Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 4:22pm
I find it mildly amusing that in Spain, it is the socialists who have proposed banning non-EU individuals from purchasing property in Spain while the Peoples Party has denounced the proposal as "xenophobic".
Contrast that with the UK where you have both Labour and the Conservatives trying to talk tough on immigration but both basically failing to achieve anything whatsoever.
One interesting thing of note in one of the articles I read was that Denmark requires non-EU people to live in Denmark for 5 years before they are able to buy property as well as obtaining a specific permit so (severe) restrictions clearly are possible within the framework of EU legislation although I doubt the Danish have remotely close to the same reliance on general tourism as part of their overall economy.
I do wonder whether it could be that various countries in Europe are simply ahead of the curve on this compared to the UK - I'd have thought certain areas of the UK price out people working and earning an average wage but not because of tourists - because of the dramatic uptick in house prices over 30+ years (which no doubt is compounded by lack of building and large scale population increases).