With its perfect weather and glorious Mediterranean coastline, Spain has long been one of the world’s top destinations for international real estate buyers.
Now the country is making headlines over a proposal aimed at driving them away…
Recently, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a plan to slap a 100% tax on property purchases by non-European Union citizens. Like many countries around the world, Spain has seen housing prices soar since COVID, and with this proposal Sanchez is trying to quell mounting anger over the issue.
So, will this 100% tax actually be implemented? Is this the end for non-EU buyers in Spain? I recorded a video from my home in Los Cabos to offer my take. Check it out below…
There’s a special group of folks In this video, I offer my take on Spain’s headline-grabbing plan to impose a 100% real estate tax on non-EU buyers. Click to view…
In this video, I offer my take on Spain’s headline-grabbing plan to impose a 100% real estate tax on non-EU buyers. Click to view…
As I explain in my video, there are a lot of reasons to think this idea won’t come to pass…
- As of right now, the proposal lacks detail—there’s no timeline, no structure, no clear plan. It feels more like a vote-seeking statement than a concrete strategy.
- Political commentators in Spain suggest that even if the details were ironed out, such a law would be unlikely to get through parliament. And if it did, it could then face legal challenges in the courts.
- Then there’s the question of implementation. Spain’s provincial governments are the ones who would need to actually collect the taxes. But many of the provinces where foreign buyers want to own, including in the Costa del Sol region, are controlled by the opposition rather than Sanchez’s party.
- Non-EU buyers account for 5% of all real estate purchases in Spain. This brings in a large amount of foreign investment each year. Then there’s the associated spending from buyers when they use their properties. It all supports a huge amount of employment. Is Spain really ready to cut off this investment?
So, there are lots of reasons why this proposal likely won’t come to pass.
Does that mean it definitely won’t happen? Well, no. Sometimes politicians follow through on insane plans that undermine their own countries and economies. But right now, all we have here is idle talk.
That’s why, right now, my team and I are not spending a lot of time worrying about this.
As I explain in my video, my team and I prefer to focus on concrete plans. It’s the same as when politicians talk about opening a new airport or a new highway. We don’t take an announcement like that seriously until we see a funded proposal that leads to an actual project. That’s the only way to assess its impact.
Otherwise, things like this are just noise.
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. Do you have any insights on Spain’s proposed new tax? Have you bought in Spain or have you been thinking of buying there? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. You can drop me a line here.
