Morocco Government says: Buying Property in Spain Illegal Without Authorisation
November 27th, 2012
Morocco’s Exchange Control Office has issued a statement warning citizens of this country against buying property in Spain; according to them, you can only buy property in Spain if you have a special permit issued by the Government in Rabat, and that buying without the said safe-conduct is a matter for the Criminal Courts.
We have some questions for the Office des Changes:
- Have you made a search on the public Spanish Land Registry website www.registradores.org to know who has, and hasn’t, property in Spain?
- Do you have enough space in your prisons to accommodate the tens of thousands of Morrocan families that have a second home in Spain?
- Does this law also apply to the hundreds of Morocco’s Government officials who have traditionally acquired real estate on the Costa del Sol, inclusive of Government ministers?Is this law real, or is just a way to make prospective purchasers uncomfortable with what is verifiable reality?
- Are you going to ask the Spanish Government to request that investors produce the permit, as a prerequisite for buying,
And there is a question I personally have: has anyone ever seen this permit?
I doubt very much that there will any enforcement to this “law”, let’s not forget that most wealthy moroccans (Including government officials” own real etate not only in Spain but also in France and particularly in Paris’s 16th Arrondissement where Morroccan citizens are the second largest buyers after the Italians.
The Moroccan economy is starting to feel the pinch of the crisis, and its citizens are dissatisfied with the returns they get ( and the high taxation ) from their traditional investments. Some of them (If not all) fear that when the crisis reaches its crux, it might cause social unrest and ventually expose their wealth and property to risk. Following the old adage that says you should not put all your eggs in one basket, they probably want to diversify their portfolios with some real estate investments overseas and get by the way a temporary residency. Personnaly, I think this kind of thinking is wise.
Ellis,
Thanks for your very informative and learned post, which gives us an insight into the thought process of the Moroccan Government. Everyone is aware that with so many high-ranking officials owning property abroad, this decision to scrutinize citizens of the Kingdom who have invested in real estate outside Morocco becomes a farce.