Spanish Residency After the Golden Visa: The Routes That Still Work
Spain closed its investor visa in April 2025, but buying a home on the Costa del Sol and living in Spain are still perfectly compatible. This guide explains the residency routes that remain open to non-EU nationals, what each one requires, and which one is likely to suit you.
For a decade, the question from non-EU buyers was straightforward: buy a property above the threshold and receive residency alongside it. That link no longer exists. Spain repealed the Investor Visa in full, and since April 2025 no property purchase, at any value, grants a residence permit. What has not changed is the right of non-EU nationals to buy property in Spain freely, and what many buyers discover is that the routes replacing the Golden Visa are often cheaper, and in some cases more useful, than the one they lost.
What Happened to the Golden Visa
Organic Law 1/2025 was published in Spain's Official State Gazette on 3 January 2025 and took effect three months later, on 3 April. It removed Articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013, the provisions that had created the Investor Visa in the first place. The repeal was not limited to the property route: the qualifying investments in public debt, company shares and business projects were withdrawn at the same time. Spain no longer operates any residency-by-investment programme.
The stated reason was housing affordability, with the government arguing that investment-linked residency had contributed to price pressure in Spain's tightest markets. Existing permit holders were not stripped of their status. Applications filed before the cut-off continue to be processed under the rules in force at the time, and permits already granted remain valid for their stated term, although renewal positions should be confirmed case by case with a Spanish immigration lawyer.
The Non-Lucrative Visa
The Non-Lucrative Visa, or visado de residencia no lucrativa, is the closest thing Spain has to a successor for the retired and financially independent buyer. It grants residence to non-EU nationals who can support themselves in Spain without working. It is the route most Costa del Sol buyers over fifty end up taking, and the one most compatible with owning a home here rather than an investment property.
The financial requirement is set at 400 per cent of the IPREM, Spain's official income reference index. For 2026 that means 2,400 euros a month, or 28,800 euros a year, for the main applicant, with a further 600 euros a month for each accompanying family member. A couple therefore needs to show 36,000 euros a year. Pensions, dividends, rental income, annuities and investment returns all qualify, and savings can support an application, although consulates look for stability and liquidity rather than a single healthy balance. Applicants also need comprehensive private health insurance with a Spanish-authorised provider, a clean criminal record certificate, and a medical certificate.
The critical restriction is in the name. The Non-Lucrative Visa prohibits work of any kind while resident in Spain, and that includes remote work for an employer outside Spain. Enforcement of this point has tightened noticeably. If you intend to keep working, even from a terrace in Nueva Andalucía, this is the wrong permit.
The Digital Nomad Visa
Introduced under Spain's Startup Act at the beginning of 2023, the Digital Nomad Visa covers the opposite profile: people who are still earning, but earning from somewhere other than Spain. It has quietly become the most active route for younger buyers arriving on the Costa del Sol, and it has changed the demographic of the Marbella market noticeably over the past three years.
The income threshold is tied to Spain's minimum wage rather than the IPREM, and it rose in February 2026. Applicants now need 200 per cent of the minimum wage, which works out at approximately 2,849 euros a month, or 34,188 euros a year, with additional amounts for a spouse and children. No more than 20 per cent of income may come from Spanish companies, the employer or client relationship must be at least three months old, and the company itself must have been trading for at least a year. Applicants also need to show either a relevant degree or three years of professional experience in their field.
The tax treatment is what makes this route genuinely attractive. Employed applicants can elect into Spain's special expat regime, widely known as the Beckham Law, which taxes Spanish-source employment income at a flat 24 per cent up to 600,000 euros for up to six years, in place of progressive rates reaching 47 per cent. The election must be made within six months of registering with Spanish Social Security, and missing that window is permanent. Self-employed applicants registered as autónomo are excluded from the regime and pay standard rates plus monthly social security contributions.
Choosing Between the Two
The decision is usually settled by a single question: will you still be working after you move? If the answer is no, the Non-Lucrative Visa is simpler, cheaper to maintain, and has the lower income threshold of the two. If the answer is yes, the Digital Nomad Visa is the only one of the pair that permits it, and the Beckham Law regime will often more than justify the higher bar.
Timing matters more than most buyers expect. Switching between the two once you are in Spain is not straightforward, and the authorities confirmed in 2026 that a Non-Lucrative Visa holder cannot convert to Digital Nomad status from within the country. Doing so means leaving Spain, applying at a consulate abroad, and re-entering on the new permit. Choosing correctly at the outset saves a great deal of disruption later.
Other Routes Worth Knowing
Several further options sit outside these two. The Entrepreneur Visa, untouched by the 2025 repeal, suits those establishing a genuine business in Spain with an innovative or scalable proposition, though it is unsuited to passive holding structures or buy-to-let. The EU Blue Card covers highly qualified professionals taking up employment with a Spanish company. Family reunification routes apply where a spouse or close relative already holds Spanish or EU nationality, and remain the fastest path of all where they are available.
Buyers should also remember that residency is not always necessary. Non-EU nationals may spend up to ninety days in any one-hundred-and-eighty-day period in the Schengen Area without any permit at all. For a family using a Marbella property several times a year rather than living in it, that allowance is often sufficient, and it avoids Spanish tax residency entirely.
What This Means for Costa del Sol Buyers
The practical effect of the repeal on the local market has been smaller than many predicted. Marbella's buyer base was never predominantly visa-driven; the Golden Visa was a convenience for purchasers who were coming anyway, rather than the reason they came. Prime areas including the Golden Mile, Sierra Blanca, Nueva Andalucía and Benahavís continue to draw international demand on the strength of the lifestyle, the climate, the schools and the connectivity through Málaga airport.
What has changed is sequencing. Where buyers once let the purchase drive the immigration outcome, the sensible order is now reversed: establish which permit fits your circumstances, understand its tax consequences, and then choose the property accordingly. A buyer intending to spend under ninety days a year here has different priorities from one relocating a family permanently, and the property that suits each is rarely the same.
Important Considerations
Residency and tax residency are separate concepts, and conflating them is the most common and most expensive mistake we see. Spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year makes you a Spanish tax resident, liable on worldwide income, regardless of which permit you hold. Non-Lucrative Visa holders have no access to the Beckham Law regime and will be assessed under standard progressive rates. Wealth tax and regional variations in Andalusia should also be modelled before committing, not afterwards.
The figures in this guide reflect the position in 2026. Income thresholds tied to the IPREM and the minimum wage are revised annually, health insurance requirements have tightened over the past two years, and consular practice varies noticeably between countries. Nothing here is a substitute for advice from a qualified Spanish immigration lawyer and a tax adviser familiar with your home jurisdiction.
Conclusion
The end of the Golden Visa closed one door and left several others open. For retirees and the financially independent, the Non-Lucrative Visa offers a straightforward route at a lower threshold than the programme it effectively replaces. For those still working remotely, the Digital Nomad Visa combines residence with one of Europe's more favourable expat tax regimes. Neither requires a property purchase, but both pair naturally with one, and the Costa del Sol remains as compelling a place to make that purchase as it was before the rules changed.
