Spain Golden Visa Ended: What Now

~7 min read · Published 22 July 2026 Updated and checked against official sources 6 September 2026

Since April 3, 2025 Spain no longer accepts new Golden Visa applications: the residency-by-investment program has been fully repealed. For investors who already hold the card, however, nothing collapsed - existing permits remain valid and renewable under the old rules. Here is what current holders need to do and which routes remain open to new investors.

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What happened to the Golden Visa

The Golden Visa (formally, the investor residence visa) operated in Spain from 2013 under articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013 on support for entrepreneurs. It granted residency in exchange for a significant investment: real estate from EUR 500,000, public debt from EUR 2 million, shares, funds or bank deposits from EUR 1 million, or a business project of general interest. The visa did not require living in Spain: a single entry into the country during the validity period was enough.

Organic Law 1/2025 of January 2 (BOE-A-2025-76), in its twenty-first final provision, stripped articles 63 to 67 out of Law 14/2013. The change took effect on April 3, 2025. Since that date no new applications are accepted, and the repeal covers every investment category, not just real estate. The official reasoning was the pressure of investment demand on the housing market in major cities.

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What about cards already issued

The repeal is not retroactive. Law 1/2025 inserted two transitional provisions into Law 14/2013, and the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE-CE) published interpretive criteria on how they apply:

In practice the cycle stays as it was: an initial 3 year authorization, then renewals in 5 year blocks for as long as the conditions hold. After five years of genuine continuous residence, a holder can switch to long-term residency, which is no longer tied to the investment at all.

How a Golden Visa renewal works after the repeal

The renewal application is filed electronically with the UGE-CE within the 60 days before the current card expires. Filing up to 90 days after expiry is tolerated, but with the risk of an administrative fine, so it is best not to wait.

The Administration reviews four areas:

  1. The investment is still in place. For real estate, a certificate of title and charges (certificado de dominio y cargas) from the Land Registry showing the property, or properties, still in the applicant’s name and free of charges for at least EUR 500,000. For financial investments, recent certificates from the bank, the fund manager or the Bank of Spain.
  2. Minimum stay. Unlike the non-lucrative visa, there is no 183 day requirement: at least one entry into Spain during the authorization period is enough.
  3. Tax and social security. Before filing, request certificates of no outstanding debt from AEAT and Social Security: unpaid taxes and unfiled returns are the most common reason renewals stall or fail.
  4. Insurance and means. Full private health coverage in Spain and sufficient means for the applicant and dependants.

Family members included in the original application renew together with the main applicant, provided the family ties and dependency still exist.

Replacing the investment. Any change to the qualifying investment always had to be notified to the UGE-CE within 30 days. Under the UGE-CE criteria, the room for replacement narrowed sharply after April 3, 2025: a replacement property acquired before that date, with a short gap between the sale and the purchase, can still support a renewal if both transactions are fully documented; converting a non-real-estate investment into real estate is excluded. Selling the qualifying asset now, without a legal analysis of the consequences, may mean losing the right to renew. This turns on the specifics of each file - take advice before signing anything at the notary.

The tax angle. Even a non-resident Golden Visa holder pays Spanish taxes: IRNR on imputed income from the property (even if it is never rented out), IBI to the municipality, and, for larger Spanish holdings, wealth tax or the solidarity tax depending on the region and the year. If you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain, or your center of economic interests is here, you become a Spanish tax resident: worldwide income taxed under IRPF, foreign asset reporting (Modelo 720) and wealth tax on a global base. Many investors cross that threshold without noticing and discover the consequences only at renewal.

More on the mechanics of renewals on the renewals page.

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Eight rules of the transition regime

The repeal itself is one line in the Act. What card holders actually live by are the criteria the UGE published on June 10, 2025. Eight rules, all turning on one date: April 3, 2025.

1. Visas already applied for. A residence application is admitted if the visa was applied for before April 3, 2025, even where its effect is deferred to a later date. The file is then processed and decided under the general rules.

