Two weeks ago, the Catalan real estate sector assumed that there would soon be Russian citizens selling their properties in Catalonia (in some cases, real mansions in parts of the coast such as S’Agaró). The reasoning was that the sanctions imposed on Russia by the invasion of Ukraine have left many Russians with housing in Catalonia without access to their money, and that selling their property was the only way they could have cash. But all these omens have not been fulfilled. The reason: banks across the continent have imposed unprecedented rules that prevent any Russian citizen from entering more than 100,000 euros. Therefore, if someone sells the house they will have nowhere to deposit the money.
Russian (and Belarusian) citizens will also not be able to conduct new transactions with banks. They will not be able to apply for a mortgage, for example, and those that were being processed before the conflict broke out will see how they end. “Risk teams are always careful, but now they are especially vigilant not to breach any regulations of the European Central Bank,” said one entity. The ECB is monitoring new rules to cut off much of the financial ties between Europe and Russia.
The truth is that the number of Russian customers in Catalan banks is very limited (less than 0.2% of total customers, according to some estimates) and that, therefore, the impact of these restrictions on financial institutions will surely be anecdotal.
Effects on the real estate sector
The Catalan real estate sector, in general, should not suffer much either, as the Russian client lost – coinciding with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 – the importance it had come to have. As can be seen in the graph accompanying this article, in 2012 Russian customers were the third largest foreign buyers in Spain and almost came in second, just behind the French and far behind the British, who are the outstanding leaders for many years. “They were grateful buyers to have, who could buy you a one million euro flat without asking too many questions,” explains the manager of a Catalan real estate company. Of all Russians who buy in Spain, 40% do so in Catalonia, according to industry estimates.
But with the annexation of Crimea came the first sanctions on Russia and the ruble fell sharply. This made it very expensive for Russians to buy abroad and, as the data show, in 2016 Russians were already the tenth nationality.
The weight of the Russians in the Spanish real estate market
Percentage of total purchases made by foreigners by nationality
In 2012 Russia almost
reaches the second position
In 2012 Russia almost
reaches the second position
In 2012 Russia almost
reaches the second position
However, in the superluxury segment, the Russians continued to be important. In the sector, they are careful not to say names, but they acknowledge that some of the main oligarchs have properties on the coast, especially on the Costa Brava. In this case, the fall of the ruble after the annexation of Crimea did not have much effect, as “many already had the money in Spain”, so that the exchange rate did not affect them. Many of the purchases, by the way, are made through companies because it “comes out cheaper” fiscally, as corroborated by an advisor consulted by this newspaper. In fact, the oligarch Seguei Chemezov — who owns his yacht Valerie seized in the Port of Barcelona— has several properties on the Costa Brava acquired through a complex corporate plot with his relatives, as revealed by a journalistic investigation in 2019.
The real estate agents who deal with these clients claim that a claim for the acquisition of housing is the golden visa, which allow you to obtain a residence permit in Spain for the whole family if you buy a house of more than 500,000 euros or make certain financial investments. The Foreign Ministry does not want to explain how many of these golden visa have been given since they were created in 2013, and is limited to giving data from January 2020: in these two years and a half, 237 Russian citizens have obtained the golden visa Spanish, 96% of whom have bought a home.
Protagonists
The presidents of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, and the ANC, Elisenda Paluzie, had a public clash last week. It was at the ERC national conference, which the party holds every four years, and to which these and other social representatives were invited. Sánchez Llibre approached Paluzie to greet her, according to people who were there. The president of the ANC refused to shake his hand and told him that he would not greet him again until Fomento del Treball withdrew the lawsuits he has filed against the ANC for the strategic consumption website (in which related companies were listed). Sánchez Llibre left angrily. By the way: one of Fomento’s complaints to the ANC was to the competition authorities, who have proposed to close the case, as this newspaper explained last Monday.
The code of good governance of the CNMV, the stock exchange’s supervisory body, recommends that listed companies have at least half of the board of directors occupied by independents. But what are independent directors really? This week, the board of Naturgy has ratified the appointment of Professor Ramon Adell as a director of Naturgy on behalf of CriteriaCaixa. What is surprising is that, until his election, Adell was an independent director at Naturgy itself. The question, then, is whether he was really independent. The CNMV itself said in 1998: “Our feeling is that a slight interpretation of what an independent director is is spreading.”