U.S, April 9 -- Spain announced that it intends to abolish its 'golden visa' initiative, which provides residency privileges to non-European Union property purchasers, as part of Madrid's efforts to enhance the availability of affordable housing for its citizens.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said today that his administration will initiate the initial measures this week to abolish the scheme. Introduced in 2013, golden visas have allowed non-EU nationals who invested a minimum of 500,000 euro (543,000 doller) in real estate to secure residency and employment rights in Spain for a period of three years.

According to Sanchez, ending the initiative would assist in transforming access to affordable housing into a fundamental right r...