Now Spain’s PM says country will ban Brits from buying homes completely
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Roughly one in five Spanish homes are bought by foreigners. Spain’s Prime Minister has doubled down on his plan to stop Brits from buying property in the country, this time proposing an all-out ban. Pedro Sanchez said he would propose to ban purchasers from outside the European Union from buying properties.
![[Protesters march on Las Americas beach during a demonstration to protest against mass tourism, in Arona on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife, on October 20, 2024]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/10/21/09/2178789217-1.jpg)
It comes as the government seeks to curb rising housing prices, which have become an increasing source of friction. In the last year, Spain has seen a wave of demonstrations against overtourism and holiday rental properties as a result of the mounting housing crisis for residents struggling to find available homes.
![[Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/05/13/11702465.jpg)
“We will propose to ban these non-EU foreigners who are not residents, and their relatives, from buying houses in our country since they only do so to speculate,” Sanchez said at a political rally in Plasencia, in western Spain, on Sunday. Non-EU residents represent about 23,000 of the almost 700,000 homes bought and sold every year in the country, Sanchez said during the rally.
Soaring rents in popular cities, including Madrid, have caused locals to feel they are being priced out of the Spanish market. One in five homes sold in Spain are bought by foreigners, with many of them non-residents. Sanchez on January 13 unveiled a proposal to tax by up to 100% the acquisitions of property by non-EU citizens not living in Spain as part of a series of measures seeking to boost supply and reduce demand for housing in the country.
