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Translated by: Flutura Gashi-Mehmeti
- 14 January 2025 14:23
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Spain is planning to impose a tax of up to 100 percent on the value of properties purchased by residents of countries outside the European Union, such as the United Kingdom.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the "unprecedented" measure is necessary to deal with the country's housing emergency, the BBC reports.
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Residents from outside the EU bought 27,000 properties in Spain in 2023, Sanchez told an economic forum in Madrid. According to him, they did so "not to live, but to make money from them."
"Which, in the context of the shortage we are in, we obviously cannot allow," Sanchez said.
The move, according to him, was made to prioritize available homes for residents of Spain.
Other measures include tax relief for landlords who provide affordable housing, transferring more than 3000 homes to a new public housing body, and tighter regulation and higher taxes on tourist buildings.
"It is not fair that those who have three, four or five apartments as short-term rentals pay less taxes than hotels," Sánchez declared.
Sanchez has not provided further details on how the tax will work nor a timeline for presenting it to parliament for approval, where he has often struggled to gather enough votes to pass legislation.
The Spanish government has said the proposal will be finalized "after careful study."