Exactly where to buy in Spain is a consideration no doubt for many buyers but the fact is it will not change the qualification for the visa. We hear that this is still progressing within the ministries (a number are involved, Foreign, Housing etc) and that €160,000 is the qualifying level being considered. That doesn’t buy you too much in the cities but you can pick up a nice two or three bedroom apartment or even a small villa in the coastal areas. The coastal regions offer a different lifestyle to the cities, golf, beach, family holidays etc. Murcia is a great option if you are looking for clean air and climate. Average temperature 21 degrees and 300 days of sunshine. The cities may be more suitable for international travellers wanting a base for connection within Europe. I recently flew into Madrid from London and back again from Barcelona. The choice of flights was considerable, at least every hour and as low as €40. Both cities are just 2 hours flight from most major destinations in Europe. However for a good quality two bedroom apartment in Madrid or Barcelona you are looking at €200,000 plus. More to be right in the centre of these cities. We recently sourced some bank repossession properties in Barcelona and the Costa del Sol. Bank repossessions offer the best buys in Spain at the moment as the banks have cut prices heavily plus they will give the best mortgage terms to overseas buyers – low interest rates and high LTV’s. Rental is better in the cities too. A recent report suggested yields were comparable with London at around 4.0%. On the coast it is more about holiday lettings, a week or two at a time. Higher weekly rates but far more management. As soon as we hear more on progress we will be posting on this blog. Sign up if you’d like us to email you as news is released.
Golden Investor Visa Spain 
Hi – I have just been in Spain and you are right about the banks offering awesome deals on their repossessed properties (and also new builds) – the problem is that until the government decides how their investor visa program will operate there is little chance that we off shore investors are going to be investing! And unfortunately Spain has been very strict about offering residence in the past – and I know of people who have had their residence permits revoked because they have failed to spend 183 days in the country in the year (even though they have had the residencia for a number of years prior and complied with all requirements prior to that). For me to invest in Spain I would like the following to apply:-
1. as it is an ‘investor’ residence that Spain must do away with the 183 day per year residence requirement. Portugal only requires a 14 day a year period of residence for their “Golden Permit Investor Visa”.
2.that consequently the investor must not need to become ‘tax resident’ of Spain if they are not living their for more than 183 days in the year – Spain taxes its residents on worldwide income and unfortunately it doesn’t have double tax treaties with all countries so this could become an issue in the case of South Africa for example (as I am told that it does not have a double tax agreement with Spain?)
3. it must be able to lead to Spanish Citizenship and the rights of the investor must be protected in law (so as to stop a future government revoking these rights or imposing further requirements etc)
4. Spain does not allow its citizens to hold more than one passport – this would also need to be changed as many investors would like to gain economic citizenship of a European country without having to actually live there, give up their own nationality etc. Dual citizenship is now an accepted norm in most countries – will Spain change their laws?
5. They need to move on this soon otherwise potential investors are just going to invest in Portugal, which has formalised its programme and meets the requirements set out above.
Any information or comments on the above will be welcomed!
Thanks Dan. For sure it is all about the visa. But exactly what that grants is critical for investors. Hence perhaps why this is taking so long. Residency, tax, immigration there are a lot of considerations for the politicians, not least of all the opinion of Spanish voters. The key objective here is helping clear the property much of which is owned by the Spanish government. I don’t think they are looking for residents and if you want to do this in large volumes (hence the low qualifyer €160,000) you have to sell to investors without immigration. So my guess is the 183 days will not apply, tax residence will not apply and citizenship will not automatically follow and will have to be applied for. Citizenship is a big step. My neighbour in Spain from the UK (EU obviously) has lived there for 25 years but he recently gave up trying to get the passport due to bureaucracy!