Spain officially ended its golden visa program on April 3, 2025. Organic Law 1/2025 repealed Articles 63 through 67 of the 2013 legislation that had allowed wealthy foreigners to buy their way into Spanish residency for over a decade.
If you had your sights set on Spain, you might assume the door is closed. It is not.
The golden visa was always just one of several paths into the country. Three alternatives remain open, each offering a route to permanent residency after five years and citizenship after ten. For nationals of Ibero-American countries, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, and a few other nations with historical ties to Spain, that citizenship timeline drops to just two years.
What has changed is the entry point. You can no longer write a check for a €500,000 apartment and collect a residence permit. Instead, you will need to meet Spain on its own terms, whether that means working remotely, retiring on passive income, or launching a business.
Here is how each route works.
The Digital Nomad Visa and the Beckham Law Tax Break
Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) launched in January 2023 under the country’s Startup Law (Law 28/2022). It targets remote workers employed by foreign companies or self-employed professionals whose clients are predominantly based outside Spain.
To qualify, you must earn at least around €2,849 per month (200% of Spain’s minimum wage, which was raised 3.1% in January 2026). You also need a higher education degree or three years of relevant professional experience, plus private health insurance with no copays. At least 80% of your professional activity must serve clients or employers outside Spain.
If you apply from abroad, the initial visa is valid for one year. Once in Spain, you can convert it into a residence permit lasting up to three years, renewable for two more. After five years of continuous legal residence, you become eligible for permanent residency.
What makes this visa especially attractive is the tax angle. DNV holders can opt into Spain’s Beckham Law, officially known as the Special Tax Regime for Impatriates. Named after footballer David Beckham, who benefited from it during his time at Real Madrid, the regime taxes your Spanish-source income at a flat 24% for up to six years on earnings up to €600,000 per year. Anything above that threshold is taxed at 47%.
The real advantage goes beyond the rate. Under the Beckham Law, you are treated as a non-resident for tax purposes. Foreign-source non-employment income, including dividends, rental income from overseas properties, and capital gains on foreign assets, falls outside Spanish taxation entirely. You are also exempt from Spain’s wealth tax on assets held abroad.
Standard Spanish residents face progressive tax rates that climb as high as 47% on worldwide income, and even higher in some regions. The gap between the two regimes is substantial.
There is one catch. You must apply to the Spanish Tax Agency within six months of starting work in Spain. Miss that window and you lose access to the Beckham Law for good.
IMI Pros Who Can Help You with the Spain Digital Nomad Visa
The Non-Lucrative Visa for Retirees and Passive Income Earners
If you do not work and have no intention of starting, Spain’s Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) may be your most straightforward option. This is Spain’s independent means visa, designed for retirees, FIRE individuals, and anyone who can support themselves without employment.
The financial bar is relatively low. You need to show passive income or savings of €28,800 per year for the main applicant, based on 400% of Spain’s public income indicator (IPREM). Each dependent requires an additional €7,200 annually.
Qualifying income includes pensions, annuities, rental income from overseas properties, Social Security payments, and investment dividends. The key word is passive. You cannot work in Spain on this visa, not even remotely.
That prohibition is strictly enforced. If remote work is your primary income source, the NLV is the wrong visa. Spain’s immigration authorities drew a clear line between the NLV and the Digital Nomad Visa for exactly this reason.
The visa is initially valid for one year, renewable for two-year periods thereafter. After five years of continuous residence, you can apply for permanent residency. Citizenship follows the standard ten-year timeline, or two years for nationals of the historically linked countries mentioned above.
One rule changed in 2025. The Spanish government reinstated a minimum physical presence requirement of 183 days per year to maintain the NLV. If you are looking for a residence permit you can hold while living mostly elsewhere, this is no longer it.
IMI Pros Who Can Help You with the Spain Non-Lucrative Visa
The Entrepreneur Visa
Spain’s least discussed residency option may be its most promising in the post-golden-visa era.
The Entrepreneur Visa grants residence to non-EU nationals who propose an innovative business of special economic interest to Spain. It was not affected by the golden visa termination, as it falls under different articles of Law 14/2013.
The process starts with a business plan submitted to ENISA, Spain’s National Innovation Company. ENISA evaluates your proposal on two criteria: innovation and scalability. Traditional brick-and-mortar concepts will not pass. They want tech-enabled, high-growth, or impact-driven models that bring something new to the Spanish market and create local jobs.
If ENISA issues a favorable report, you apply for your residence permit through the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE). ENISA review can take up to three months, but once you have the favorable report, UGE processing takes roughly 20 business days. That makes the final approval stage one of the fastest turnaround times in Spanish immigration law.
The initial permit runs for three years, renewable in five-year increments. Unlike the golden visa, you must live in Spain for at least six months per year to maintain the status. Financial solvency requirements are modest: the official baseline is 100% of IPREM (around €7,200 per year) for the main applicant, though many consulates expect proof of higher funds.
Since the Startup Law took effect in 2023, entrepreneur visa holders also qualify for the Beckham Law. That means the same flat 24% tax rate on Spanish income and exemption from taxation on foreign-source non-employment income for your first six years.
Dr. Jacinto Soler-Matutes, who analyzed the golden visa termination timeline for IMI Daily, noted that the three remaining alternatives all require effective residence of at least six months per year, a departure from the golden visa’s famously minimal physical presence obligations.
IMI Pros Who Can Help You with the Spain Entrepreneur Visa
The Bigger Picture
The golden visa attracted investors who parked capital in real estate and spent little time in the country. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez framed the closure as a response to a housing crisis, arguing that the 27,000 properties non-EU residents purchased in 2023 were not bought to live in but to rent out on platforms like Airbnb. A proposed 100% tax on property purchases by non-EU, non-resident buyers could further reshape the calculus for anyone considering Spanish real estate purely as an investment.
The alternatives that remain all require you to actually live in Spain. Remote workers contribute to local economies. Retirees spend their pensions in Spanish shops and restaurants. Entrepreneurs create jobs.
Each of these routes still leads to the same destination: permanent residency after five years and citizenship after ten. The entry ticket just looks different now. Instead of a half-million-euro property purchase, you need a plan to build a life in Spain, not just a portfolio.