Spain’s golden visa is gone. These are the routes that still work.
Since 3 April 2025, buying property in Spain no longer leads to residency. Three routes remain realistic for international buyers — and none of them requires a purchase. Here is what each one demands in 2026.
Property and residency are now two separate decisions.
Spain abolished the residence-by-investment scheme — the golden visa — with effect from 3 avril 2025. No amount of property investment creates a right of residence today, and there is no replacement scheme.
What remains are ordinary residence permits granted on income, work or business grounds: the Non-Lucrative Visa, le Digital Nomad Visa and the Entrepreneur Visa. Owning a home in Spain helps a file — it proves accommodation — but it is never the qualifying condition.
Investment stopped being a legal ground for residence.
Between 2013 and 2025, a €500,000 property purchase gave non-EU buyers a renewable residence permit with minimal physical-presence requirements. That route closed on 3 April 2025 as part of a housing-policy package aimed at speculative demand.
A second reform runs alongside it. The new Immigration Regulation, Royal Decree 1155/2024, has applied since 20 May 2025 and reshaped renewals, family permits and the arraigo routes. Practical consequence: several permits that were previously easy to renew from abroad now expect real presence in Spain.
“If I buy, do I get papers?” No.
Buying property in Spain remains entirely open to non-EU nationals. There is no restriction on ownership, and the widely reported 100% purchase tax on non-EU buyers has not been enacted — it was submitted to Parliament in May 2025, has never been debated or voted on, and was left out of the government’s January 2026 housing package.
But ownership and residence are separate legal questions. Owning or renting suitable accommodation can help document where you will live, but a property purchase does not itself grant a NIE, open a bank account or create residence rights. Those are separate administrative steps. It also does not let a non-EU visitor remain beyond the applicable Schengen short-stay limit, normally 90 days in any 180-day period.
The three realistic routes in 2026.
| Route | Who it fits | Core financial test (2026) | Work in Spain | Key catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Lucrative Visa | Retirees and people living on savings, pensions or passive income | Approx. €28,800 per year (400% IPREM), plus approx. €7,200 per dependent | Not permitted | Renewal now expects more than 183 days per year of actual presence — which usually makes you a Spanish tax resident |
| Digital Nomad Visa | Remote employees and freelancers paid from outside Spain | Approx. €2,442 per month (200% SMI), plus approx. €916 for the first dependent and €305 for each additional one | Yes, for non-Spanish employers or clients | Social-security coverage and the payer’s substance are the main refusal grounds; freelancers should keep Spanish clients under about 20% of billings |
| Entrepreneur Visa | People starting an innovative business in Spain | No fixed threshold; requires a favourable ENISA report on the business plan | Oui | The bar is innovation and scalability, not capital — a standard rental or hospitality business rarely qualifies |
The closest thing to the old buyer profile.
This is the route most former golden-visa candidates end up on: you show stable passive income or capital, private health insurance with full cover in Spain, a clean criminal record and accommodation. You may not work — for anyone, anywhere, under the strict reading — which is what rules it out for people still earning.
The trade-off is tax. Because renewal now expects presence above 183 days a year, holders generally become Spanish tax residents, with worldwide income reportable in Spain. For some households that is neutral; for others it changes the entire economics of the move.
Faster, but far more document-sensitive.
Applied for from inside Spain through the UGE, this route can grant a residence authorisation of up to three years. Applied for at a consulate abroad, it normally starts with a visa valid for up to one year. Some applicants may also qualify for Spain’s special inbound-expatriate tax regime, subject to separate conditions and filing deadlines. That tax analysis should be done independently from the visa application.
Refusals cluster around three things: social-security coverage that does not clearly cover the applicant in Spain, an employer or client that looks like a shell entity, and income evidence that does not reconcile across contract, invoices and bank statements.
What every route needs, whichever one you choose.
NIE
The foreigner identification number. Required to buy property, open a bank account, sign utilities and pay tax. It is an identifier, not a residence permit — a common confusion.
Criminal record documents
The required look-back period depends on the residence route and the consulate. Documents may need an apostille or legalisation and a sworn translation, so check the exact checklist before ordering them.
Health-cover evidence
The required cover depends on the route and your social-security position. Where private insurance is required, consulates apply specific conditions and ordinary travel insurance is generally not a substitute. Verify the current checklist for your filing post.
TIE and empadronamiento
Biometrics and the physical residence card, plus registration at your local town hall. Appointment backlogs are real — budget months, not weeks.
This article cannot answer your case.
Everything above is general information, current at the date of last review. It is not legal, immigration or tax advice, and it does not create a client relationship.
Immigration thresholds are re-indexed annually, consular practice differs by country, and the tax consequence of a residence permit depends on your nationality, your income structure, your family situation and the treaties that apply to you. Two households with identical income can land on opposite answers.
Before filing anything or committing to a purchase, take an individual consultation with a Spanish immigration lawyer and a tax adviser, with your own documents in front of them. HOMESEE can introduce you to independent professionals on the Costa del Sol and in Valencia.
Decide how you will live in Spain, then buy accordingly.
The end of the golden visa did not close Spain to international buyers. It separated two decisions that were previously bundled together.
The sequence that works now is the reverse of the old one: establish which residence route fits your income and your working life, confirm the tax consequence, and only then choose where and what to buy. Buyers who do it in that order rarely have to unwind anything later.
