The heads of government of Finland and Estonia have proposed that the rest of the EU stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. 2,800 Russians are registered in Marbella
There are no Russian oligarchs in Marbella, but there are rich Russian businessmen who come and go with their families from Moscow to their second home on the Spanish coast. This reality clashes in the countries of Northern Europe, where many citizens find it unacceptable that while the Russian army invades Ukraine and causes daily deaths, in addition to the huge collateral damage we all suffer in the energy bill, the Russians continue to happily enjoy your vacation as if nothing happened.
The Heads of Government of Finland and Estonia, Sanna Marin and Kaja Kallas, have taken a position on this and, without making an explicit reference to Spain, point to the need to put an end to this normality. Kallas has decided to open a debate about it. The first wrote on his Twitter account: “Stop issuing visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right.”
In his opinion, even air travel from Russia should be suspended. “This means that while the Schengen countries issue visas, Russia’s neighboring countries (Finland, Estonia, Lithuania) bear the burden. It’s time to end Russian tourism. Al!” His argument is the inconvenience of opening your arms to people who despise Europe and its values. His Finnish colleague, for his part, has ruled that “it is not right that Russians can live a normal life, travel through Europe and enjoy tourism while Russia wages a brutal war of aggression in Europe.”
Even if European governments agreed with them on a new sanction against Putin that would mean no more receiving Russian tourists, there would be certain technical issues that would be difficult to resolve. For example, what would happen to visas already granted, often for several years? Which visas should be restricted and which should not? The Latvian foreign minister, who had previously made a similar statement, made it clear that humanitarian visas should not be called into question.
Finland is a host country for Russian tourism, which has landed on its beaches since the pandemic-related restrictions fell in mid-July with buses departing from St. Petersburg. This country is also witnessing how Finnish airports are then often used to circumvent the European ban on flights from Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also no stranger to this practice and recently mentioned his desire for a travel ban on Russians in an interview with the Washington Post. “It is important,” he said, “that the borders are closed, for all Russians, including those who have left their country and are against the war.” The Russians should live in their own world, according to Zelensky. But the phenomenon seen in Finland is nothing compared to the Costa del Sol, where an intermittent population of 8,000 Russians is estimated.
In Marbella alone there are 2,800 officially registered, although it is well known that the number is much higher as most do not register. There are rich Russians, but there are also masons, clerks and hotel workers. Many are businessmen who work in Russia but keep their wives and children all year round in luxury homes in Marbella, where the service staff is mostly Ukrainian. Pervasive rumors assure that Putin himself has a house in La Zagaleta, but no one knows that the Russian president has used it.
For real purposes, many of them would not be affected by the new sanction, as they are Russians who have acquired second nationality. In addition, Spain directly offers the permanent residence visa to all foreigners who buy a house for an amount of more than 500,000 euros, a practice known in foreign terms as “gold visas” and also followed by other European countries.
However, for most Russians it is only a symbolic debate, as they cannot afford to travel to Europe anyway. In numerical terms, nearly 60,000 Russians have applied for a tourist visa to Finland since the beginning of the year. A tourist visa is easier to obtain and does not mean that you will leave your home country forever or even use it. They often get their hands on the document to have the peace of mind of leaving their country at any time and to save precious time in times of crisis. At the end of August, the EU’s foreign ministers want to discuss this during their meeting in Prague.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
