Spain's Holiday Home Tax: A Drama Unfolding

0:00On March 31st, Spain's Socialist Prime Minister rolled out a plan back in January 2025 to slap a 100% tax on non-EU folks, buying holiday homes, especially hitting British expats hard. The idea was to cool off the housing market and give locals a better shot at properties amid a brutal shortage. Spain, the world's second most visited country after France, has seen rental supply cut in half since the pandemic, fueling massive public anger over. Sky high prices, Prime Minister Sanchez, pissed it as a way to stop wealthy foreigners from speculating on homes. The proposal sparked global outrage, with protests against mass tourism popping up in hot spots like the Canary Islands and Malorca. Sanchez even called it a virtual ban on non-EU buyers at a rally, but expats and right-wing groups fired back hard. Fast forward to March 20th, and the bill still hasn't hit parliament for debate, thanks to the government's shaky alliances with smaller.

1:00Parties, opposition from groups like Juns and even far-left critics stalled it, and they got dropped from other housing reforms. Early numbers show foreign buyers still at 20% of the market last year, brits leading at 8% with no big rush or drop-off. As elections loomed by August 20th, and the IMF pushes for more housing supply, this tax drama might just fizzle out without changing, much.