Spain’s Golden Visa Is Gone — Here’s What Actually Determines Your Right to Live There

If you’ve been researching property in Spain recently, you’ve probably come across headlines about the end of the country’s “Golden Visa” scheme. It’s tempting to read that as bad news for anyone hoping to relocate — but the reality is more specific than the headlines suggest. What actually determines your right to live in Spain isn’t how much you spend on a home. It’s your passport.

What the Golden Visa actually did

Since 2013, Spain’s Golden Visa let non-EU investors obtain residency by purchasing property worth €500,000 or more. It was eliminated on 3 April 2025, as part of a broader package of housing-affordability reforms aimed at cooling investor demand in overheated markets. For buyers who relied on that route — often from countries like the UK (post-Brexit), the US, China, or Russia — the closure is a genuine change that requires a new plan.

Buying a home in Spain has never granted residency by itself

Here’s the part that gets lost in the headlines: even under the Golden Visa, owning property was only the trigger for a specific visa application — it never came with automatic residency attached. Now that route doesn’t exist at all. Regardless of the price tag, a property purchase in Spain does not, on its own, include any residency status or visa. Whether you’re free to live there long-term depends entirely on your nationality, not your purchase.

If you’re an EU or EEA citizen

If you hold an EU or EEA passport, this whole conversation is largely academic for you. Freedom of movement gives you the automatic right to live, work, and study in Spain — no visa, no investment threshold, no application required, whether you buy or rent. What you do still need are a few practical registrations: a NIE (the Spanish tax ID required for any property transaction), an EU Citizen Registration Certificate if you stay more than 90 consecutive days, and empadronamiento — registration at the local town hall, needed for things like healthcare access and enrolling children in school.

If you’re not an EU citizen

For UK, US, and other non-EU buyers, the picture is different — and this is where the Golden Visa’s closure genuinely matters. Property ownership is no longer a shortcut to residency in any form. Instead, you’ll need to qualify through a separate visa route: the non-lucrative visa (for those with passive income who won’t work in Spain), a digital nomad visa, a work visa tied to employment, or another category entirely. Owning a home can still strengthen some applications as proof of accommodation, but it no longer qualifies you on its own.

The 183-day tax residency threshold

Regardless of your immigration status, there’s one number worth knowing: spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, and you automatically become a Spanish tax resident, with implications for how your worldwide income is taxed. This is a completely separate question from your right to live there — but it’s a common point of confusion for buyers who move over gradually without planning the tax side in advance.

What this means for your purchase

The takeaway is simple: the Golden Visa headlines describe a closed door for one specific group of buyers, not a general rule about property and residency in Spain. Before you plan your move, work out which category you fall into — EU citizen or not — because that answer, not your budget, determines what comes next. Either way, a NIE number is required for the purchase itself.

Not sure which route applies to your situation? Book a no-obligation call with Hofma Homes, and we’ll walk you through exactly what your nationality means for your move to Spain.