Two weeks after the world woke up to news that Britain was leaving the EU, its oldest ally Portugal is waking up to the fact that what has been widely billed as a recipe for economic disaster is lining up to reap dividends on national soil.
According to Público this morning – and being rapidly repeated by financial media – there are suddenly more British requests for information on Portugal’s golden visa programme, the regime that fast-tracks residency most commonly on the basis of property investment above €500,000.
For now the interest is just that, and we will only know if more British really start buying homes in Portugal in exchange for residency and free circulation in the Schengen space “in the coming months”.
But Luís Lima, president of APEMIP, Portugal’s association of real estate professionals, is bullish.
In fact, he has told Público that he thinks Portugal’s golden visa programme could end up bringing a lot of much needed investment this way, as businesses leave the UK looking for bases elsewhere within Europe.
Meantime, the paper adds that despite the upturn, Portugal’s golden visa programme is struggling to keep up with demand, and “several months” behind on the processing of requests.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
