Russians and Ukrainians break records for 'golden' visas in Spain
Over the past four years, Spanish authorities have granted 'golden' visas, i.e., permanent residence permits, to 870 Russian families, each of whom purchased real estate in the country worth at least half a million euros. Thus, in terms of the number of Spanish 'golden' visas obtained, Russians took second place after the Chinese. Third place belongs to Ukraine – 124 Ukrainian families used 'golden' visas.
In total, Russians invested about one billion euros in 'golden' visas, INE representative Maria Teresa Sainero told Deutsche Welle. According to her, the most expensive purchase was made by a Russian applicant for this visa in Barcelona – he spent about 13 million euros. Ukrainian citizens, meanwhile, spent only 92 million euros on 'golden' visas. Immigrants from the former USSR mainly purchase real estate in Catalonia and Andalusia. These are villas near seaside resorts.
The INE representative also explained that no more than 20 percent of Russians and Ukrainians who buy expensive real estate in Spain apply for 'golden' visas, which are issued for a period of 5 years with the right to renew. The vast majority of these investors, even those making multi-million dollar investments, are content with a regular multi-entry visa, although it must be renewed annually, according to Sainero.
It is known that last January, the European Commission published for the first time a report on the provision of citizenship and residence permits in exchange for investments, which is practiced in many EU member states. The leaders in this regard, besides Spain, are Cyprus, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The report expresses concern that the right to reside in the European Union under a 'golden visa' may be obtained by buyers with questionable reputations.
The European Commission is particularly concerned that these individuals may engage in illegal activities, such as laundering money obtained through criminal means, evading justice for offenses committed in their home countries, and so on. Therefore, the European Commission called for more thorough checks on applicants for 'golden' visas. At the same time, control over the schemes for granting these visas will be tightened by pan-European structures as well.
How does the Spanish Interior Ministry assess the European Commission's decision? Very positively, said Francisco Javier Benitez, a representative of this ministry, in an interview with DW. According to him, the common EU position will allow law enforcement, among other things, to avoid criticism from business circles who claimed that 'close police control harms the inflow of foreign capital into the country.'
At the same time, Benitez believes that current Spanish legislation is quite capable of successfully combating foreign offenders. For example, the Spanish fight against the so-called 'Russian mafia' in recent decades is widely known. It was in Spain that one of the leaders of the Russian criminal world, Zakhar Kalashov, was sentenced to 9 years, along with dozens of other individuals involved in money laundering and other offenses.
However, according to the Interior Ministry representative, the main suspicions of his department's employees today are not the applicants for 'golden' visas, who are thoroughly checked, but entirely different buyers. The fact is that, for example, the vast majority of investors from Russia do not resort to 'golden' visas. They register real estate in the names of nominees and live in the country on a regular visa. Some do this to hide the fact of the purchase from Russian authorities, others to hide the origin of their money from Spanish authorities. So it can be difficult to verify the identity of the actual owner of the property, the DW interlocutor concluded.