The Prime Minister stated on 8 April “We will take the necessary measures to ensure that housing is a right and not just a speculative business”.

According to The Financial Times, Spain has become the latest country with plans to eliminate “golden visas” as costs soar for locals.

The golden visa programme has faced an increasing amount of criticism from the EU due to concerns of price inflation. Spain’s decision follows Ireland which scrapped the programme entirely and Portugal’s end to the non-habitual resident visa scheme (NHR).

Golden visas were originally introduced in 2013 and granted investors the right to live in Spain if they spent at least €500,000 on real estate. "Today, 94 out of every 100 such visas are linked to real estate investment...in major cities that are facing a highly stressed market and where it's almost impossible to find decent housing for those who already live, work and pay their taxes every day," Sanchez said, cites The Financial Times.

The Prime Minister announced that his cabinet would today take the first steps towards scrapping golden visas after studying a report submitted by the Housing Ministry.

“This is not the model of a country that we need, one of speculative investment in housing, because it is a model that leads us to disaster and above all to lacerating inequality.”

The Financial Times also stated that in Spain, many of the roughly 10,000 golden visas granted in the past decade had gone to Russian and Chinese citizens, according to a government official.

According to the publication, Economists do not see Spain’s golden visas as the main reason for rising property prices. Further suggesting that the Prime Minister has received pressure to end the scheme due to the increase in housing costs.

It is important to note that Spanish MPs must first approve a change in the law in order for the golden visa to be scrapped.