Spain · Visas and residence
Spain's golden visa, the residence route for investors that included buyers of property worth €500,000 or more, closed to new applications on 3 April 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 emptied the articles that created it. Applications made earlier are decided under the old rules, and permits already granted stay valid and are renewed under the rules they were granted on. A home in Spain now brings no right to live there; buyers use the non-lucrative visa, the international telework visa or, with an EU passport, registration.
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See what fits →The golden visa was the residence visa for investors in Ley 14/2013. As first enacted it covered a significant investment in Spain: Spanish public debt, company shares or bank deposits, Spanish property worth at least €500,000 per applicant, or a business project recognised as being of general interest (art. 63).
Final provision 21 of Organic Law 1/2025, published in the BOE on 3 January 2025, left articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013 without content with effect from 3 April 2025. Every investor route closed, not only property. The law's other residence routes, for entrepreneurs, highly qualified professionals and remote workers, remain in force.
The entrepreneur route is for people starting a business: it needs an activity in Spain that is innovative or of special economic interest, with a favourable report from ENISA (art. 70, as the Agencia Tributaria summarises it), and its permit lasts three years, renewable for two (art. 69).
Two transitional provisions, added to Ley 14/2013 by the same organic law, protect people already in the system. Investors, and their family members, who applied before 3 April 2025 are decided under the rules in force on the day they applied.
Investor visas and residence permits that were valid on that date remain valid for the period granted, and renewal applications are decided under the rules in force when the original permit was granted. A holder approaching renewal should have an independent immigration lawyer (abogado) check the file well beforehand.
In the law as enacted in 2013, moving from the investor visa to a residence permit meant showing that the investment was still held, with a property certificate dated within 90 days, and that the holder had travelled to Spain at least once (art. 66); permits then ran for two years at a time (art. 67). Holders should check which version of these conditions applied when their own permit was granted.
Since April 2025 a Spanish property, at any price, gives its owner no right to live in Spain (buying in Spain). Owners without residence are visitors, held to the Schengen limit of 90 days in any 180 (the 90-day rule and EES), and a longer winter needs one of the routes below (wintering in Spain).
Residence and tax residence are separate tests. Spending more than 183 days of a calendar year in Spain, or having the main base of your activities or economic interests there, makes you tax resident (art. 9, Ley 35/2006), and Spanish income tax then reaches income wherever it arises (art. 2).
| Route | Meant for | Money test | Work | First permit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investor (golden) visa | Closed to new applications since 3 April 2025 | Not applicable | Not applicable | Existing permits run their term |
| Non-lucrative visa | People living on pensions or savings | 400% of IPREM: €28,800 a year in 2026, plus €7,200 per dependant | Not allowed, even remotely | Visa valid for one year |
| International telework visa | Remote workers for companies outside Spain | 200% of the minimum wage: €2,442 a month in 2026, plus €916 for a first family member | Remote work; self-employed up to 20% for Spanish companies | Visa up to a year; permit up to three years if applied for in Spain |
| EU citizen registration | Holders of an EU passport, such as an Irish one | Enough not to burden social assistance; no fixed sum | Allowed | Registration certificate issued immediately |
Sources: Spanish consulates in London and Washington, Ley 14/2013 and Real Decreto 240/2007. Amounts are for the main applicant unless stated.
The non-lucrative visa is for living in Spain without any work or professional activity, and the Washington consulate spells out that remote work is excluded too. The main applicant needs 400% of the IPREM index, which that consulate gives for 2026 as €600 a month, so €28,800 a year, plus €7,200 for each dependant, and health cover from an insurer authorised in Spain.
The London consulate issues the visa for one year, and on arrival you have a month to apply for the foreigner's identity card (TIE). Renewals, documents and the long-running question of 12 or 14 IPREM payments are covered on our non-lucrative visa page.
Buyers who still work for employers or clients outside Spain can use the international telework visa, added to Ley 14/2013 in December 2022. It asks for 200% of the minimum wage, a degree or three years' experience, and a working relationship of at least three months; the details are in our guide to Spain's digital nomad visa.
A British buyer who also holds an Irish or other EU passport needs no visa. Staying longer than three months requires work or self-employment in Spain, or enough resources and sickness insurance covering all risks in Spain, plus registration in person at the foreigners' office or police station within three months of arrival (art. 7, Real Decreto 240/2007).
No fixed sum is set for enough resources: the authorities must weigh each person's situation, and may not ask for more than the level at which Spaniards qualify for social assistance or the minimum Social Security pension. The registration certificate, issued immediately, shows the holder's foreigner identity number, and after five years' continuous legal residence an EU citizen acquires permanent residence (art. 10).
The position described is that of 2 November 2026, and none of it is advice. Consular practice and regulations change, so check with the consulate and an independent immigration lawyer before you buy with residence in mind. Other countries' routes are compared in retirement visas compared, and Americans have their own guide to buying in Spain from the US.
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Talk to us about Spain →No. Spain stopped taking golden visa applications on 3 April 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 left the investor articles of Ley 14/2013 without content. The closure covered every investor route, from property worth €500,000 or more per applicant to public debt, shares, bank deposits and business projects. Applications made before that date are still decided under the old rules.
Their visas and permits stay valid for the period granted, and renewal applications are decided under the rules in force when the original permit was issued, under a transitional provision added to Ley 14/2013 in 2025. Family members are covered too. Holders should have an independent immigration lawyer review the file well before the renewal date.
Not since 3 April 2025. Owning a Spanish home, at any price, gives no right to live in Spain, so owners without residence are limited to 90 days in any 180 as visitors. Residence now comes through a visa such as the non-lucrative visa, for people living on pensions or savings, or the telework visa for people working remotely for companies abroad.
For retirees, the non-lucrative visa, which in 2026 asks the main applicant for €28,800 a year in income or savings plus €7,200 per dependant, with no work allowed. For remote workers, the international telework visa, at 200% of the minimum wage. Holders of an EU passport, Irish citizens included, simply register within three months of arriving.
On 3 April 2025. Organic Law 1/2025 was published in the BOE on 3 January 2025, and its change to the investor visa took effect three months later. Applications lodged before that date are decided under the rules in force when they were made; for anything lodged afterwards there is no investor route at all.
Last checked 2026-11-02. Rules and rates change; this is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own position with an independent Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you act.