Spain vs Caribbean (CBI)Golden Visa, side by side — 2026
Spain
Closed to new applicants since April 2025. What the repeal did, what existing holders keep, and the Spanish routes that still work.
Caribbean (CBI)
St. Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia — passport in 4–8 months.
Caribbean (CBI). Caribbean (CBI) leads Spain on lower headline price (dominant route), path to citizenship, lower physical-presence burden.
The full picture is below — by the numbers, then category by category.
By the numbers
| Metric | 🇪🇸 Spain | 🌴 Caribbean (CBI) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Closed | Active |
| Headline minimum | €500,000 | $200,000 |
| Processing time | Closed to new applicants | 4–8 months |
| Path to citizenship | n/a (existing holders unchanged) | Direct (no residency requirement) |
| Physical presence | 1 visit/year (existing holders) | 0 days (Antigua: 5 days within first 5 years) |
| Tax overlay | No special tax regime was ever attached to the Golden Visa. Spending 183+ days in Spain makes you a Spanish tax resident on worldwide income. The favourable routes into Spanish tax are the separate Beckham regime and the Digital Nomad Visa's reduced rate, not the investor visa. | Citizenship is not tax residency — a CBI passport does not change where you are taxed, and CBI requires no residence, so for most holders it has no tax effect at all. The islands levy no tax on non-residents' foreign income and no wealth or inheritance tax, but you only benefit by actually relocating, which almost no CBI buyer does. |
| Best for | Nobody new: applications stopped on 3 April 2025. This page is for existing holders checking their renewal rights, and for investors who were weighing Spain and now need a live alternative. | Frequent travellers, holders of restrictive passports, or anyone needing optionality fast. |
Category by category
- 01
Lower headline price (dominant route)
Edge: Caribbean (CBI)Spain: €500,000. Caribbean (CBI): $200,000.
- 02
Path to citizenship
Edge: Caribbean (CBI)Caribbean (CBI) offers a route to citizenship (Direct (no residency requirement)); Spain does not via this program (n/a (existing holders unchanged)).
- 03
Lower physical-presence burden
Edge: Caribbean (CBI)Spain requires 1 visit/year (existing holders). Caribbean (CBI) requires 0 days (Antigua: 5 days within first 5 years).
Who each one is for
Nobody new: applications stopped on 3 April 2025. This page is for existing holders checking their renewal rights, and for investors who were weighing Spain and now need a live alternative.
- +Existing holders keep their permits and renew under the rules in force when first granted.
- +Applications filed before 3 April 2025 are still processed under the old investor regime.
- +Spain still offers live residency routes (non-lucrative, digital nomad and entrepreneur visas) for different profiles.
- +Holders who built up genuine legal residence may still pursue the standard 10-year path to citizenship.
Frequent travellers, holders of restrictive passports, or anyone needing optionality fast.
- +Direct citizenship — no residency requirement
- +Visa-free travel to 140–150 countries
- +Grenada gives access to the US E-2 investor visa
- +Fast: passport often in 4–6 months
The honest tradeoffs
- − Closed to all new investor applicants since 3 April 2025; no property, shares, deposit or bond route remains.
- − The surviving alternatives require you to actually live in Spain and will usually make you tax resident; none replicate the zero-stay investor visa.
- − Spain taxes residents on worldwide income, and permits dual citizenship only with a limited set of countries.
- − Renewal rights depend on continuing to meet the original investment conditions; letting them lapse can jeopardise status.
- − All five programs raised minimums to $200k+ in 2024 by regional MoU
- − Enhanced due diligence — Russians, Belarusians, Iranians excluded
- − EU visa-free status under review (UK already requires ETA)