The Spain Golden Visa Has Ended: What Property Buyers Do Now
For twelve years the answer to “how do I get residency in Spain?” was simple if you had the money: buy a home for €500,000 and the permit came with it. That answer is gone. The Spain golden visa closed to new applicants on 3 April 2025, and today you choose the home you actually want, at any price.
The good news is that the two things people actually want, a home on the coast and the right to live in it, are still available. They are just two separate processes now. This guide explains what the law changed, what it means if you already hold a permit, and which routes work in 2026, written from Estepona, where I look after buyers personally.
What exactly changed with the Spain golden visa
Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January abolished the investor visa, and the abolition took effect on 3 April 2025. It removed all three investment routes at once, not only the property one:
What the scheme was
The Spain golden visa, officially the investor visa, arrived in 2013 to attract foreign capital after the financial crisis. The deal was straightforward: invest, and you and your family received a residence permit that could be renewed as long as the investment stayed in place, with almost no requirement to actually live here. Property was the route nearly everyone took, and a permit that did not demand physical presence is exactly what made it attractive to buyers who wanted Schengen access rather than a Spanish life.
Why it ended
The reasoning given was housing: the government argued that buying residency had pushed prices in the places where Spaniards were already struggling to find homes. Whether the programme really moved the market is still argued about; what matters for you is that the door is shut and no replacement is planned.
If you already hold a golden visa
Nothing is taken away from you. The official position is clear: authorisations already granted keep their validity until the expiry date stated in the original decision, and renewals are decided under the rules that applied when the permit was granted. Applications that were filed before 3 April 2025 continue to be processed under the old law.
In practice that means your path to long-term residence after five years and to citizenship after ten is unchanged, as long as you keep meeting the conditions of your own permit. If your renewal is coming up, get it in early and take advice on the conditions in your original resolution rather than on what a forum says the rules used to be.
The dates that matter
- 2 January 2025 Organic Law 1/2025 is approved, with the abolition written into its final provisions.
- 3 January 2025 Publication in the official gazette starts a three-month countdown.
- 3 April 2025 The investor visa closes. No new applications from this day.
- From then on Existing permits stay valid, earlier applications and renewals follow the old rules.
Can non-EU citizens still buy property in Spain?
Yes, and nothing about that has changed. Buying a home in Spain has never required a residence permit and still does not. Americans, Britons, Canadians and everyone else can buy, own, rent out and sell exactly as before. What disappeared is only the link between the purchase and the permit.
Two practical consequences follow. Without a permit you are a visitor, so you can use the home for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. And you are a non-resident for tax, which means 24% Spanish non-resident income tax on rental income and on the notional income Spain charges for a home you use yourself, declared on form 210, against the 19% that applies to EU residents.
You may also have read about a proposed tax of up to 100% on homes bought by non-EU residents. A bill went to parliament in May 2025 and has never been debated or voted on, so it is not law and there is no date for it. We follow it and update this guide when something actually happens.
Letting the home out while you are away
Short-term holiday letting in Andalusia needs the property to be registered in the regional tourism register, and communities of owners can restrict it in their statutes, so check both before you count on that income. A national registration scheme introduced in July 2025 was later annulled by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the state had stepped on regional competences, so the regional rules are what apply. Long-term letting has none of that friction, and for a non-resident owner both are taxed at 24% on the gross rent, without the deduction of expenses that EU residents may claim.
The routes that work in 2026
There is no direct replacement for the Spain golden visa, but four official routes lead to residency. The government itself points to two permits, and in practice buyers use four.
The non-lucrative visa: for retirees and passive income
The route for anyone who will not work in Spain. You show that you can support yourself without working in Spain: €2,400 a month (€28,800 a year) for the main applicant, plus €600 a month for each family member, together with private health insurance and a clean criminal record. The first permit runs for a year, then renews for two years at a time. Pensions, rental income, dividends and savings all count, but consulates look closely at how stable and how accessible the money is.
