Spain is planning to scrap a "golden visa" scheme that grants residency rights to foreigners who make large investments in real estate.
Ending the scheme would help make access to affordable housing "a right instead of a speculative business", Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.
The programme awards non-EU citizens investing at least €500,000 (around £429,000) in Spanish real estate - without taking out a mortgage - a special permit, allowing them to live and work in the country for three years.
"Today, 94 out of every 100 such visas are linked to real estate investment... in major cities that are facing a highly stressed market and where it's almost impossible to find decent housing for those who already live, work and pay their taxes there," Mr Sanchez said.
From the start of the golden visa scheme in 2013 to November 2022, Spain issued almost 5,000 permits, government figures show.
Chinese investors top the list followed by Russians who invested more than €3.4bn (around £2.91bn), according to a 2023 Transparency International report.
But Spain is also one of the most popular destinations for British emigrants in Europe.
The UN estimated in 2020 that 303,000 British nationals lived in Spain.
The scheme allowed British people with holiday homes in Spain to circumvent rules limiting non-EU citizens to a 90-day stay in EU countries without needing a visa.
The measure is unlikely to affect the property market since less than 0.1% of 4.5 million homes sold during that period were purchased under the scheme, according to property website Idealista.
Portugal has recently revamped its own "golden visa" scheme and excluded real estate investment to tackle its housing crisis.
The European Commission has long called for an end to such programmes, citing security risks.
Source: Sky News
