Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez will propose a ban on people from outside the European Union buying homes in the country, as part of a broader attempt to confront a housing crisis.

Non-residents from outside the EU bought some 23,000 houses and flats in Spain in 2023. Read more at straitstimes.com.

MADRID: Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez proposed on Sunday to ban people outside the EU from buying housing

A tax of up to 100 percent on Spanish property deals by non-EU nationals living outside the country is one of the leftist government's flagship proposals to tackle a housing crisis. A total of 638,552 property deals were sealed that year,

The move came as Sanchez’s Socialist-led government grapples with growing concerns over rising home prices nationwide. It was part of a broader set of measures, including a pledge to provide state-backed guarantees for specific rentals and the transfer of thousands of homes owned by the national bad bank to a newly established housing agency.

Spain’s government will seek to limit the number of houses sold to foreigners by significantly raising the taxes they pay.