What happened to Spain's Golden Visa
On 3 April 2025 Spain abolished its residency-by-investment scheme. The route that let non-EU buyers obtain residency by purchasing property worth €500,000 is closed to new applicants — the government framed it as a housing-affordability measure after years of foreign capital concentrating in Madrid, Barcelona and the coast.
If you already hold a Spanish Golden Visa, existing permits and their renewals are generally honoured. But for anyone planning to buy in 2026 expecting residency to come with the keys: that link is gone. Buying property in Spain no longer grants the right to live there.
Can you still get Spanish residency by buying?
- No direct property route. There is no replacement investor visa tied to real estate. Property ownership alone confers no residency right.
- Non-lucrative visa (NLV). Still the main path for the financially independent — you must show passive income/savings (roughly €28,800/yr for a main applicant, more per dependant) and private health cover. You may own a home, but you cannot work in Spain.
- Digital nomad visa. For remote workers employed by non-Spanish companies; income threshold around €2,760/month. Compatible with buying a home to live in.
- Work / entrepreneur / family routes. Standard immigration paths unaffected by the Golden Visa closure.
Where the property-for-residency door is still open
If residency-by-investment is the actual goal, the live 2026 options are elsewhere. Greece still ties residency to property (now a three-zone system: €250k / €400k / €800k depending on location). Portugal kept its Golden Visa but dropped real estate in 2023 — it now runs on funds and other qualifying investments. Türkiye grants citizenship (not just residency) at a $400,000 property threshold, subject to a strict SPK appraisal.
Match the route to your goal
Buying to live in Spain and financially independent → non-lucrative visa. Work remotely → digital nomad visa. Buying primarily for the passport/residency → look at Greece (property), Portugal (funds) or Türkiye (citizenship) instead, and price the all-in cost, not just the headline threshold. Our residency-&-golden-visa matcher lines these up against your budget and nationality.
If you still want to buy in Spain
Spain remains one of Europe's strongest property markets — the change is about residency, not about whether you can own. Non-residents buy freely; you'll need a NIE, a Spanish bank account, and to budget the true all-in cost (ITP or VAT+AJD, notary, registry, legal) on top of the price.
Run the specific property through an Outpost dossier before you commit: it checks the fair price against comparable sales, lays out the full purchase and annual costs for a non-resident owner, and flags the legal and tax points that actually affect you.