2. Family, and this is the painful one. A family member’s residence that is in force after April 3, 2025 stays in force. But new family applications after that date are not admitted: the general regime of RD 1155/2024 applies to them as the subsidiary rule. The same goes for circumstances arising after that date: a marriage or a birth after April 3, 2025 does not open the investor route for that family member, who has to go through the general regime instead, via family reunification and all of its requirements.

3. Inheritance and transfer. The right of residence is not transferable, it is personal. Transfers by inheritance, gift or inter vivos generally, occurring after April 3, 2025, are not accepted as the basis of the investment. Inheriting the property does not carry the status with it.

4. Change of nationality. The initial permit survives and renewal remains possible, provided the change of nationality was notified in due time and form.

5. Contratos de arras are not accepted. A deposit contract is not the sale contract itself and by its nature contemplates withdrawal. The old route of obtaining a six-month investor visa on a preliminary contract with a deposit is closed.

6. Converting the investment. The permit survives and renewal is granted where the conversion runs between non-property options, or from property into any other option (subject to the minimum amounts). Converting from another option into property is not accepted. The logic is plain enough: property is what got the program repealed.

7. Renewals. All are admitted, provided the initial permits met every requirement when granted.

8. Legal entities. A change in the ownership of the capital or the investment is not accepted: a legal entity cannot hold a personal residence permit. The reverse, from a legal entity to a natural person, is not accepted either, because it is an inter vivos transfer.

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Alternatives for investors and high-net-worth applicants

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Choosing the right replacement for your situation

Passive income. If you live on rent, dividends, interest or a pension, look at the NLV. The income requirement is pegged to IPREM, working in Spain is not allowed, but after one year you can switch to categories with work rights. Bear in mind that the NLV assumes genuine residence, which means Spanish tax residency and taxation of worldwide income.

Remote worker. If you work for a foreign employer or serve clients abroad, the digital nomad visa under Law 28/2022 lets you live in Spain and work remotely, with possible access to a special tax regime. The income threshold is likewise calculated from IPREM/SMI figures.

Business investor. Passively buying assets no longer works, but active investment does: an innovative project with a business plan endorsed by ENISA opens the entrepreneur visa. It is the closest heir to the Golden Visa in spirit, except that instead of writing a cheque you need a working project.

Buying property remains a sensible part of the strategy: it demonstrates ties to the country and solves the housing question. It simply is no longer a basis for residency on its own.

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Author Aleksandr Nazarov

Frequently asked questions

Can you still get a Golden Visa in Spain?

No. Organic Law 1/2025 removed articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013, which governed the investor visa, and no new applications have been accepted since April 3, 2025. Neither buying property nor making financial investments creates residency rights any more. Only the transitional rules for applications filed, or permits granted, before that date still operate.

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What happens to golden visas already issued?

They remain valid until the date they were issued to and can be renewed. Renewal applications are decided under the rules in force when the initial permit was granted: a first authorization of 3 years, then 5 year renewals, provided the qualifying investment is kept and there are no tax or social security debts.

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What alternatives does an investor have?

It depends on your income source. Applicants living on passive income fit the non-lucrative visa. Those working remotely for foreign companies fit the digital nomad visa. Those launching an innovative business in Spain can use the entrepreneur visa under Law 14/2013. Simply parking money in exchange for a residence card is no longer possible.

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Does buying property give residency rights now?

No. Since April 3, 2025, buying a home in Spain, at any price, carries no immigration rights on its own. Foreigners can still purchase property freely, but living in Spain legally requires a separate residence permit under one of the active categories. Property can only indirectly strengthen an application by showing ties to the country.

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We got the Golden Visa before the repeal and our child was born in 2026. Can we apply for them?

Not on this route. The UGE criteria of June 10, 2025 are explicit: family applications after April 3, 2025 are not admitted, and neither are circumstances arising after that date, marriage and birth included. The child goes through the general regime, via family reunification and all of its requirements.

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