Expat fury as the sun sets on Spain's Golden Visas: British retirees and holidaymakers warn properties will be left empty if scheme ends and their contribution to the economy will vanish - as frantic investors who were poised to buy are left in limbo

British expats today slammed Spain's 'absolutely crazy' plan to stop its Golden Visa scheme and warned properties could be left empty without overseas buyers. 

Currently, the programme permits non-EU citizens who invest a minimum of £429,000 in Spanish property to live and work in the country for three years.

But Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez wants to axe the initiative and prioritise affordable housing for Spaniards instead of 'speculative business'.

Paul Noon, a 63-year-old retiree, recently bought a three-bedroom seaside villa on the Costa Del Sol with his wife, Gail.

The father of two said he was just in the process of applying for a Golden Visa when he heard the news they were being axed this morning - leaving him in limbo.

He told MailOnline: 'We agreed to buy the villa off plan and were promised a Golden Visa. The lawyer was just in the process of preparing the application this very moment.

'I'm not sure if it's going to be too late for him to finalise it and they will reject it. This has come completely out of the blue and mucks things up a bit for us as we had planned on coming for the winter.

'We also have a villa in the south-west of France and if we had received a Golden Visa that would have applied there too, but now we'll need to split 90 days in every 180 between France and Spain .'

Branding the decision to revoke Golden Visa 'virtue signalling', Mr Noon continued: 'It's absolutely crazy, I have long credited the Spanish Government for their intelligence in releasing that all we Brits do is spend money when we are here.

'We give business to gardeners, pool maintenance companies, marinas, restaurants, the list is endless. We create massive employment.

'Where we are on the Costa Del Sol the building is relentless and the purchase taxes for our villa alone were six figures. The building will stop, developers will be left with unsold properties and the Spanish Government will lose out in a big way.

'The sort of people that the Prime Minister speaks of do not buy multi million pound villas. Scrapping the Golden Visa will not help these people, in fact, they might find themselves unemployed!'

Sean Wooley is a British expat who lives in Marbella and runs Cloud Nine Spain, which sells 'prestige' properties and counts wealthy Brits and Americans on Golden Visas as his customers.

He told MailOnline: 'I think the problem for the current socialist government is what the policy stands for - wealth creation instead of wealth distribution. This doesn´t sit well with their coalition partners.

'My personal opinion is that they are tackling a problem (lack of affordable housing for locals) with a headline-grabbing initiative which will placate their supporters, but that will actually go nowhere near addressing the issue.'

Mr Wooley noted that fewer than 10,000 Golden Visas had been granted in Spain in the last 10 years, so ending the scheme would have a 'negligible effect' on the wider property market.

Some 185 Britons have been granted these visas since Brexit came into force in 2021, according to data obtained by digital newspaper El Confidencial. 

Mr Wooley also said fears the Golden Visa scheme was being exploited by 'enemies of the state' were misguided.

'Most people believe that we are seeing an influx of Russian and Chinese people taking advantage of the Golden Visa,' he said.

'Whilst these may have been the main Golden Visa clients at the start of the scheme, all in the last 2 years have been Brits and North Americans.....not exactly enemies of the state!

'It´s an especially big blow to these nationalities. We have been warning for some time that the scheme would likely come to an end, and we will be actively encouraging clients to speed up their Golden Visa applications in the coming weeks.

'I think we will see a glut of demand until the scheme officially comes to an end, especially from these British, American and Canadian buyers.'

Matt King, who has lived in Spain for 25 years, said he read about the news this morning in the Spanish press. 

'I think the government wants this to stop the influx of the rich who invariably pay no taxes here and keep the wage levels low and to stop price increases in in the tourist visa,' he told MailOnline. 

'Spain has always been complicated, but I believe they had the Golden Visa because they thought it might bring in more revenue in taxes, but hadn't realised that many avoided their taxes and contributions here in Spain.'

Spanish prime minister Mr Sanchez has presented the move as part of his efforts to increase the availability of affordable housing.

He said: 'Today, 94 out of every 100 such visas are linked to real estate investment... in major cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Alicante, Valencia or Palma de Mallorca 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 there.'

Introduced in 2013 to bolster the Spanish economy after the financial crisis – with wealthy foreigners encouraged to invest in real estate – the golden visa programme faced mounting criticism from the EU.

This prompted calls for its abolition because of concerns about price inflation and potential exploitation by criminals using it for money laundering.

Spain's decision follows Portugal's move to end its similar non-habitual resident (NHR) visa scheme, which offered lucrative tax breaks to foreigners who spend more than six months a year in the country.

Mary Dunne, of MPDunne - a luxury real estate agency in Marbella - said: 'It's like a bomb went off this morning.

'It's going to be a big issue for expats wanting to move and a lot of people are very unhappy about it.

'What's being done isn't hugely different from other European countries, but it's not a positive message.'

For Britons, Spain has long been a favoured destination in Europe, with around 303,000 residing in the country in 2020, second only to those in Ireland at 305,000 and ahead of France at 170,000 and Germany at 118,000.

The golden visa scheme offered a potential loophole for those with holiday homes in Spain to bypass EU stay limits.

The removal of these visa schemes will add pressure on British expats increasingly reliant on these avenues post-Brexit.

While alternative routes to residency exist, they often come with more stringent criteria and tax implications.

Under the current scheme, residency can be extended, and citizenship pursued after a decade of residency.

It is the latest blow to expats after senior judges in France threw out a bid to hand them more visa rights.

In January, France 's Constitutional Council rejected an amendment to a major immigration bill which would have permitted non-EU expats to stay in the country for longer than 90 days without the need for a visa. 

If passed by the court, the changes would have allowed long-stay visas to be automatically issued to British nationals who own a second home in France , meaning they could spend as much time as they wanted in the country.

But the defeat means all Britons, including homeowners, will only be able to stay for 90 days out of every 180 days without a visa.

Those who wish to stay longer will have to apply for a temporary long-stay visa which would last up to six months at a time.

The decision to reject the amendment will come as a major blow for the approximately 86,000 UK nationals who own second homes in France.

Evelyne Heeley, 77, and her husband Brian paid €230,000 (£197,000) for a stunning home in the Occitanie region of southern France in 2004 and soon began spending an average of 140 days a year there during the spring, summer and autumn.

But the couple, who voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, sold up after struggling with the lengthy bureaucratic process of applying for long-term visas - which must be picked up from one of France's three visa application centres in London , Manchester and Edinburgh.