Spain Residence Visas for Property Buyers (After the Golden Visa)

The property-backed Golden Visa route (Ley 14/2013) was officially repealed on 3 April 2025, after the Spanish Congress approved the change in early 2025. Since that date, no new Golden Visa applications based on €500,000 property investment can be submitted.

The other Golden Visa investment routes — government bonds, shares in Spanish companies, and business investments — had already been scaled back and were included in the repeal. The entire investor-residency framework is gone.

Applications submitted before 3 April 2025 are being processed under the old rules, and existing visa holders can renew their permits as long as they continue to meet the original conditions (property held, clean criminal record, health insurance, etc.).

If you already have a Golden Visa: nothing changes immediately. You keep your residency, you can renew on the usual 2-year / 5-year cycle, and after 5 years you can convert to long-term residency. The change only affects new applicants.

The Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) is now the default route for buyers who want to live in Spain without working. It requires proof of passive income of roughly €30,000 per year for a single applicant (400% of IPREM) plus ~€7,500 for each dependant.

What counts as passive income: pensions, rental income from properties, dividends, investment returns, savings interest. What doesn't: Spanish employment income (the visa explicitly prohibits working in Spain for a Spanish employer).

Standard validity: 1 year initial permit, renewable for 2 years, then another 2 years, then eligibility to apply for long-term residency. After 10 years of legal residency you can apply for Spanish citizenship (or 2 years for citizens of Ibero-American countries).

Introduced in 2023, the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) was the fastest-growing route well before the Golden Visa closed. It's aimed at remote employees and freelancers whose income comes from outside Spain.

Requirements: proof of remote employment or freelance contracts with non-Spanish clients; minimum monthly income of roughly €2,760 (200% of Spanish minimum wage in 2026); less than 20% of your income from Spanish sources; at least 3 months of work history with your current employer; university degree OR 3+ years of professional experience in your field.

Key tax advantage: DNV holders can opt into the Beckham Law, paying a flat 24% income tax on the first €600,000 of Spanish-source income for up to 6 years. This is materially lower than the 45–47% top rate under standard Spanish tax residency rules.

Validity: 1 year initial permit, renewable in 2-year increments, leading to long-term residency after 5 years.

The Entrepreneur Visa (Autorización de Residencia para Emprendedores) targets buyers planning to start or invest in a Spanish business. The application goes through the Spanish General Directorate of International Trade and Investments (DGCOMINVER), which reviews the business plan for "innovative and of general economic interest" criteria.

There is no fixed minimum investment amount — the bar is the quality of the business plan and its projected economic impact (jobs created, innovation, sector). Approval is more discretionary than the income-based Non-Lucrative Visa route.

For buyers moving to Spain to take up an executive or specialised role at a Spanish employer (multinational subsidiary, research institute, tech company), the Highly-Qualified Professional (HQP) visa route provides fast-track residency with a single-procedure application.

Requirements: signed Spanish employment contract with a qualifying employer, minimum salary typically above €40,000 for executive roles (varies by sector and region), university degree or equivalent professional standing.

You don't need any visa at all. Property ownership in Spain is separate from residency. Non-EU buyers can purchase freely without residency status. Under the Schengen 90/180 rule, you can spend up to 90 days out of any rolling 180-day period in Spain (and the wider Schengen area) as a visitor.

For many retired or semi-retired buyers, the "90 days visiting, own the home, rent it out when away" pattern works perfectly and avoids becoming a Spanish tax resident. Residency triggers at 183+ days in a calendar year, so if you stay under 90-day visiting windows you never cross that line.