Property
S pr pa op in’ in er s b En ty es gl ma t ish g
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Kick off your heels at Spain’s hottest new hotels See page 6
May 2023
Swiss salute! A MAJOR global exhibition is to recognise the work of architectural giants Herzog & De Meuron, as they reach their 45th anniversary. The Royal Academy show, in London, is exploring the Swiss pair’s incredible designs, with a healthy half dozen built in Spain. These include (from top left) the Barcelona Forum, Madrid’s CaixaForum and (main) the remarkable 2007 HQ of Spanish bank, BBVA. Since 1978 the pair have grafted on 600 projects, many yet to be built, including Jerez de la Frontera’s City of Flamenco.
See Partners in Design page 22
Golden Millionaire SPAIN’S golden visa scheme is expected to survive… but it’s going to double in price. While Portugal and Ireland recently scrapped their programmes, in Spain the visa scheme is expected to be extended. Government sources indicate that only those investing €1million or more will be given a three-year residency permit. A source told El Pais that the figure will be doubled from the current total of €500,000 invested in real estate or as an investment in a Spanish company.
Spain’s Golden Visa scheme to survive… but investment threshold likely to rise to €1 million and it could encourage spending in less-populated areas By Walter Finch
It comes after left wing political party Mas Pais claimed that Spain’s Social Security Ministry had provisionally confirmed it was to scrap the scheme. Leader Inigo Errejon claimed the scheme had led to a ‘brutal’ increase in house prices, adding: “Spanish citizenship cannot be bought”.
But the government was quick to deny his claims, insisting the ministry was actually looking at alternatives with suggestions from various political parties. One of these is to allow investment but only in less-populated areas or in socially beneficial projects. Introduced in 2013 in the wake of the Euro crisis, the scheme was intended as a means to re-inflate the housing market through foreign in-
vestment. However, it has been frequently criticised for creating inflationary pressures and came under scrutiny for encouraging black money into the Spanish economy. Currently, the scheme allows foreigners to obtain a three-year residence permit, extendable for another two, by investing at least €500,000 in real estate, excluding any mortgages. The mechanism also applies to in-
vestments of more than €1 million in deposits or shares of Spanish capital companies, or more than €2 million in government bonds. Certain desirable highly skilled professionals and family reunification cases are also eligible for this residency permit without investment. In 2022, Spain granted 2,462 golden visas to property investors, an increase of nearly 60% from the previous year. Only a handful invested in companies or government bonds. Since the scheme began some 31,000 people have acquired a golden visa.