Spain's Golden Visa is closed. The investor residence visa created by Law 14/2013 stopped accepting new applications on 3 April 2025, when the repeal in Organic Law 1/2025 took effect. Existing permits remain valid and renewable, but no new investor, whether by property, shares, deposits or bonds, can enter the program. If you want to live in Spain or move capital there now, the route is a different visa, not this one.
Who this 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.
Investment routes
No new applications accepted after 3 April 2025.
Remote workers from non-Spanish employers. Beckham Law eligible.
For retirees and the financially independent. No work in Spain. Triggers tax residency.
Deep dive
What the repeal did, and when
Organic Law 1/2025, of 2 January 2025, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 3 January 2025, repealed Articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013 through its twenty-first final provision, ending the investor residence visa. The change took effect on 3 April 2025, three months after publication, and Congress approved it by 177 votes to 170. Although the political rationale centred on property purchases driving the housing crisis, the repeal removed the entire investor route: real estate at €500,000, company shares at €1,000,000, bank deposits or investment funds at €1,000,000, and government bonds at €2,000,000.
What existing holders keep
Authorisations and visas that were valid on 3 April 2025 remain valid until the end of the initial period for which they were granted, and renewals continue to be processed under the legislation in force when the original authorisation was issued. Applications submitted before the cut-off are handled under the prior rules. In practice, current holders keep their status and their renewal rights for as long as they continue to meet the original investment conditions, which is why maintaining the qualifying asset still matters.
Why Spain closed it
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the plan in April 2024, framing investor-driven property purchases as a contributor to unaffordable housing in Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga and the islands. Real estate dominated the program: between 2013 and 2023 Spain issued 14,576 property-linked Golden Visas, including 3,273 in 2023 alone at an average investment of roughly €657,000, with Chinese, Russian, British and American buyers leading. Spain joined a wider European retreat from investor migration, following Portugal's removal of its property route in 2023, Ireland's closure the same year and the Netherlands in 2024.
The Spanish residency routes that still work
Three live routes remain, none of them a passive investor visa. The non-lucrative visa suits people with enough passive income or savings who will not work in Spain. The digital nomad visa, created by the 2022 Startups Law, suits remote workers and employees of non-Spanish companies and can carry a reduced tax rate for a limited period. The entrepreneur visa under the same 2013 law survives, because only the investor articles were repealed, but it requires an active, innovative business backed by a favourable report, not a capital placement. Each of these requires you to live in Spain, and most will make you a Spanish tax resident.
If zero-stay residency is what you wanted
The appeal of Spain's Golden Visa was a residence card with no real obligation to live there. That product no longer exists in Spain. If low-presence investor residency in the EU is the goal, Greece, Portugal's fund route, Malta and Italy still offer it, each with its own trade-offs on cost, stay and the path to a passport. If a passport itself is the objective, a citizenship-by-investment program is a different instrument. Spain's closure does not leave a gap so much as push that specific buyer toward another country.
The honest tradeoffs
- + 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.
- − 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.
Frequently asked
Is the Spain Golden Visa still available?+
No. Spain's investor Golden Visa closed to new applications on 3 April 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 repealed Articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013.
- •No new property, shares, deposit or bond investment qualifies.
- •Existing permits stay valid and renewable.
- •Applications filed before the cut-off are still processed under the old rules.
I already have a Spanish Golden Visa. What happens to it?+
You keep it, and you can renew it.
- •Permits valid on 3 April 2025 remain valid to the end of their initial period.
- •Renewals are processed under the rules in force when your original authorisation was granted.
- •You must continue to meet the original investment conditions to retain status.
Why did Spain end its Golden Visa?+
Housing affordability.
- •Prime Minister Sánchez announced the plan in April 2024, blaming investor property purchases for rising prices in cities like Barcelona, Madrid and Málaga.
- •Real estate made up the large majority of grants.
- •Spain followed Portugal, Ireland and the Netherlands in scaling back investor migration.
What can I apply for instead to live in Spain?+
A different residency visa, depending on your profile.
- •Non-lucrative visa for those with passive income who won't work in Spain.
- •Digital nomad visa (2022 Startups Law) for remote workers, with a possible reduced tax rate.
- •Entrepreneur visa for an active, innovative business. All require you to actually live in Spain.
Could the Golden Visa ever lead to Spanish citizenship?+
In theory, but it was rarely practical.
- •Spanish citizenship generally needs 10 years of continuous, effective legal residence.
- •The Golden Visa's zero-stay design made that effective residence hard to evidence.
- •Spain also restricts dual citizenship to a limited set of countries, mainly Ibero-American states.