Our customers often buy after a video conference, without traveling. We offer them one or more apartments to reach the 500,000 euros requested. And we help them manage the documents they have to send us, particularly on the origin of the funds. The process can last around two months. For them, it is the simplest way to obtain a three-year residence permit, extendable to five years, which can then open the door to them applying for Spanish nationality. »
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Source: Lemonde