Golden Visas Portugal: Azores and Madeira want them to remain in force on the islands

The governments of the Azores and Madeira defend the continuity of golden visas in the two autonomous regions even if the proposal of the Government of the Republic to end its granting for the acquisition of real estate in Portugal comes into force.

The end of the granting of new golden visas in Portugal, in order to combat real estate speculation, is part of the "More Housing" programme, known as Mais Habitação, was approved by the national executive in March and recently in the generality in the Assembly of the Republic, is still being discussed.

The proposal also makes some adjustments to the renewal of visas already granted (every two years) and determines that "new requests for residence permits concerning investments or support to artistic production, recovery or maintenance of national cultural heritage on which a declaration has been issued, prior to the entry into force of this law, by GEPAC (Office of Cultural Strategy, Planning and Assessment)".

Madeira defends the importance of high income real estate investment

When the measure was announced, in February, the president of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque (Social Democratic Party), considered that the end of golden visas for acquisition of property should occur "in line with the interests of the country", which are not necessarily those of Lisbon and Porto.

Criticising other Mais Habitação measures - such as the ban on new local accommodation licences, which the Government has since announced will not apply to the islands and dozens of low-density municipalities on the mainland - Miguel Albuquerque considered that golden visas are being a "scapegoat".

"The reality is this: we want to keep here, in Madeira, the golden visas, we understand that it is good for the growth of high income real estate," said the social democrat president, who sent the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic a letter with the refusal of some measures.

Questioned by Lusa on the eve of the discussion of the "More Housing" measures in parliament, the governor reiterated the importance of these documents to capture investment. "If we need investors with high yields, why shouldn't they continue? By the way, we must remember that golden visas are not only about the issue of housing acquisition. They also have to do with a very important component, which is bringing scientific know-how and technological innovation to Madeira," he said.

Azores claims special regime for golden visas for autonomous regions

Also questioned by Lusa, the president of the Azores Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, also from the Social Democratic Party, known as PSD, who had not yet spoken publicly on the issue, said that the two archipelagos have a joint position on the matter.

"The regional government is in favour of the continuity of golden visas and any change towards their cut should deal specifically with the Azores and Madeira," he considered. The PSD took to the Portuguese Parliament - in which the PS (Socialist Party) has an absolute majority - a recommendation to the Government to adopt "a special regime" of golden visas for the autonomous regions, but the proposal was rejected.

In its opinion to the Government's draft law, the Madeiran parliament defended "a transitional and exceptional regime for the autonomous regions and interior territories that extends the last gold visa regime for a period of no less than nine years".

The Azorean Executive stated that it had no data on the attribution of golden visas to the archipelago, such as the number of concessions or the associated investment.

The Regional Secretariat of Economy of Madeira referred that there is no detailed survey regarding the investment of citizens with the so-called Residence Permit for Investment Activity, also because of data protection legislation. Despite this, he mentioned that between 1st January 2016 and the end of 2021, 30 authorisations were granted regarding the region.

"Doing the maths by the minimum values would translate into around 15 million euros of investment, but we believe that the numbers are much higher. Confirming this is the information that has been made public in the regional real estate media, which states that over the last five years it may have reached 60 million euros," he said.

Golden visas, which have been active since 2012, allow investors to obtain permanent residence in Portugal by making investments such as buying property, transferring capital or investing in historical and cultural heritage.