Spain: Residency for foreigners who buy houses
Source: AP
MADRID (AP) Looking for a new place to call home? Spain is hoping to give you a little bit more than a welcome basket of baked goods if you decide to move there. In an attempt to reduce the country's bloated stock of unsold homes, the government is set to offer permanent residency to any foreigner provided they buy a house or apartment worth more than 160,000 ($200,000).
The plan, unveiled by Trade Ministry secretary Jaime Garcia-Legaz Monday and expected to be approved in the coming weeks, would be aimed principally at Chinese and Russian buyers. Spain has more than 700,000 unsold houses following the collapse of its real estate market in 2008 and demand from the recession-hit domestic market is stagnant.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stressed Monday that the plan has not yet been finalized, but added that Spain "needs to sell these homes" and that getting them off the market could help revive the nation's devastated construction industry.
The plan to unload the unsold homes comes as thousands of houses have been repossessed by banks and their owners evicted because they cannot pay their mortgages. The government last week approved a decree under which evictions would be suspended for two years in specific cases of extreme need.
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barnabas63
(1,214 posts)The lord works in mysterious ways.
rzemanfl
(29,568 posts)olddad56
(5,732 posts)Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)PB
Cleita
(75,480 posts)It seems like there should be a better solution than this.
War Horse
(931 posts)Just google 'house in spain'...
ancianita
(36,133 posts)mostly because I admire their activism. And speak Spanish. I wonder how welcoming the Spanish would be to foreign buyers. I certainly wouldn't want to contribute to homelessness, but toward some win-win like growing the economy.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)They would however expect, quite reasonably, that such buyers do at least learn to speak Spanish.
ancianita
(36,133 posts)War Horse
(931 posts)If you speak Spanish, and plan to be part of an actual community rather than joining a gated one, I suspect you would be welcome (based entirely on personal experience and the accounts of Spanish friends).
On the other hand, you might also want to read this: http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Trump-Spain-Greece-Investment/2012/06/19/id/442744
Trump: "Spain is an amazing place. It's a great country. It's got a fever and this is the time to take advantage of it".
ancianita
(36,133 posts)I'd be happy to participate in Spanish society on all kinds of levels, if they are open to such.
War Horse
(931 posts)SkyDaddy7
(6,045 posts)It might be cheaper to buy a house in Spain, become a citizen & have access to universal health care!
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)its thought it will mainly be of interest to the Russians and the Chinese. Its not clear whether such buyers will get just Spanish citizenship or full EU.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)by Charles Schumer and Mike Lee
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/20/business/la-fi-visas-home-buyers-20111021
ReRe
(10,597 posts)SkyDaddy7
(6,045 posts)I wish I had the cash to buy a house in Spain! That would be nice!! A you become a citizen as well...Free health care! Hell, it might be cheaper to just by a house in Spain than pay for health care here in the states!!
If health care is part of the deal, it would be a good idea for Americans to emigrate.