Spain Golden Visa: Ended, and What to Apply for Instead

Spain no longer grants residence for buying property or making a large investment. The investor residence, known everywhere as the golden visa, was abolished by Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January 2025, with effect from 3 April 2025. If you were planning a move around it, the move is still possible: it just goes through a different visa, chosen by what you will actually do in Spain. We run the case study that picks that route, then prepare the file from abroad and organise your first month in Barcelona.

The case study fee. If you go ahead, the route you choose is charged at its own price, shown on our visa pages. Consular visa fees, apostilles, sworn translations and official fees in Spain are paid separately.

What changed in April 2025

The golden visa was part of Law 14/2013. It gave residence to non-EU investors who bought Spanish real estate above a set amount, or invested in public debt, company shares or bank deposits, or in a business project of general interest. Organic Law 1/2025 removed that category. Since 3 April 2025:

• Buying property in Spain no longer gives residence. You can still buy, as any foreigner can, but the purchase is not a residence route.
• New investor applications are not accepted. Applications filed before the change follow transitional rules, and so do renewals of permits already granted; if you hold one, the renewal needs its own check.
• The other Law 14/2013 routes remain: highly qualified professionals, the EU Blue Card, entrepreneurs, intra-company transfers, researchers and international teleworkers.

Which visa fits you instead

For most former golden visa candidates, the realistic choice is between the non-lucrative visa and the entrepreneur or self-employed visas. The first is simpler but does not allow any work. The others let you work in Spain but depend on a business plan that someone else assesses. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens never needed a golden visa: they register for the EU registration certificate instead.

What a former investor needs to rethink

• Means are measured differently. The golden visa looked at an investment made once. The non-lucrative visa looks at income or funds available year after year, and the renewal checks it again.
• Presence in Spain matters. The golden visa asked little time in Spain. The residence routes that replace it expect you to live here, and renewals look at the time actually spent in the country.
• Tax residence follows. Living in Spain more than 183 days a year usually makes you tax resident, taxed on worldwide income. Our income tax service for foreigners looks at that before you move, not after.
• Health insurance is part of the file, with the standard the route requires; our health insurance service can arrange it.

How we run your file

1. Case study. Your income, assets, pension, business and family, set against every route that could apply. We tell you which one we would file and why not the others.
2. Consulate checklist. The requirements of the Spanish consulate for your place of residence, turned into a list with the format each document needs.
3. Foreign documents. Criminal records from the countries lived in during the last five years, bank and pension evidence, civil-status certificates, apostilles and sworn translations, in the order that avoids paying twice.
4. Review before the appointment. Means, insurance and dates checked against each other.
5. Arrival in Barcelona. TIE card within one month of entry, empadronamiento, bank account and tax registration. These are part of our residency packs.

Mistakes we see most

• Buying a flat first, expecting the purchase to support a residence application.
• Choosing the non-lucrative visa while intending to keep running a business or working remotely.
• Showing an investment portfolio without evidence of the income it produces or of its availability.
• Planning for a golden visa on the strength of advice written before April 2025.
• Ignoring the tax residence consequences until the first Spanish tax return.

Frequently asked questions

I already hold a golden visa. What happens now? Permits granted before the change and applications already filed follow transitional rules. Your renewal needs its own check; if it is no longer possible, we look at moving you to another route before your card expires.

Can buying property still help my application? It can help show housing or stability, but it is not a residence route on its own.

Is there a “retirement visa”? Not under that name. Retirees usually move on the non-lucrative visa, which lets you live on a pension or savings as long as you do not work in Spain.

Where can I compare every visa? On our page on Spanish visas from abroad.

Means percentages, transitional rules, tax thresholds and consulate requirements change and differ between consulates, so we confirm the ones in force for your case before you file.