Greece vs Spain Golden Visa: Spain closed in April 2025, here is why Greece is the natural successor

Spain's Golden Visa programme was eliminated by Organic Law 1/2025, which took effect on 3 April 2025. The change ended the residency-by-investment route for non-EU nationals, including the EUR 500,000 real estate route that was the most popular path, the EUR 1 million bank deposit and shares route, and the EUR 2 million government bond route.

The driver was housing affordability. Spanish authorities argued that foreign property purchases at the Golden Visa threshold contributed to displacing local buyers in coastal and urban markets. The political narrative carried; the legal change followed.

For buyers who had been comparing Spanish coastal real estate (Costa del Sol, Mallorca, Madrid) to Greek Aegean and mainland property, the comparison is now moot. Greece is the live route; Spain is closed.

The Spain-Greece comparison was popular for four reasons:

The decision typically rested on lifestyle preference (Iberia versus Aegean), specific property opportunity, and tax treatment. Spain offered no equivalent to Greek Non-Dom or Italian flat tax for general HNW buyers, though specific regional regimes existed (Beckham Law for some employees, Madrid IBI exemptions for residents).

For the Mediterranean property buyer who would have considered Spain, Greece is the obvious live alternative for several reasons.

Greece offers real estate as the primary route (Spain's defining feature). The Greek programme has zone-based pricing under Law 5100/2024 effective 31 August 2024: EUR 250,000 conversion or restoration, EUR 400,000 in Zone B (most of Greece), EUR 800,000 in Zone A (Attica, Thessaloniki, large islands including Mykonos and Santorini). The EUR 250,000 to EUR 400,000 entry is well below Spain's historical EUR 500,000 minimum.

Greece offers the fastest live EU passport track at 7 years versus Spain's historical 10 years. This is materially better for buyers whose end goal was an EU passport.

Greece offers the Non-Dom tax regime at EUR 100,000 per year flat on foreign income (15 year maximum), which Spain did not have an equivalent of. For HNW buyers, this is a substantial structural advantage.

The downside: Greece banned short-term rentals on Golden Visa qualifying properties in the September 2024 reform. Spain had no such ban. Buyers who relied on Airbnb yield in Spanish coastal property cannot replicate that strategy in Greece on the qualifying property; long-term rentals only.

If you already hold a Spanish Golden Visa, you are grandfathered under the prior rules. You can renew your residence permit under the previous regime, continue toward permanent residency at year 5 and citizenship at year 10. The closure does not retroactively affect your position.

Renewal still requires maintenance of the qualifying investment, clean record, and proof of ongoing residence. Spanish authorities have not signalled any retrospective tightening on existing holders.

If you want to also obtain Greek residency for additional EU optionality (faster passport track, Non-Dom tax), the two programs are not in conflict. You can hold both, but tax residency goes to one country per person.