Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas commented at the weekend that the 471 golden visas that have already been awarded have “far exceeded the programme’s initial objectives”, translating into a €306-million investment in Portugal.
“If Portugal hadn’t designed a programme like this, we wouldn’t have investors,” he told Lusa news agency. “They would go elsewhere.”
Money pouring in comes principally from the Chinese, followed by Russians, Brazilians, Angolans and South Africans, and as Portas explained, it has “dynamised” the real estate sector which otherwise had been very much in the doldrums.
“All indicators point to the fact that golden visas have had a strong impact in moving things along in the property market,” he said.
However, there is a flip-side to the situation. Political commentators point out that much of the property purchases fall into the bracket of speculation, as investors buy to rent as they enjoy the five-year taxation indemnity offered by the programme – and free travel throughout the Schengen zone.
As international journalist Len Port says in his latest blog: “Chinese and other foreign investors are using their golden visas to set up yield-bearing arrangements in this country that will allow them to live or do business elsewhere in Europe.
For example, they are looking for easily rentable properties in prime Lisbon locations or condominium resorts in the Algarve. Estate agents are scrambling to make sales. Many highly attractive properties are on offer at prices that have dropped by nearly a third since the country was forced to apply for a bailout in 2011.”
Nonetheless, Portas is buoyant. “The fact that we have captured more than €300 million worth of investment through golden visas in just one year is a very practical sign that Portugal is back on the GPS of countries in which it is interesting to invest,” he told Lusa.
