Malta has issued over 100 ‘golden visas’ in 3 months as opposed to Spain’s 81 in 7 months and Portugal has issued 772 in 18 months.
The Maltese government have developed a straight-forward, fast-track visa program, which is specifically targeting “ultra high-net-worth individuals,” according to promotional materials. Malta requires a €650,000 investment, compared to Spain’s €500,000 minimum buy in, and the program appears to remove the bureaucratic hassles and small print issues bogging down Spain’s program. Viability and security are also decision making factors of the Maltese system over the Spanish offerings. The high taxes in Spain push a €500,000 investment up to nearer €600,000 - another reason to remove Spain from the wish-list.
A recent report referred to Spain as ’an also ran’ in the race to attract wealth to the country – Spain needs to take a good long look at itself and get into the real world before it’s too late.