Royal Decree 571/2023 of July 4, 2003, implements Law 19/2003, of July 4, 2003, on the legal regime of capital movements and foreign economic transactions and on certain measures for the prevention of money laundering, which updates the foreign investment declaration regime to the concept of direct investment and establishes control mechanisms for foreign investments from outside the EU in the Member States for reasons of security and public order.
This new RD will enter into force on September 1, 2023, so that until that date Royal Decree 664/1999 and the second transitory provision of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 will continue to apply, including investment authorization procedures initiated prior to September 1, 2023, to which these rules and, in particular, their resolution deadlines will continue to apply.
One of the measures foreseen by this Royal Decree consists of the declaration, for statistical purposes, of the acquisition of real estate located in Spain for an amount exceeding 500,000 euros, which must be made to the Investment Registry of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, when the investment is made by foreign investors not resident in Spain.
This declaration will be obligatory, and will be made, in general, by the non-resident acquirer/investor, foreseeing that, in case of intervention of a Spanish Notary Public, it will be the latter who, by means of the remission of the information to the General Council of Notaries, will send it to the Register of Investments.
Another of the measures foreseen consists of the obligatory declaration for statistical purposes and in advance of Spanish investments abroad made by residents to the Investment Register of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism when the amount of the acquisition of real estate located abroad exceeds 300,000 Euros. In this case, the declaration will be made by the resident holder.
It is also foreseen that, at the latest on March 31 of each year, an annual report will be published by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, which will include information on the foreign direct investments made in its territory and on the application of control mechanisms on the same according to the information available to it, and aggregate information on the requests received from other Member States, as well as that the owners of the investment may be required to provide the information necessary in each case by the Directorate General of International Trade and Investments.
Regarding the investments subject to authorization, a regulatory development is foreseen as regards the form and term of the authorization request declarations, being applicable the second transitory provision of this Royal Decree which foresees that the prior administrative authorization requests of foreign direct investment operations of article 7 bis of Law 19/2003 of July 4th, which have been initiated before September 1st, 2023, are resolved in accordance with the regulations in force at the time of their initiation. The RD establishes a new system of exemptions (of authorization) for the 7 bis Control Mechanism. Previously, investments of less than one million euros were exempted. This generic threshold disappears, and the exemptions vary depending on the sector of the company in which the investment is made
company in which the investment is made. The acquisition of real estate that is not assigned to any critical infrastructure or that is not indispensable and not substitutable for the provision of essential services is exempt (conversely, the acquisition of real estate with these characteristics will be subject to control).
Finally, investments, direct or indirect, made in Spain by non-European Union Member States to acquire real estate for their diplomatic or consular representations must be previously authorized administratively by the Council of Ministers at the proposal of the corresponding administrative body of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, unless there is an agreement to liberalize them on a reciprocal basis.
