The president of the Madeira Government today described as “scandalous” the decision of the Republic to end the ‘gold’ visas, with application to the whole country, announcing that he will insist on a proposal for an exception for the autonomous regions.
“I think it’s scandalous that this centralist decision has been applied to the whole country,” the head of the Madeiran executive (PSD/CDS) told Lusa news agency.
The Government’s proposal to end new residence permits for housing investment was approved last Thursday in the Portuguese Parliament, with the votes in favor of PS, BE, and PCP.
The revocation of residence permits for investment, known as ‘gold’ visas, was one of the proposals in the More Housing program.
With the entry into force of the new law, new applications for residence visas for investment activity will not be admitted, which will not affect the possibility of renewing permits already granted.
The governments of the Azores and Madeira defend the continuity of ‘gold’ visas in the two regions.
The president of the Madeira Government, Miguel Albuquerque, pointed out that “the ‘gold’ visas have only been in effect in Madeira for a year, unlike Lisbon and Porto, which have been in effect for more than 10 years.
For the Madeiran social-democrat leader, the situation in this autonomous region “is completely different from what is happening in Lisbon”, adding that “measuring the consequences and motives according to the Lisbon yardstick is wrong”.
Faced with this decision by the Assembly of the Republic, which rejects the exception regime for the autonomous regions, the Regional Government will “make a proposal to this effect,” he announced.
Miguel Albuquerque argued that this decision “greatly harms foreign investment,” which is important to the regional economy.
“A country that has no capital needs capital, needs to bring in investors. How are you going to do away with a source of raising investment, of capital, when you need that capital? This is all nonsense. This is governing with your feet,” he maintained.
The ‘gold’ visas, active since 2012, allow investors to obtain permanent residence in Portugal by making investments such as buying real estate, transferring capital or investing in historical and cultural heritage.
Miguel Albuquerque also considered “ridiculous” the extraordinary tax on local accommodation, also approved in the Portuguese Parliament, which determines that the revenue generated in the autonomous regions will revert to the archipelagos’ coffers, and said that Madeira will also present an exception proposal.
“It’s another scandal. But this is the socialism we have, Jacobin, centralist, that doesn’t take into account the realities of the country,” he said.
The insular governor assured that Madeira “is not interested” in this source of revenue because it has been betting on “lowering taxes,” contrary to what happens at the national level.
“We had last year a tax burden on the mainland, thanks to socialism, the highest ever – 36.6% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), in Madeira it is 28% – because we understand that the economy works if we give money back to families and businesses and people have the right to have their business, earn their money in local accommodation and that money circulating in society and being reinvested, it is not to be captured by the state machine,” he emphasized.
For this reason, he said that, “until the end of the legislature,” Madeira intends to make “a proposal again to make an exception, because what is happening is that this absolute majority is a blind majority that wants to impose its ideological dictates on the whole country.
Miguel Albuquerque reinforced that “the local accommodation issue cannot be measured according to what happens in Lisbon and Porto”.
“In a macro-brained country, everything is looked at and seen according to this narrow-minded, short-sighted vision of the reality of the country as a function of what happens in the Terreiro do Paço,” he concluded.