The digital nomad visa: for remote workers
If you still work, but for companies outside Spain, this is the route. It asks for 200% of the Spanish minimum wage, which in 2026 means €2,849 a month, and it allows freelancers to earn up to 20% of their work from Spanish clients. For employees, it also opens the door to the special tax regime for new arrivals, the Beckham law, which taxes employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000 a year for six tax years; the law links the visa to that regime only for employees, not for freelancers. Our digital nomad visa guide covers the income calculation, the documents and the tax side in detail.
The entrepreneur visa: for a business, not a purchase
This is one of the two routes the government names in place of the investor visa. It is not a money-in, permit-out scheme: your project has to be innovative or of special economic interest to Spain, ENISA assesses the business plan, and the application goes to the Large Companies Unit. If you were planning to invest in Spain rather than simply to live here, this is where that ambition now belongs.
Family and study routes
Two routes get forgotten in every golden visa article, and both are common in practice. Family reunification brings a spouse, registered partner, dependent children or dependent parents in through the file of someone who already holds a Spanish permit, which is often the simplest answer when one half of a couple qualifies easily and the other does not. A student visa covers a degree, a language year or a professional course, allows limited work alongside, and counts towards residence in Spain, so a year of Spanish at 60 is not the detour it looks like.
The highly qualified professional visa: for employment
The second route the government names. It runs through a Spanish employer or a company posting you here, is decided by the same specialist unit, and is quicker than the ordinary work permit process. Family members are included from the start.
| Route | Who it suits | Money you must show |
|---|---|---|
| Non-lucrative | Retirees, passive income | €2,400/month + €600 per family member |
| Digital nomad | Remote employees, freelancers | €2,849/month |
| Entrepreneur | Founders with an innovative project | Business plan, ENISA report |
| Highly qualified | Employees with a Spanish contract | Set by the contract |
How long each route takes
Timing is the key to planning. The two routes run by the Large Companies Unit, the digital nomad and entrepreneur permits, are filed online and must be decided within twenty working days; if the unit does not answer in time, the law treats the application as approved. The consulate routes work differently: you need an appointment first, and in busy months that is the real bottleneck, not the decision itself. Add the weeks for the ACRO certificate, the apostille and the sworn translation, and a realistic plan for a non-lucrative visa starts four to six months before the date you want to land.
Which route suits you
- You live on a pension, rent or investments: non-lucrative visa. No work in Spain, lowest threshold.
- You still work, for companies outside Spain: digital nomad visa, plus a look at the Beckham tax regime if you are employed.
- You want to build something here: entrepreneur visa, with an ENISA report on the project.
- A Spanish employer wants you: highly qualified professional, handled by the same specialist unit.
- Your partner or parent already has a permit: family reunification through their file.
- You are under 30 and flexible: a student visa can be the quickest way in while you decide.
What this means for buying on the Costa del Sol
Since the purchase no longer buys the permit, the two processes run side by side, and that changes the order in which sensible buyers do things. You no longer need to reach a threshold to qualify for anything, which means the €500,000 that used to be the magic number is simply not a rule any more. Buy the home that fits you, and choose the visa that fits how you earn.
The end of the Spain golden visa has a practical upside for buyers: you choose the home by what suits your life, not by a price threshold. On our own survey of 18 September 2026, New Builds in Estepona had a median asking price of €5,145 per m², against €7,491 in our Marbella market area, and the town offered 840 priced New Build homes in 118 projects. That choice runs from compact apartments to villas, and every one of them is open to you without the old Spain golden visa minimum.
Why a new build fits this better than a resale
The visa side takes months: appointments, apostilles, sworn translations, then the residence card after you arrive. A home under construction takes months too, and those two clocks run happily in parallel. You use the waiting time productively, you choose the floor and the aspect while the building goes up, and you arrive to a finished home instead of a renovation you have to manage from abroad.
