Spain's Golden Visa ended — what now?

For more than a decade, one of the most popular ways for non-EU nationals to secure the right to live in Spain was the Golden Visa — a residence permit granted in exchange for a significant investment, most commonly the purchase of property worth at least €500,000. That door is now closed. Spain abolished its residence-by-investment programme, and the Golden Visa ceased to be available in April 2025. If you were planning to buy a home in Spain specifically to obtain residency, this is the single most important change to understand — and the good news is that there are still clear, well-established routes to living in Spain that do not depend on it.

"Buying a property no longer buys you residency in Spain — that route closed in 2025. For most clients who once looked at the Golden Visa, the non-lucrative or digital nomad route now fits their real circumstances better than writing a cheque ever did."

What exactly ended

The Golden Visa was a residence-by-investment scheme. In broad terms, a non-EU national could obtain a residence authorisation by making a qualifying investment in Spain. The best-known version was the purchase of real estate with a value of at least €500,000, but the programme also covered other qualifying investments such as certain capital transfers and business projects. In exchange, the investor — and their close family — received the right to reside in Spain, with a route that could eventually lead towards longer-term status.

What ended in April 2025 is precisely this: the ability to obtain residency because of an investment. The specific residence-by-investment authorisation is no longer being granted for new applicants. The property route in particular — buying a home to unlock residency — is the part most people ask about, and it is exactly the part that has been removed.

Why Spain scrapped the Golden Visa

The reasoning behind the decision was primarily about housing. Spain's government took the view that residence-by-investment schemes tied to real estate were contributing to pressure on the housing market in the most in-demand areas, where affordability had become a serious social concern. Removing the property-linked residence incentive was presented as one measure among several intended to ease that pressure. Spain was not alone in this: several European countries had already been reconsidering or restricting their own investor-residence programmes.

Whatever one thinks of the policy, the practical consequence for anyone planning a move is simple. Residency and a property purchase are now two separate matters. Owning a Spanish home is a perfectly ordinary thing to do; it just no longer, by itself, gives you the legal right to live in the country.

Who is affected — and who is not

The change matters most to a specific group of people: non-EU nationals who intended to buy their way into residency, typically by purchasing a €500,000-plus property with the residence permit as the goal. If that describes your plan, the plan needs rethinking — not abandoning, but reshaping around one of the routes below.

Several groups are largely unaffected. EU and EEA nationals already enjoy free movement and never needed a Golden Visa. People who qualify for a residence route based on income, work, remote employment or a business project were always able to use those routes, and can still do so. And anyone who simply wants to own a holiday home or an investment property, without needing to live in Spain full-time, can continue to buy freely — subject to the usual visa-free travel limits for short stays.

You can still buy property in Spain

This point deserves its own heading because it is the source of the most confusion. The Golden Visa ending does not stop you buying property in Spain. Foreigners — including non-EU nationals — can still purchase homes, apartments and commercial premises in Spain much as before. The property market is open to international buyers.

What changed is not your right to buy a home. It is that the home no longer comes bundled with the right to live here. Purchase and residency are now separate decisions, each handled on its own merits.

So if your dream is a place in the sun that you visit for part of the year, the end of the Golden Visa may not affect you at all. If, on the other hand, you want to live in Spain, you will need a residence route that stands on its own — and if you also want to buy, the two can still sit comfortably alongside each other. We look at how a purchase interacts with a residence application in our note on buying property and the non-lucrative visa.

The alternatives now

The end of the investment route does not leave a vacuum. Spain has a range of long-established residence routes, and for most people who were considering the Golden Visa, one of them will be a genuine fit. The right choice depends less on how much you can invest and more on where your income comes from and what you intend to do in Spain.

