Visas and residency for property buyers in Spain

Buying a home in Spain does not, on its own, give you a visa, a residence permit or tax residence. The investor visa, known as the golden visa, was abolished with effect from 3 April 2025. Without a visa, a non-EU citizen — including a UK citizen since Brexit — may stay in the Schengen area for at most ninety days in any hundred-and-eighty-day period (Schengen Borders Code, art. 6). Owning a property does not extend that limit.

Below are the residence routes that do exist and the part your Spanish home plays in each. If you are an EU citizen, you need no visa: see the section on the NIE.

Golden visa: abolished

Organic Law 1/2025, published in the BOE on 3 January 2025, repealed the articles of Law 14/2013 on the investor visa and investor residence. Since 3 April 2025 it cannot be obtained by any route: not through buying property, not through capital investment, not through a business project.

Property golden visas that were valid on that date keep their term, and their renewals are decided under the rules in force when they were first granted. Applications filed before 3 April 2025 are decided under the rules in force on the filing date. Anyone buying today gets no residence from the purchase.

Non-lucrative residence

This permit lets you live in Spain without working — no employment, no self-employment and no remote work for a foreign company either (RD 1155/2024, art. 61). You must show means of at least 400% of IPREM per month for the applicant — in 2026 that is ≈ €2,400, with IPREM at ≈ €600 while the 2023 budget remains extended — plus 100% of IPREM for each dependent family member. You also need health insurance and a criminal record certificate. The first permit lasts one year and the renewal two; to renew, you must have lived in Spain for more than 183 days in the year.

Your own home serves as your address in the application, and the title deed can be submitted among the evidence of means: the regulation expressly lists property titles (art. 62.3). How the property is counted is up to the consulate or immigration office; the means requirement still applies. After five years of continuous residence you can apply for long-term residence (LO 4/2000, art. 32).

• €600 (guidance figure) — Ley 31/2022 PGE 2023, DA 90ª.b · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 100% — RD 1155/2024 Reglamento de extranjería, art. 62.1.b · Checked: 17/10/2026
• €2,400 (guidance figure) — RD 1155/2024 Reglamento de extranjería, art. 62.1.a × Ley 31/2022 DA 90ª.b · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 400% — RD 1155/2024 Reglamento de extranjería, art. 62.1.a · Checked: 17/10/2026

Digital nomad visa (international remote work)

This route is for people who work remotely for companies based outside Spain (Law 14/2013, art. 74 bis). The self-employed may do up to 20% of their work for companies located in Spain. You need a degree or three years of professional experience; the company must have been active for at least a year and your relationship with it must have lasted at least three months. The visa is valid for up to a year; a residence permit requested in Spain, for up to three years, renewable for two at a time. You can also apply from inside Spain if you are there legally, and consulates ask for registration with Spanish Social Security or a certificate of coverage from another country.

As an income guide, consulates apply ≈ 200% of the monthly Spanish minimum wage (SMI): in 2026 that is ≈ €2,442 per month for the applicant, plus ≈ €916 for the first family member and ≈ €305 for each further one (RD 126/2026; consular requirements). Buying a home does not give you this permit: it rests on remote work, not on property.

• €916 (guidance figure) — Requisitos consulares (Consulado General de España en Houston, cifras 2026), medios económicos (Financial means) · Checked: 17/10/2026
• €305 (guidance figure) — Requisitos consulares (Consulado General de España en Houston, cifras 2026), medios económicos (Financial means) · Checked: 17/10/2026
• €2,442 (guidance figure) — Requisitos consulares (Consulado General de España en Houston, cifras 2026), medios económicos (Financial means) · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 200% (guidance figure) — Requisitos consulares (Consulado General de España en Houston, cifras 2026), medios económicos (Financial means) · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 20% — Ley 14/2013 de apoyo a los emprendedores, art. 74 bis.1 · Checked: 17/10/2026

Beckham law

The special regime in article 93 of the Spanish income tax law is a tax regime, not an immigration route, and it is optional. It is open to people who move to Spain to work — including remotely on a digital nomad visa — to become a company director, or to run an innovative entrepreneurial activity, provided they were not tax resident in Spain in the previous five years. It applies to the year of the move and the following five. You are taxed as a non-resident under special rules: 24% on the general tax base up to €600,000; wealth tax applies only to assets located in Spain. Buying a home does not give access to the regime.

• €600,000 — Ley 35/2006 IRPF, art. 93.2.e.1º · Checked: 17/10/2026
• 24% — Ley 35/2006 IRPF, art. 93.2.e.1º · Checked: 17/10/2026

Tax residence: the 183-day rule

You are tax resident in Spain if you spend more than 183 days here in a calendar year, or if your main centre of business or economic interests is here; residence is also presumed, unless you prove otherwise, when your spouse and minor children live in Spain (income tax law, art. 9). Owning a property does not, by itself, make you resident. If two countries both treat you as resident, the double tax treaty decides, and one of the first tests is where you have a permanent home: that is where the house can matter.

A residence permit and tax residence are separate regimes. But renewing the non-lucrative permit requires more than 183 days in Spain, and under Spanish law that is the test for tax residence, with tax on your worldwide income, unless the treaty with your country says otherwise. If you keep the home as a non-resident, see the taxes for non-resident owners.

NIE and EU citizens

The NIE, the foreigner identity number, is needed to sign the purchase and pay taxes, but it gives no right to live in Spain (RD 1155/2024, art. 205). From abroad you apply through the Spanish consulate. It is best to have it before you start any visa process.

EU citizens need no visa. If they stay longer than three months, they must register with the Central Register of Foreigners within three months of arrival and obtain the registration certificate (certificado de registro), which carries the NIE (RD 240/2007, art. 7.5). The conditions: working, or having sufficient means and health insurance covering all risks, or studying; there is no fixed amount for EU citizens (art. 7.7). Non-EU family members apply for the residence card of a family member of a Union citizen (art. 8).

What buying gives you

• An address in Spain that you can give in a residence application.
• A title deed you can submit among the evidence of means for the non-lucrative permit; the consulate decides how it is assessed.
• A permanent home, which can matter if two countries treat you as tax resident and the treaty decides.
• A reason to get an NIE, which you will need for the deed and for taxes.
• Owner's obligations: IBI and, if you do not live in Spain, non-resident income tax.

What buying does not give you

• No visa and no residence permit.
• No golden visa: it has been abolished since 3 April 2025.
• No digital nomad visa and no Beckham regime: both depend on work, not on property.
• No tax residence on its own.
• No extra days in the Schengen area: it is still ninety in any hundred and eighty.
• No right to work in Spain.