Why Estepona works for new residents
Estepona sits next to Marbella, with the same coast and the same golf, and it still works as a town in February: almost 80,000 residents, a restored old town where the alleys are hung with flowers, 21 kilometres of coastline, Málaga airport 84 kilometres away and Gibraltar 45. On our own market analysis, resale asking prices here stood at about €5,000 per m² in August 2026 after a rise of roughly 98% in five years, and in September 2026 new builds were asking only about 3% more per m² than resales in the same town. That last number is why so many buyers who arrive planning to renovate end up buying new.
New homes in Estepona
Buying from abroad, before you have a permit
You can buy before you have a permit, because none of the purchase steps needs residency. You need an NIE, which you can apply for at a Spanish consulate in your own country or at a police station here. You need a Spanish bank account, which non-residents can open with a certificate of non-residency the bank arranges. And you need a lawyer of your own choosing, independent of the seller and of us.
If you cannot keep flying over for every signature, a power of attorney granted to your lawyer lets the purchase run without you: it is signed before a notary, either here or at a consulate, and it is standard practice rather than a sign that something is unusual. What we would never advise is buying without seeing the location at least once. Photographs do not tell you where the afternoon sun lands or how loud the road above is.
What the purchase costs without the Spain golden visa threshold
With the €500,000 threshold gone, the only numbers that matter are the real ones. In Andalusia a resale is taxed at 7% transfer tax, while a new build carries 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty, and on top come notary, land registry and legal fees. Then there is the running side: the annual IBI property tax, community fees for pools, gardens and lifts, home insurance and, if you are not resident, the non-resident tax return each year.
Our advice to every buyer is the same: ask for the community fee of the specific home in writing before you make an offer. It is the number that quietly decides whether a place feels comfortable or expensive three years later.
Four points to plan now that the Spain golden visa has ended
Without the Spain golden visa, you plan the home and the permit as two separate steps.
- Buy the home that suits you. The €500,000 threshold belonged to the old visa; today there is no minimum.
- The permit comes from your income or your work. With the right visa route, residency follows your situation rather than a purchase price.
- Plan your stays around the 90-day rule. Entries and exits are logged biometrically, so the 90 days in any 180-day period are counted automatically.
- Plan the tax side early. The day count for Spanish tax residency starts when you arrive, so an early conversation with an adviser keeps it simple.
If your goal was the investment, not the move
Some buyers were interested in the Spain golden visa for the investment rather than the move. For them, the Costa del Sol still offers a strong property market. They wanted an asset in the sun with a European permit attached. The permit is gone; the asset still behaves the way it did, and we can show you what it has actually done rather than what a brochure promises.
On our own market analysis, long-term rents in Estepona averaged about €21 per m² a month in August 2026, which put gross yields in the town at roughly 5% before costs, taxes and vacancy. Resale asking prices stood at about €5,000 per m² after a rise of roughly 98% over five years. Those are past figures and an average across a whole town, not a forecast and not a promise for one apartment, but they are measured rather than claimed.
Two caveats we would rather say ourselves than have you discover later. Gross is not net: community fees, IBI, management, maintenance and empty weeks all come off. And as a non-resident you pay 24% on the gross rent without deducting expenses, which is exactly why the tax question belongs at the start of an investment plan, not the end.
What the change means for a purchase, in practice
Off-plan money is protected by law, not by trust
For a New Build, your money is protected by law. Payments made before the home is finished must go into a separate account and be secured by a bank guarantee or an insurance policy, and if the home is not built or finished as agreed, the money comes back with interest. Ask for the guarantee document with every stage payment and keep them together; a serious developer hands them over without being asked twice.
Buying from abroad while the visa runs
None of the purchase steps needs residency. You need an NIE, which a Spanish consulate in your own country can issue, a Spanish bank account, which non-residents open with a certificate the bank arranges, and an independent lawyer of your own choosing. If flying over for every signature is impractical, a power of attorney before a notary lets your lawyer complete without you. The location is best chosen in person: a visit shows you where the afternoon sun lands and how the neighbourhood lives.
