Spanish residency and property: what changed in 2026
Spain abolished the Golden Visa through Ley 1/2025, in force from 3 April 2025. The €500,000 property-for-residency route is permanently closed to new applications. Existing holders keep their permits and renew under the old rules. We put this first because a great many agency pages still sell the programme, and a buyer who finds out at the notary has lost months.
Buying property in Spain does not grant residency in 2026. It is still useful to the process: a home in your name is the accommodation proof every visa route asks for, and it strengthens the "ties to Spain" side of a non-lucrative application. It is not the qualifying mechanism for any of them.
Four routes work for non-EU nationals. The non-lucrative visa asks for passive income of about €33,150 a year and permits no work in Spain. The digital nomad visa asks for around €2,762 a month earned remotely from non-Spanish clients. The entrepreneur visa needs a business plan approved as innovative. The highly-qualified-professional route needs a Spanish job offer at a qualifying salary. All four reach permanent residency at five years.
Preguntas frecuentes
Does buying property in Spain give you residency in 2026?
No. The Golden Visa was abolished by Ley 1/2025 on 3 April 2025 and property purchase is no longer a qualifying route for anyone, at any price. A property is still useful as accommodation proof on another visa application, but it does not qualify you on its own.
What happens to people who already hold a Golden Visa?
Nothing. Permits issued before 3 April 2025 stay valid and renew under the rules that applied when they were granted. The closure applies to new applications only. If you hold one, your renewal path and your route to permanent residency at five years are unchanged.
Which visa route suits a buyer with savings but no job?
The non-lucrative visa. It asks for proof of passive income of roughly €33,150 a year for the main applicant, plus more per dependant, and forbids any work in Spain. It suits retirees and people living off investments. It reaches permanent residency after five years.
How many days can I stay without any visa?
Ninety days in any rolling one-hundred-and-eighty, as a non-EU visitor in the Schengen area. Owning a Spanish property does not extend that. Many of our buyers use the home for those ninety days and only apply for residency when they are ready to move properly.
Is the digital nomad visa a workable Golden Visa replacement?
For working-age buyers, yes, and it has become the common substitute. It needs about €2,762 a month earned remotely from employers or clients outside Spain, three years in your profession, and caps Spanish-source income at twenty percent. It reaches permanent residency at five years.
Do I need residency to own a Spanish property?
No. Non-residents own Spanish property freely; you need an NIE number and a Spanish bank account, not a visa. You will file the non-resident tax return each year on the property, which is a separate obligation from anything to do with residency.
¿No encuentras la adecuada?
Dinos el presupuesto, cuántos dormitorios y si pesa más la vista al mar o el centro del pueblo. Volvemos con opciones reales en menos de una hora en días laborables, por correo, sin llamadas largas.