No limits on foreign buyers in Canary Islands

An attempt to restrict purchases of Canarian properties to residents has been rejected in Spain’s senate.

The PP and Vox parties last month rejected an initiative to control the purchase of property by non-resident citizens in the Balearics and the Canary Islands. Similar proposals have been forwarded by left-wing parties and social organizations for many years, with the aim of controlling the mass purchase of homes by wealthy foreigners, guaranteeing housing for locals and making properties more affordable.

The motion in the senate was supported by the PSOE and the Coalición Canaria, although their votes were not sufficient for its passage. Both senators also proposed complementary measures to promote affordable housing, the rehabilitation of the housing stock, and priority access for residents of both archipelagos.

As such a ruling may fall foul of EU directives on discrimination and competition, the proposal also sought express authorization from the European authorities to exempt the island groups “as peripheral regions facing a threat to their social, economic, and environmental balance from foreign real estate pressures”.

Introduction of such a law would require any purchaser of residential property in the islands to register as a resident of the Canary Islands or Balearics. This requirement, it is claimed, would permit purchases by foreigners who genuinely wish to live in the islands while deterring those who merely have a speculative interest in property investment.

Currently, almost a third of all property purchases on the islands (32.6% in the Balearics and 27.2% in the Canaries) are made by foreigners. This figure can rise to over 50% in popular tourist areas such as the resorts.

A Vox senator claimed that the proposal was “pure xenophobia”, intended to distract from the “poor management” of the government. Meanwhile, the PP insist that the main causes of the housing crisis are bureaucracy, high taxes and the granting of “total impunity” to squatters.