Run the visa and the purchase in parallel
Separate the two clocks and start the slower one first. The visa clock is appointments, certificates and translations, and it rewards early booking. The property clock is choice, and on a new build it runs 12 to 30 months. Start both in the same month and they finish together, and the sequencing is clear.
What about Portugal, Greece and the others?
If the permit matters more than the place, other countries still run investment programmes, but the picture has moved everywhere. Portugal removed the property route from its programme in October 2023 and now points investors at funds and other qualifying investments. Greece kept property but raised the bar from 1 September 2024 to €800,000 in prime areas and €400,000 elsewhere.
Beyond those two, the programmes people mention are Malta, Italy, Latvia and the UAE, each with its own thresholds, residence requirements and tax treatment. We do not advise on them; our focus is Spain and the Costa del Sol.
If your life is heading for the Costa del Sol, the cheaper path is the right Spanish visa, not a fund in a country you will visit twice a year.
After the Spain golden visa: renewals and permanent residence
Existing permits stay valid, and five years of residence lead to long-term residence.
Renewing a permit you already hold
Renewals of an existing investor permit are decided under the rules that applied when it was granted, which is the single most reassuring sentence in the whole change of law. In practice that means keeping the investment in place, keeping the paperwork that proves it, and filing in good time rather than in the last week. If your circumstances have changed, for example you sold the property that underpinned the permit, take advice before the renewal.
From permit to permanence
Five years of legal, continuous residence lead to long-term residence, which drops the income conditions and lets you live and work here indefinitely. Spanish citizenship asks for ten years for most non-EU nationals, plus language and civics tests, and Spain formally requires applicants to declare that they renounce their previous nationality, a declaration other countries may or may not recognise. Long-term residence already lets you live here indefinitely while keeping your original passport.
Five points for a smooth route to residency
- Budget for the home you want; the old €500,000 threshold no longer applies
- Pay the reservation into the client account of the agency or lawyer
- Speak to a tax adviser before choosing the visa route
- Put the renewal window in your calendar, especially while abroad
- Choose one of the official routes: non-lucrative, digital nomad, entrepreneur or highly qualified professional
Letting the home out when you are not in it
Your home can earn rental income while you are away, and the rules divide neatly into two worlds. Long-term letting is straightforward: a contract, a tenant, and tax on the income. Holiday letting is the regulated one: in Andalusia the property has to be registered in the regional tourism register, and the community of owners can restrict or ban it in its statutes, so both need checking before you count on that income. A national registration scheme introduced in July 2025 was later annulled by the Supreme Court, which found the state had encroached on regional powers, so the regional rules are the ones that apply.
For a non-resident owner, both kinds of income are taxed at 24% on the gross rent, without the deduction of expenses that EU and EEA residents may claim. That single line changes the arithmetic of a rental plan more than any interest rate, and it is the reason we send investment-minded buyers to a tax adviser before they choose between a city apartment and a golf-side house.
Tax once you live here
The moment you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, or move the centre of your life here, you become a Spanish tax resident and are taxed on your worldwide income. Double taxation treaties decide which country taxes what, and residents must also report assets held abroad on form 720 when a category passes €50,000.
Plan the tax year before you plan the move. Arriving in July or in January is not the same decision.
Estepona, and why buyers land here
When the permit stops steering the purchase, the question becomes the right one: where do you actually want to be? For us, and for many who come to this coast, that is Estepona, next to Marbella on the western Costa del Sol. Almost 80,000 residents, a restored old town where the white alleys are hung with flowers, 21 kilometres of coastline, Málaga airport 84 kilometres away and Gibraltar 45.
The town still works in February, which is the test that matters. There is a market on Wednesdays, a health centre, schools, and neighbours who are there all year. Marbella is half an hour up the road when you want the shopping and the restaurants, and roughly a fifth dearer per square metre for the privilege.
