Spain Golden Visa Phaseout 2026 | Real Estate Route Abolished & Existing Holder Rules

Official guidance and statutory benchmarks for Spanish residency and immigration based on current Ministerio de Inclusión, RD 1155/2024 and BOE standards.

Overview & Statutory Background

Spain's Investor Visa, commonly known as the Golden Visa, was closed to new applications effective 3 April 2025. Law 14/2013 previously allowed qualifying non-EU investors to obtain residence through significant investments, including the €500,000 real-estate route, €1 million in Spanish shares or bank deposits, €2 million in Spanish public debt, or a qualifying business project of general interest. Law Organic 1/2025 removed the investor-visa provisions from Law 14/2013 with effect from 3 April 2025. The investor chapter is therefore no longer an active route for new applicants in 2026. Transitional provisions protect qualifying applications already submitted before the cutoff and preserve the validity and renewal treatment of qualifying investor authorizations that were already in force.

Golden Visa Phaseout Key Facts (2026)

New Golden Visa ApplicationsClosed from 3 April 2025

Real Estate RouteNo longer available to new applicants

Former Property Threshold€500,000 minimum qualifying real-estate investment

Existing Valid AuthorizationsRemain valid until their stated expiry under the transitional rules

Pre-3 April 2025 ApplicationsCan be decided under the rules applicable when the application was submitted

Current AlternativesDepend on purpose: entrepreneurship, international remote work, employment, highly qualified work or other qualifying residence routes

What Changed: Legislative Cutoff & Abolition

Statutory Cutoff Date: 3 April 2025

Legislative Instrument: Law Organic 1/2025 removed the substantive investor-visa provisions from Law 14/2013 with effect from 3 April 2025. BOE's consolidated text now marks Articles 63 through 67 as without content from that date.

Real Estate Stream: The €500,000 real-estate investment route is closed for new applicants.

Debt & Capital Streams: The former €2 million Spanish public-debt route and the former €1 million Spanish company-share or Spanish-bank-deposit routes are also no longer new-application investor-visa routes after the cutoff.

Investment / Venture Funds: The former investor framework also contained qualifying investment structures involving Spanish investment or venture-capital funds. These should not be presented as active Golden Visa routes for new applicants after 3 April 2025.

Important Property vs. Immigration Distinction: The phaseout concerns the immigration investor regime. Purchasing Spanish property remains legally possible as a real-estate transaction, but purchasing property no longer creates a new Golden Visa residence entitlement.

Long-Term Permanent Residence & Citizenship Transition

Spanish Nationality: Long-term residence and Spanish nationality are separate legal statuses. A Golden Visa or prior investor authorization did not itself grant Spanish citizenship, and nationality has its own residence and other legal requirements.

Transition from Investor Status: Holding an existing Golden Visa did not automatically convert into permanent residence. Existing holders must comply with the applicable renewal and long-term-residence rules.

5-Year Permanent Residence: Spain's general national long-term residence route is separate from the Golden Visa regime. The Ministry of Inclusion states that qualifying foreigners can generally qualify after five years of legal and continuous residence, subject to the statutory requirements and absence rules.

Statutory Absence Rules: For the general national long-term residence route, continuity is subject to specific absence limits. The Ministry's current guidance states that absences of up to six continuous months can be compatible with continuity provided their total does not exceed ten months during the five-year period, with a higher work-related aggregate limit in the circumstances specified by the law.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Spain's investor-visa provisions ceased to have substantive content on 3 April 2025. A new applicant in 2026 cannot obtain an Investor Visa merely by purchasing €500,000 or more of Spanish real estate.

The transitional rules protect qualifying applications submitted before the cutoff. They may be decided according to the regulations that were in force when the application was submitted.

Yes, qualifying investor visas and residence authorizations that were valid when the transitional provisions took effect retain their validity for their stated period, and renewal applications for qualifying real-estate investor authorizations are processed under the rules applicable when the initial authorization was granted.

No. Those were former Investor Visa investment categories under Law 14/2013. The investor chapter was removed with effect from 3 April 2025, so these amounts cannot be used to start a new Golden Visa application in 2026.

No. Buying Spanish property remains possible under ordinary property and tax law, but the purchase no longer creates an Investor Visa residence right. A foreign buyer must qualify under another applicable immigration route if residence in Spain is required.