A word on who you take advice from. Firms still advertising the Golden Visa are either not maintaining their content or are counting on you not knowing. In a field where the rules changed twice in two years, how current a site is is the qualification test.
Buying a house was never the same as being allowed to live in it
Even while the programme existed, property ownership on its own conferred nothing — the investment route was a separate authorisation with its own thresholds. With that route gone, the gap is total. You can own a home in Spain and still be limited to 90 days in any 180-day period as a visitor. British second-home owners meet this rule the hard way more often than any other group; the detail is in moving to Spain from the UK.
What the same people usually qualify for
Non-lucrative visa — €2,400/month
For passive income and no work in Spain. This is the honest successor for most former Golden Visa candidates: the profile that had capital to deploy usually also has the recurring income this route asks for. The catch is that it must be recurring — a balance sheet is not the same as an income statement here.
Digital nomad visa — €2,442/month
For people who are still working, remotely, for clients or employers outside Spain. It costs more in evidenced income than the non-lucrative route precisely because it permits activity.
Self-employment route
If you genuinely intend to build something in Spain, this exists — assessed on the business plan, its viability and the requirements of the activity, not on the size of an investment.
The one honest advantage of the change
The routes that remain are assessed on income you can document rather than on capital you can move. That makes them slower to prepare and much harder to lose on a technicality later, because nothing in your status depends on holding an asset at a particular valuation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Spain Golden Visa still available?
No. Residence by property investment closed in April 2025. Any adviser still selling it, or any page still describing how to apply, is out of date. Be careful with sites that quietly kept the page up for the traffic.
Does buying property in Spain give me residence now?
No. Property ownership has never by itself created a right to live in Spain, and with the investment route closed there is no longer any bridge between the two. As a visitor you still have 90 days in any 180, house or no house.
What do most former Golden Visa candidates use instead?
The non-lucrative visa if they have passive income and will not work — €2,400/month plus €600 per family member — or the digital nomad visa if they are still working remotely, at €2,442/month.
Is there any investment-based route left?
There is a self-employment and entrepreneurship route, but it is a different animal: it is assessed on the business — plan, viability, the requirements of the activity itself — not on the size of a purchase. It is not a Golden Visa with extra paperwork.
I already hold a Golden Visa. What happens to it?
Existing holders are in a different position from new applicants, and the answer depends on your grant date and renewal cycle. That is a case-specific question, and one worth asking before your next renewal rather than at it.
- Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores — visa categories currently available in force since 1 Jan 2026
- Reglamento de Extranjería — RD 1155/2024 (BOE) in force since 1 Jan 2026
- IPREM and SMI 2026 — official values (€600/month · €1,221/month in 14 payments) in force since 1 Jan 2026