Spain Golden Visa

Spain's Golden Visa is closed. Since 3 April 2025, it has not been possible to apply for Spanish residence through investment. The route was ended by Ley Orgánica 1/2025, a justice-system reform law whose disposición final 21.1 left the articles of Ley 14/2013 that created the investor visa without content. If you are reading this hoping to buy your way into Spanish residence, that option no longer exists, and this page explains what happened, what current holders can still do, and where to look instead.

What was closed, and when

The Golden Visa was never its own law. It was a set of articles, 63 to 67, inside Ley 14/2013, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización, a 2013 law meant to attract capital and talent to Spain after the debt crisis. Ley Orgánica 1/2025, published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 3 January 2025, left articles 63 to 67 without content through its disposición final 21.1. The change took effect three months after publication, on 3 April 2025. The consolidated text of Ley 14/2013 now shows each of those five articles as "Sin contenido", with that date and that provision recorded against them. Articles 61 and 62, which set out the general framework for entry and residence on economic-interest grounds, were left in place.

Between publication and that date, consulates and immigration offices kept accepting Golden Visa applications, and any application filed and pending before 3 April 2025 was processed under the old rules. Anyone who did not have a complete file in before that date lost the option.

What the Golden Visa used to offer

Past tense, because none of this is available now. The 2013 law let a non-EU national qualify for a two-year residence permit, renewable in five-year blocks, by making one of several investments:

• At least €500,000 in Spanish real estate
• At least €2 million in Spanish government bonds
• At least €1 million in shares of Spanish companies or in authorized investment funds
• A bank deposit of at least €1 million in a Spanish financial institution
• A business project in Spain judged to be of general interest

The real estate route, the €500,000 property purchase, was by far the most used, and it is the one most associated with the programme in the press. Holders did not have to live in Spain to keep the permit, only to visit occasionally, which is part of what made it attractive and part of what made it politically unpopular.

Why it was abolished

The government's stated reason was housing, not immigration policy. Rents and home prices had risen sharply across the country over the previous decade, and ministers argued that residence permits tied to property purchases were adding pressure in the housing markets non-EU investors targeted. Housing minister Isabel Rodríguez framed the repeal as giving "opportunities to those facing difficulties accessing housing" in areas with tight supply. Spain followed Ireland and Portugal in scrapping its investor visa, and the move lined up with a 2022 European Commission call for member states to end investment-based residence and citizenship schemes.

What happens if you already hold one

If you were granted a Golden Visa before 3 April 2025, the repeal does not take it away. Existing holders keep the rights they had when the permit was issued, and can renew under the framework their permit was originally granted under, as long as they still meet the conditions, most importantly keeping the qualifying investment in place. What the repeal removes is the ability to file a first application; it is not retroactive against people already in the system.

That said, exactly how renewals will be handled over the coming years, and whether any part of the old framework changes for existing holders as more renewal cycles pass, is still being worked out in practice. If you hold a Golden Visa and your renewal is approaching, talk to a Spanish immigration lawyer who has handled a renewal since the repeal, not one going on the pre-2025 rules alone.

The realistic alternatives now

There is no investment-based replacement. If you want to live in Spain and do not have a Spanish employer, your two realistic routes are the same ones everyone else uses:

• The Non-Lucrative Visa, for people who can support themselves from savings or passive income such as a pension, rental income, or dividends, without working.
• The Digital Nomad Visa, for people who keep working remotely for a non-Spanish employer or non-Spanish clients while living in Spain.

Neither is an investment route. Both are based on proving income, not on moving capital into the country. If you are choosing between them, compare the two. For anyone whose plan for Spain was built entirely around buying property to get a permit, that plan needs to change, not just the paperwork behind it.

FAQ

Can I still get a Spain Golden Visa in 2026? No. The route closed to new applicants on 3 April 2025 and has not reopened.

I already applied before April 2025. What happens to my application? Applications filed and complete before 3 April 2025 continued to be processed under the old rules, even after that date.

Will Spain bring the Golden Visa back? There is no indication it will. The repeal was driven by domestic housing policy and a wider European move away from investment-based residence, not a temporary pause.

Can I still buy property in Spain as a non-EU citizen? Yes. Buying property in Spain does not require any visa. What ended is the link between a property purchase and a residence permit.

Does losing the Golden Visa route affect people who already have one? No. Existing holders keep their permit and can renew it, provided they still meet the original conditions.

Is there any other investment route into Spanish residence? Not one built around a minimum capital investment. Business owners moving to Spain to run a company here generally need to look at the entrepreneur or self-employment routes, which are judged on the business itself, not on a deposit or bond purchase.