It’s already official: Organic Law 1/2025, of January 2, on Measures for the Efficiency of the Public Justice Service, will repeal, as of April 3, 2025, articles 63, 64, 65, 66 and 67 of Law 14/2013, of September 27, on Support for Entrepreneurs and their Internationalization, which regulated the issuance of residence visas for non-EU investors (popularly known as Golden Visa).
It is worth remembering that Law 14/2013, of 27 September, on Support for Entrepreneurs and their Internationalisation, which was approved in 2013 under the Mariano Rajoy Administration for citizens not resident in the European Union, allowed non-EU citizens who made a significant capital investment in Spain to apply for a stay or residence visa. Specifically, the following:
• Initial investments worth:
– Equal to or greater than €2,000,000 in Spanish public debt securities
– Equal to or greater than €1,000,000 in shares in Spanish companies with a real business activity, investment funds, venture capital funds or bank deposits in Spanish financial institutions
• Property acquisitions in Spain for a value equal to or greater than €500,000
• Business projects in Spanish territory considered to be of general interest
With respect to the remaining articles, it will also be without effect the legislation relating to:
• The form of investment accreditation (Article 64)
• The effects of the residence visa (Article 65)
• Residence permit for investors (Article 66)
• Duration of the residence permit (Article 67)
It should also be noted that the end of the granting of Golden Visas will not affect visas and authorizations requested prior to the entry into force of the aforementioned Organic Law on the Efficiency of the Public Justice Service (i.e., before April 3, 2025).
Likewise, visas that have already been granted will remain valid for the period for which they were issued, while renewals of these will be processed in accordance with the regulations in force at the time of granting.
The end of the granting of these special visas to non-EU investors in Spain opens up a new scenario, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the national real estate market. In the last 12 years (2013-2025), many non-EU citizens (especially Chinese and Russian) have benefited from this measure, with thousands of real estate transactions in which they have participated.
Over the next 12 to 18 months, it will be very interesting to keep an eye on the evolution of the sector, to observe the volume of real estate transactions in which non-EU citizens participate, and last but not least for the general interest, what impact all this has on the price of housing in our country.
