President of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque has refused to comply with the ending of Portugal's golden visa scheme in an interview with Diário de Notícias.
He said: "It is bad for the national economy. Nothing justifies Madeira being covered by this set of measures that are fundamentally aimed at Lisbon and Porto."
He added that Madeira wanted to keep the golden visa scheme, arguing that it was good for the growth of high-income real estate.
Albuquerque further said that in order to counterbalance the pressure in this industry, the Regional Government has advanced with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) for the construction of affordable housing for the middle class and young couples.
In Portugal, there is currently a public discussion in which all relevant stakeholders will be invited to give their feedback on the plan to end the golden visa scheme for property.
The discussion will take place during the next month. Following the discussion, a new Meeting of the Council of Ministries will take place, where it is expected that a final proposal will be drafted to be presented to Portugal's parliament.
Once the final draft if ready, the proposal will be sent to the parliament, where it will be voted in the general session of the Parliament.
After that, and if approved, the proposal will be discussed by a separate commission, which will purpose the final draft. The final version will then come back to the Parliament for general approval.
The final step of the proposal, and if approved by the parliament, will be sent to the President of the Republic.
