Spain nul points uk voters24 May 2025 05:31
Mr Sánchez first revealed plans to tax non-EU citizens in January in an attempt to curb growing discontent about surging real estate prices and housing shortages.
At the time, he told an economic forum in Madrid that foreign buyers had bought thousands of properties “not to live in, but to make money from them – which, in the context of the shortage that we are in, we obviously cannot allow”.
Figures provided by Mr Sánchez showed that 27,000 non-EU residents bought properties in Spain in 2023.
In total, foreigners make up 15 per cent of the housing market, with UK citizens leading the way in coastal areas such as the Costa del Sol, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
EU citizens, including Germans and the Dutch, who also make up a significant proportion of foreign buyers in Spain, will be exempt.