The Golden Visa is gone. Buying a Spanish property was never quite the residency shortcut it sounded like, and now it isn't one at all
Spain's property-investment residency scheme, the one most people still call the Golden Visa, is no longer available to new buyers. If you've seen it mentioned as a reason to buy, that reason is now out of date.
Pedro Torres5 min read
Spain's Golden Visa — a residence visa for people who invested at least €500,000 in Spanish property — used to come up constantly in conversations about buying in Spain. For a British buyer facing the usual 90-days-in-180 limit on time in the EU, it looked like the obvious fix.
That route closed. Not reduced, not restricted to certain regions — the whole legal basis for it was emptied out, and buying a property no longer opens any path to Spanish residency on its own.
Since 3 April 2025, a property purchase doesn't lead to a Spanish residence visa
The law that created the investor visa — including the €500,000 real-estate route — was stripped of its content by a legal reform with effect from 3 April 2025. The article that used to list property purchase as a path to residency now reads, officially, as having no content at all.
This isn't a tightening of the requirements. The specific legal provision that gave buying a property any residency effect was removed outright. A €500,000 purchase today carries exactly the same residency rights as a €150,000 one: none, by itself.
If you already hold one, it still works — just not for anyone applying from now on
Two things were carved out when the route closed, and both only protect people already in the pipeline. An application filed before 3 April 2025 is still decided under the old rules. A visa already granted keeps its validity for the period it was issued for, and renews under the rules that applied when it was first granted.
What none of that does is reopen the route for anyone starting today. There's no transitional window left to file into — it closed on the same date the rule did.
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Buying a property today, no visa applied for yet | No residency route through the purchase at all |
| Application filed before 3 April 2025, still pending | Decided under the rules in force when it was filed |
| Visa already granted before that date | Stays valid for its term, renews under the old rules |
Ley 14/2013, art. 63 y disposiciones transitorias primera y segunda (en vigor desde 03/04/2025).
What this means for how you plan a move, not just a purchase
Buying in Spain and being allowed to live there are two separate questions now, with no shortcut connecting them. If spending real time in Spain matters to you, that's a residency question to solve on its own terms — separately from where or how much you buy.
Does buying property in Spain give you residency?
No. The property-investment residency route (the Golden Visa) was removed with effect from 3 April 2025. Buying a property, at any price, no longer leads to a residence visa on its own.
Is the Spain Golden Visa still available in any form?
Not for new applicants. Only people who had already applied before 3 April 2025, or who already held a visa granted under the old rules, are still covered.
Can I renew my existing Spanish Golden Visa?
Yes. A visa already granted keeps its validity for its original term and renews under the rules that applied when it was first issued.