The government of Spain, led by socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, presented this Monday (13) a package of measures to combat the housing crisis in the country that includes a tax of 100% of the value of the property for foreigners from outside the Union Europeans to buy properties in the country.
The tax would only apply to non-resident foreigners, thus targeting citizens from countries such as the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom who buy property in Spain with the aim of making a profit from short-term rentals for tourists.
The new legislation also plans to equate taxes paid for properties used in tourism applications, such as Airbnb, to those paid by traditional hotels. “It is not fair that people who have three, four or five apartments for short-term rentals pay less tax than hotels or workers,” Sánchez said at an event this Monday.
The housing crisis in Spain, as well as in other European countries heavily dependent on tourism, has been worsening in recent years with the increase in properties focused on short-term rentals along with high prices for purchasing and renting properties for residents. In around ten years, Sánchez reported, the price of a property in the European Union increased by almost 50% – in Spain, there was an increase of 7% in the period from 2023 to 2024.
The prime minister also promised to combat fraud committed by owners and rental companies, without going into details. In December, Spanish authorities opened an investigation against Airbnb for the platform’s alleged failure to delete misleading offers.
The Sánchez government also announced a total exemption from taxes on real estate profits for owners in areas of heavy speculation (mainly large cities and coastal areas) who charge rents according to an official price list.
Finally, the prime minister promised to build more affordable properties and provide up to 2 million square meters of public land for this purpose.
Sánchez, however, is likely to have difficulty approving the ambitious package in Parliament, where his coalition does not have a majority. The Spanish right criticized the measures as interventionist, and parties to the left of the government speak of too light treatment against speculators.
