More Details
The proposed amendment seeks to modify Law 14/2013, specifically aiming to:
- eliminate articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013, which relate to residence visas for investors, including the "Golden Visa" for real estate investments.
- introduce a transitional provision for those who have already invested and applied for the visa before the law is amended.
This provision states: "Investors or their family members who have submitted their applications before this provision becomes effective will be eligible to receive their visa or authorisation in accordance with the regulations in force at the time of their application."
The legislative text is currently under parliamentary review and will be debated in the plenary session of the Congress before being passed to the Senate.
Broader Context
To put this in context, the European Commission in 2022 recommended such programs, like Spain's Golden Visa, be terminated for national security reasons, as well as money laundering risks.5 Other European countries that have taken steps to phase out investor routes for accessing their country’s version of a Golden Visa include the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, and Switzerland.
According to a report in the BBC (in Spanish), applications for Spain's Golden Visas were disproportionately made by nationals of the People's Republic of China and Russia.6
