President of Azores Condemns Unilateral Termination of Portugal’s Golden Visa Program.
Portugal’s decision to terminate the Golden Visa Program has been condemned and considered unilateral by the President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro.
In addition, he said that the measure had relevance for the economies of the autonomous regions.
“I will not be a commentator on the decisions. What I can say is the position of the Government of the Azores, which was favourable to the continuity of the golden visas and, taking into account their purpose, to express our disagreement and protest for the unilaterality of the decision,” Bolieiro told Lusa agency.
On July 6, Portugal’s government proposal to end new residence permits for investment in housing was supported in the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic, following votes in favour by Socialist Party (Partido Socialista), Bloque de Izquierda- a left-wing political party- and Portuguese Communist Party.
The President of the Government of the Azores considered that golden visas enhanced economic valuation, stressing that there could have been an exception when it came to this measure, referring to the archipelagos.
“We manifested at the time, and I had the opportunity to say, articulated, in fact, with the president [of the Government of Madeira] Miguel Albuquerque, that it was of interest to continue the project of gold visas, which in particular for our economies in the Azores and Madeira was relevant,” he noted, according to the Portugal News report.
Changes introduced earlier this month by Portugal’s government were also opposed by the President of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, who considers them “counterproductive.”
While contesting the new changes introduced by the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, Albuquerque said that they make the Local Accommodation a meaningless scapegoat for housing problems, emphasising that it defrauds the confidence of investors.
Comments from the President of the Autonomous Region of Madeira mean that the changes introduced by the Government of Portugal will not be applied in Maderia.
Recently, a report from the Portugal News noted that a large number of requests for golden visas are still pending, despite the country’s decision to terminate the program.
The same source noted that, at present, there are over 21,000 applications for the Residence Permit for Investment in the pre-analysis phase.
As part of efforts to tackle the housing crisis, authorities in Portugal decided to put an end to the Residency by Investment Scheme, known as the Golden Visa Program, on February 16.
The decision came in spite of a total of 41.9 per cent surge in investments registered in Portugal last year through this scheme.
