The short answer: if you will keep working, even only for foreign clients or a foreign employer, the digital nomad visa is your route; if you will live in Spain on a pension, savings or passive income without working, it is the non-lucrative visa. The two are often confused because both suit people who do not want a Spanish job, but they are built on opposite conditions. One requires you to work. The other forbids it.
Your non-lucrative visa, prepared
Proof of means, health insurance, the consulate file and your arrival plan.
300 € + VAT, each additional family member 100 € + VAT.
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The two visas side by side
| Digital nomad (international telework) | Non-lucrative residence | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Remote employees of foreign companies and freelancers with foreign clients | Retirees and people living on pensions, rent, investments or savings |
| Work allowed | Yes, remote work for companies outside Spain; freelancers may have Spanish clients up to 20% of their activity | No work of any kind, employed or self-employed |
| Legal basis | Law 14/2013, as amended by Law 28/2022 on start-ups | Immigration Regulation, Royal Decree 1155/2024 |
| Means required | 200% of the monthly minimum wage (SMI), +75% for the first family member, +25% for each additional one | 400% of IPREM per month, +100% of IPREM for each family member |
| Other key conditions | Three months of prior work with the company; company operating for at least one year; degree or three years of experience | Health insurance with full cover, usually without co-payments; medical certificate |
| Where to apply | Spanish consulate, or from Spain during a legal stay (UGE-CE) | Spanish consulate for your place of residence |
| First permit | Up to one year as a visa; up to three years if authorised from Spain | One year |
| Renewals | Two years each | Longer periods; time actually spent in Spain is checked |
| Tax | Tax resident after 183 days; option for the inbound workers regime (“Beckham law”) | Tax resident after 183 days; worldwide income taxed in Spain |
Both figures used for the means, the SMI and IPREM, are updated every year, so the amounts change even though the percentages stay the same.
The question that decides it: will you work?
Spain’s position is that the non-lucrative permit does not allow work, and consulates generally include remote work for foreign employers or clients in that ban. People are sometimes told that “nobody checks” remote work. That is a poor bet: your bank statements, tax returns and Social Security records all tell the story, and a renewal or a later nationality application can be refused on it.
So the test is simple:
- You keep a job or clients abroad and will work from Barcelona: digital nomad visa.
- You stop working and live on pension, rent, dividends or savings: non-lucrative visa.
- You want to be hired by a Spanish company: neither; see the work visa.
When the digital nomad visa is the harder file
The nomad route has more conditions that can fail before income is even looked at:
- Too new a job. You need at least three months of real work with the company or clients before applying. Someone who signed a remote contract last month has to wait.
- Too new a company. The employer or client company must have been operating for at least one year. A company created for the move does not count.
- Qualification. A university degree, or three years of professional experience in the field, proved with documents.
- Social Security. Either a certificate of coverage from a country with an agreement with Spain, or registration in the Spanish system. Many employers abroad are not ready for the second option.
If any of these fails and you have enough savings, the non-lucrative visa can be the realistic alternative, but only if you genuinely stop working.
When the non-lucrative visa is the harder file
The non-lucrative route has fewer conditions, but the bar on means is higher in practice, because 400% of IPREM has to be available for the year, plus 100% for each family member, and consulates look at how stable those means are. A balance moved into an account the week before the appointment is weaker evidence than a pension or years of investment income. The insurance is the other trap: travel policies and plans with co-payments are routinely rejected. Our guide to health insurance for residency in Spain goes through what a valid policy looks like.
Family members
Both routes allow your partner and children to come with you or later. The difference is how each person raises the income you must prove: on the nomad visa, by 75% of the SMI for the first family member and 25% for each additional one; on the non-lucrative visa, by 100% of IPREM per person.
Tax: the part people plan last
Whichever visa you choose, spending more than 183 days a year in Spain normally makes you tax resident. On the non-lucrative visa that means Spain taxes your worldwide income, including foreign pensions and investment returns. On the nomad visa you may be able to opt into the special regime for inbound workers, which has its own conditions and deadline after arrival. Both deserve a review before you move: see our income tax service for foreigners.
After arrival, the paperwork is the same
With a consulate visa for more than six months, both routes lead to the same next steps: the TIE card within one month of entry, and the empadronamiento at your Barcelona address. If you are still weighing other options, such as a student, work or family route, our page on Spanish visas from abroad compares every long-stay visa, with the case study included.
The minimum wage, IPREM, fees, renewal periods and consulate requirements change every year and differ between consulates, so it is worth confirming the ones in force before you decide.
