Portugal abolishes golden visas used by Brazilians to stem rising real estate prices.

Portugal's government has announced an end to golden visas, a citizenship and residency program granted to investors in the country, in an attempt to ease a housing shortage and stop speculation in the real estate market. The announcement, made by Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Thursday, also banned the issuance of new licenses for tourist apartments.

Portugal began issuing "residence permits for investment" in 2012, when the country was receiving financial aid from the European Union and seeking foreign capital. A total of 11,600 residence permits were issued to applicants willing to buy at least 500,000 euros (R$2.8 million) worth of real estate, invest at least 1.5 million euros (R$8.4 million) or create 10 jobs in the country.

Through this program, people have been able to attract about 6.8 billion euros (about R$38 billion) in ten years, many of them Brazilians. According to consulting firms specializing in this type of visa, Brazilians are the second most accepted nationality after the Chinese.

A new rule announced by the Portuguese prime minister is aimed at combating rising real estate prices. The measure has the potential to affect visas already issued, as their renewal will only be possible if the real estate investment is for the permanent residence of the investor himself or his descendants, or if the house is offered on a long-term lease, according to a statement from the prime minister.

"Over the past 10 years, rents have risen much faster than inflation," Costa said. "Current prices are too high for the Portuguese market," he added.

The restriction on tourist apartments

The suspension of golden visas approved by the Council of Ministers on Thursday is not an isolated measure.

The Portuguese government will ban the issuance of new licenses except for rural properties in inland cities where "there is no urban pressure" and "they can be an important factor in economic development," the prime minister explained.

The licenses issued will be reviewed in 2030 and will be periodically evaluated every five years. Owners of these accommodations will have to pay a special tax that will be used to fund housing programs, and there will be tax credits for those who convert their tourist accommodations to the residential rental market by 2024. Costa acknowledged that tourist apartments have a strong impact on urban revitalization and job creation, but he minimized the measure's possible impact on the tourism sector, which is one of the country's economic engines. "We cannot destroy the golden chicken," he said, arguing that tourism should not turn cities into a "Disneyland kind of place" but offer "unique experiences. "