Shortages, rising rents and overtourism have driven numerous European countries to remove real estate investment options from their Golden Visa schemes, in a last-effort bid to combat the ongoing housing crisis that has brought much unrest among young Europeans forced to live with their parents and locals priced out of their neighborhoods.

Greece remains the only Mediterranean country that offers Golden Visa residency through real estate purchase. Read here for a comprehensive list of legislation and threshold changes to the Greek Golden Visa scheme that are currently underway.

Spain

Last April, President Pedro Sanchez stated that the government would implement measures to ensure that housing would be viewed as a right for all and vowed to address housing shortages, aiming to amend the law enacted by the Popular Party in 2013, which allowed residency visas in exchange for real estate investments of a minimum of €500,00, with plans to completely abandon the Golden Visa scheme altogether and eliminate all possible routes for residency acquisition. According to government officials, applicants from countries like Russia might attempt to obtain residency in Spain through alternative investment methods, which could still influence housing prices. The proposal is currently in the article amendment phase, with the legislative process set to begin no earlier than September 9.

Spain has seen much social uproar lately, with locals growing increasingly hostile towards tourists in Barcelona, protesting and squirting water at diners in popular tourist sites in the Las Ramblas district. The residents’ palpable frustration and anti-tourism sentiment is a direct consequence of the post-pandemic tourist influx in Spain: last year Barcelona hosted a whopping 23 million visitors, a number that completely diminished the city’s population of 1.62 million. As such, the short-term rental market in the Spanish city has exploded and locals are effectively being priced out of their apartments, with significant rent hikes of up to 68% over the past decade and the cost of purchasing a home increased by 38%.

Italy

The Investor Visa program for Italy doesn’t include a straightforward real estate investment option, with international applicants able to still obtain residency through investing in government bonds, corporate bonds or shares or innovative startup investments of a minimum of €250,000.

Portugal

Portugal has also removed the real estate option from its Golden Visa scheme, swapping realty purchase for venture capital funds, investment in research and development, and donations for the promotion of cultural heritage.

Portuguese MEP Pedro Marques recently highlighted how the housing crisis has particularly affected the most vulnerable social groups, including young people. Europeans now leave their parental homes at an average age of 26.4 years, with many struggling to find affordable housing.