Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday proposed a number of measures to combat the country’s housing crisis, including a 100% tax on home purchases by non-EU citizens.
Sánchez said the measure would impose a 100% tax rate on the property value for non-EU citizens who do not live in Spain when they buy a house in Spain, to “prioritize” residents’ houses and fight “speculation”. use of tourist facilities.”
Sánchez told an economic forum in Madrid that the “unprecedented” measure in Spain, but already in place in countries such as Canada and Denmark, was “appropriate and much needed” considering the current housing crisis.
“Only in 2023, non-EU citizens bought about 27,000 houses and apartments in Spain. Not to live in them, not for their relatives to live in them; they did it mainly to speculate, to make money from them,” said Sánchez.
This, he added, in the context of the lack of housing, cannot be “allowed,” asserting that the Spanish government accepts foreign investment if it is “productive,” not if it is speculative.
The prime minister also said he would raise the tax on guest houses “as they are, a business.”
The measures were among a wider package to tackle Spain’s housing crisis unveiled by Sánchez on Monday. They also included the transfer of more than 3,300 houses to a new public housing company and government support for new tenants.
In recent months there have been protests against affordable housing and protests against high taxes and the impact of mass tourism across Spain.
Source link