The non-lucrative visa — for those with passive income

The non-lucrative visa is designed for people who can support themselves in Spain from income that does not require them to work in the country — pensions, savings, investments, rental income and similar passive sources. It is the classic choice for retirees and financially independent individuals. You are not permitted to carry out professional activity in Spain under this route, but you gain the right to reside, and for many former Golden Visa candidates who were essentially seeking a comfortable base in Spain, it is the most natural replacement. Our full walkthrough is here: apply for the non-lucrative (retirement) visa in Spain.

The digital nomad visa — for remote workers

If you earn your living working remotely — as an employee of a foreign company or as a freelancer serving clients abroad — the digital nomad visa is built for you. It allows you to live in Spain while continuing your remote work, and it opened up a route that simply did not exist during most of the Golden Visa era. For younger, working applicants who were considering an investment visa mainly to unlock the lifestyle, this is very often the better answer. See how to apply for the digital nomad visa in Spain.

The Beckham / entrepreneur route — for those building a business

Founders, entrepreneurs and highly mobile professionals who intend to base a business or professional activity in Spain have their own path, often paired with the favourable Beckham tax regime. This route rewards genuine economic activity and talent rather than a passive property purchase, and it can be considerably more attractive tax-wise for the right profile. Details are in our Beckham regime guide.

The highly qualified professional route — for those with a job

If a Spanish company wants to hire you, or if you have an offer that meets the highly qualified professional criteria, a work-based residence authorisation is available. This is the traditional employment route, refreshed in recent years to attract talent, and it suits those whose move to Spain is anchored to a specific role rather than to their own capital.

Comparing your options

The table below sets out, in broad terms, who each route is for and what drives eligibility. It is a simplified overview to help you find your starting point — the detailed requirements for each route are covered in its own dedicated guide.

Route	Best for	What it turns on	Work in Spain?
Non-lucrative visa	Retirees & financially independent people	Sufficient passive income to support yourself	No professional activity in Spain
Digital nomad visa	Remote employees & freelancers	Remote income from outside Spain	Yes — remote work
Beckham / entrepreneur route	Founders & mobile professionals	A genuine business or professional activity	Yes — your own activity
Highly qualified professional	People hired by a Spanish employer	A qualifying Spanish job offer	Yes — employed role

Notice what the table does not contain: an investment figure. The routes that replace the Golden Visa reward income, work or a real business — not a €500,000 purchase.

How to choose the right route

The honest way to approach this is to start from your own situation rather than from a product. Three questions usually settle the direction of travel:

• Where does your money come from? Passive income points towards the non-lucrative visa. Remote earnings point towards the digital nomad visa. Active business income points towards the entrepreneur route.
• Do you intend to work in Spain, and how? If you must not work, the non-lucrative route fits. If you work remotely, the digital nomad route fits. If you are building something or being employed, a work-based route fits.
• What matters most — tax, family, timing or lifestyle? These considerations often tip the balance between two routes that both technically work, and they are exactly where tailored advice earns its place.

Because the routes differ in their income thresholds, documentation, tax consequences and family provisions, the sensible move is to map your circumstances against them before committing to a plan — ideally before you buy anything or sign a lease.

A calmer way to think about it

It is easy to read "the Golden Visa has ended" as a door slamming shut. In practice, for most people it is a door being relabelled. Very few of those who considered the Golden Visa actually needed an investment permit as such — what they wanted was to live in Spain, comfortably and lawfully, often with the option to own a home there. All of that remains entirely possible.

The property market is still open to you. The lifestyle is still available. What has changed is only the mechanism: instead of buying residency, you now qualify for it through your income, your work or your business, and you buy property separately if and when you wish. For the great majority of would-be movers, one of the routes above is not merely a substitute for the Golden Visa but a better, more durable fit for their actual life.

If you had set your heart on the €500,000 property route, the most useful next step is a short, honest conversation about which of these alternatives matches your profile — so your move to Spain rests on a route that genuinely applies to you.

General information, not legal advice. The residence-by-investment scheme (the Golden Visa) was abolished and ended in April 2025. Rules and routes change and must be confirmed for your circumstances and the current year.