What the numbers say
On our own market analysis, resale asking prices in Estepona stood at about €5,000 per m² in August 2026 after a rise of roughly 98% over five years, long-term rents averaged about €21 per m² a month, and gross yields were around 5% before costs and taxes. In September 2026 new builds in the town asked only about 3% more per m² than resales. Past figures for a whole town, not a forecast for one apartment, and enough to have the conversation with real numbers in front of you.
Your route to a home and residency in Spain, in five steps
Five steps take you from the visa route to your new home.
- Work out which route fits your income, then choose the property that fits your life.
- Check the money you can evidence over a full year, in documents a consulate will accept.
- Talk to a Spanish tax adviser before you set your arrival date, especially if you will keep income or property abroad.
- Choose the home and let its completion date carry the visa timeline, rather than rushing both.
- Apply at the consulate for your region, up to 90 days before you plan to enter Spain, and book the residence card appointment as soon as you land.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Spain golden visa still exist in 2026?
No. The Spain golden visa ended with Organic Law 1/2025, and Spain stopped accepting new applications on 3 April 2025. That covered all three routes: property from €500,000, business projects of general interest, and public debt or financial assets.
What happens to my golden visa if I already have one?
Permits granted before the cut-off keep their validity until the expiry date in the original decision, and renewals are decided under the rules that applied when the permit was granted. Applications filed before 3 April 2025 also continue under the old rules.
Can non-EU citizens still buy property in Spain?
Yes. Buying a home in Spain has never required a residence permit and still does not. What changed is only the link between the purchase and residency: the property no longer gives you the right to live here. A proposed tax of up to 100% on purchases by non-EU residents was sent to parliament in May 2025 but has never been debated or voted on.
Which visa replaces the golden visa?
There is no direct replacement for the Spain golden visa. The government points to the entrepreneur visa and the visa for highly qualified professionals. For buyers who live on a pension or savings, the non-lucrative visa fits; for remote workers, the digital nomad visa.
How much income do I need for the non-lucrative visa?
€2,400 a month (€28,800 a year) for the main applicant and €600 a month for each family member, based on 400% of IPREM. The permit runs for one year, is renewed for two years at a time, and does not allow you to work in Spain.
Is Portugal or Greece a better option now?
Both still run investment programmes, but Portugal removed the property route in October 2023, and Greece raised its thresholds from 1 September 2024 to €800,000 in prime areas and €400,000 elsewhere. If your goal is a home on the Costa del Sol, swapping countries to chase a permit usually costs more than choosing the right Spanish visa.
Do I still get permanent residency and citizenship?
Yes, through the ordinary routes. Five years of legal, continuous residence lead to long-term residence, and Spanish citizenship asks for ten years for most non-EU nationals, plus language and civics tests.
Can I buy first and sort the visa later?
Yes, and a new build makes it easy: the months the home is under construction are the months your paperwork needs. Until you have a permit you are a visitor, limited to 90 days in any 180-day period, and a non-resident owner for tax.
Sources & official links
- Plataforma One (Spanish government) – Abolition of the investor visa (checked 20.09.2026)
- BOE – Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January (checked 20.09.2026)
- Consulate General of Spain in London – Non-lucrative residence visa requirements (PDF) (checked 20.09.2026)
- Spanish Ministry of Inclusion (UGE) – Entrepreneurs (checked 20.09.2026)
- Spanish Ministry of Inclusion (UGE) – International remote workers (checked 20.09.2026)
- BOE – Law 14/2013 on entrepreneurs and international mobility (consolidated) (checked 20.09.2026)
- Agencia Tributaria – Brexit and non-resident income tax (checked 20.09.2026)
- Agencia Tributaria – Special regime for workers posted to Spain (art. 93 LIRPF) (checked 20.09.2026)
- Spanish public administration portal – Long-term residence and nationality (checked 20.09.2026)
