In Spain, an ‘unprecedented’ housing tax on foreign-owned properties
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said last Wednesday that his government would issue a 100% housing tax on properties bought by residents from outside the European Union.
Sánchez called the move an “unprecedented” yet necessary measure to mitigate the country’s housing crisis, which he has referred to as one of Europe’s “main challenges.” The tax is also part of a broader plan to curb protests in cities across the country over a lack of affordable housing.
In 2023, non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain, according to Sánchez, “not to live in” but “to make money from.” Average housing costs in Spain have doubled over the past decade, according to German publication Deutsche Welle, and over the past five years, average rents in Madrid and Barcelona have increased by 25% and 33%, respectively.
“The tax burden that they will have to pay in case of purchase will be increased up to 100% of the value of the property, in line with countries such as Denmark and Canada,” Sánchez’s office told an economic forum in Madrid.
Sánchez has not yet provided a detailed timeline for presenting the tax plan to the Spanish Parliament for approval. He has previously struggled to garner sufficient votes to pass legislation, and the waiting period may lead to a brief hike in demand if the policy is ratified.
In the UK, gov’t to potentially join pan-European trade agreement
Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission Executive Vice President, told the BBC on Thursday that allowing the United Kingdom to join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean convention was “something we could consider” — a development in post-Brexit negotiations that could establish a closer relationship between Britain and the EU.
The PEM agreement — whose members include but are not limited to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Georgia, Ukraine and some north African countries — was originally made in 2012 and allows for goods to flow across borders tariff-free. The Guardian reported that joining the trade agreement could benefit the United Kingdom’s agriculture industry. Šefčovič described the proposition as a “dynamic alignment” at the World Economic Forum meeting.
Šefčovič also said that Brussels is open to British membership in a pan-European tariff-free area as part of “reset” discussions between the EU and the United Kingdom. Britain is not considering joining an EU customs union, according to The Guardian, which has limited the country’s economic ties.
“It allows you basically not to worry about sourcing bits and pieces from around Europe, combining them and sending them around the region,” David Henig, a former UK trade negotiator, said. “There’s really very little downside to it.”
In occupied Palestine, raids in the West Bank escalate amid cease-fire in Gaza
On Tuesday, Israeli forces bombed and raided Jenin, a city in the occupied West Bank — just days after a cease-fire deal was put into effect in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding 40 others.
The military assault continued through the week, with the Israeli military and Palestinian Authority storming three hospitals — the first time Palestinian forces have publicly participated in an Israeli operation in the West Bank, according to Middle East Eye. Local officials said that Israeli forces also burned homes in Jenin, reportedly issuing forced evacuation orders in the city’s refugee camp.
“The situation is extremely dire, and it seems that this will be the fiercest escalation we’ve seen so far,” a reporter told the Middle East Eye.
In the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military opened fire on armed suspects, who officials claimed “posed a threat” to the soldiers’ safety, on the fifth day of Israel’s cease-fire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and said they were “prepared for any scenario and will continue to take all necessary actions to thwart any immediate threat to IDF soldiers.”
Since the start of the cease-fire, more than 2,400 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip, according to U.N. officials. The United Nations had estimated that Israel’s 15-month bombardment destroyed roughly 60% of Gaza’s infrastructure, killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and displaced 1.9 million.
Contact Yezen Saadah at [email protected].
