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SPAIN REMAINS A HUGELY POPULAR COUNTRY FOR PEOPLE FROM THE UK, BOTH TO HOLIDAY AND LIVE IN HOWARD LLOYD Regional content editor 04:15, 28 May 2025 People from the UK could be clubbed with a
100 per cent tax hit if new legislation is passed in Spain. The ruling socialist party is trying to implement a 100 per cent tax for non-European Union (EU) residents when buying homes in
the Mediterranean country, according to Bloomberg. And with the UK outside the EU, it means people from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland could all be hit. Spain is a massively
popular tourist destination, with 94 million visiting in 2024 alone to make it the most-visited country that year. British people made up 18.4 million of that number. However, it is also
hugely popular for people from the UK to live in, with close to 300,000 permanently residing there currently. That is down slightly on the 316,000 peak in 2013. The huge number of both
tourists and foreign residents has seen housing costs soar. Around 20 per cent of property purchases made in Spain are by foreigners, with Brits leading the way. And with the UK outside the
EU, it means the proposed tax could hit them hard. It is understood that it will not affect non-EU professionals or business people working in Spain. Submitted to parliament last Thursday
(May 22), it 'seeks to promote 'measures that enable access to housing, since we are facing one of the largest problems our society is currently confronted with', Prime
Minister Sanchez said. Article continues below He added that non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in 2023, and hopes the bill will eventually address anger over surging property prices,
especially in hotspots like Madrid and Barcelona. The bill also includes increasing value added tax on short-term rentals, raising taxes on publicly-listed real estate investment trusts,
and a levy on houses that are empty. It follows a backlash against holiday rentals, with Barcelona aiming to ban all short-term rentals by 2029. The Spanish government has called for the
removal of the listings of nearly 66,000 properties on rental platform Airbnb on the grounds that they breach regulations for tourist accommodation earlier this month.