Spain's Golden Visa Has Closed - What Investors Should Do Instead

Spain's golden visa closed to new applicants on 3 April 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 repealed the investor residence articles of Law 14/2013. Applications lodged before that date are still assessed under the old rules, and permits already granted remain valid and renewable. Investors seeking European residence today should look to Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia or Italy.

At a glance

• Spain's investor residence route ended for new applicants on 3 April 2025 and has not been replaced.
• Existing permit holders keep their status and may continue renewing, provided the qualifying investment is maintained.
• Spain still offers non-lucrative, digital nomad and entrepreneur routes - none of which is investment-linked.
• Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary and Italy remain open, with entry points from €250,000 as of July 2026.
• The closure was driven by domestic housing politics, and that is a risk factor worth pricing into any residence decision.

Has Spain's golden visa really closed?

Yes, and the closure is legislative rather than administrative - which makes it durable. Organic Law 1/2025 was published in Spain's official gazette on 3 January 2025 and took effect three months later, repealing the investor provisions that had operated since 2013.

There is no successor scheme in draft and no political appetite for one. Advisers who still describe Spain as an option are working from pre-2025 material.

A golden visa is a residence permit granted in exchange for a qualifying economic contribution - typically property, funds, business capital or government debt - usually with minimal physical presence required. Spain's version was overwhelmingly used for property purchase, and that is precisely why it was withdrawn.

What happens to applications filed before the cut-off, and to existing permits?

The law contains transitional provisions that protect both groups. Complete applications submitted before 3 April 2025 continue to be processed under the regulations in force on the date of submission.

Permits and visas that were valid when the transitional provision took effect retain their validity for the period for which they were issued, and existing holders have continued to renew subject to maintaining the original investment. Holders therefore keep their route to permanent residence and, in time, to naturalisation. What has ended is the ability to buy into the queue.

Why did Spain close its golden visa?

Housing affordability. Spanish house prices and rents rose sharply in the major cities and the Balearics through the early 2020s, and the investor visa became a politically legible symbol of foreign capital pricing out residents - regardless of how much of the market it actually accounted for.

The honest reading matters here. The programme was not closed because of fraud, security failure or European pressure. It was closed because it became domestically unpopular in a housing cycle, and the government judged it easier to end than to reform.

That is a useful lesson. Programmes tied to residential property are the most politically exposed of all, because they attach a foreign buyer to a home a local voter wanted. Those structured around funds, bonds, business capital or commercial assets have proved more durable.

What residence routes does Spain still offer?

Spain remains open to people who want to live there - it simply no longer sells residence to people who do not. Three routes carry most of the demand, and none of them requires an investment.

• Non-lucrative visa - for retirees and those living on passive income, with a required annual income of roughly €28,800 for a main applicant plus additional amounts per dependant. Employment in Spain is not permitted.
• Digital nomad visa - for remote employees and contractors working for non-Spanish clients, with a monthly income threshold in the region of €2,760.
• Entrepreneur visa - for founders establishing a business assessed as being of general interest, requiring a business plan and government approval.

Buying Spanish property remains entirely permissible for non-residents. It simply no longer carries a residence permit with it. If a Spanish lifestyle rather than a Spanish passport is the objective, the income-based and lifestyle residence routes are usually the better fit.

Which programmes come closest to replacing Spain's golden visa?

Ranked by how closely each replicates what Spain offered - Schengen residence, low physical presence, a property or asset-backed investment and a credible long-term path - Greece is the closest analogue. It is the only remaining EU programme where a residential property purchase still delivers residence, and its lifestyle profile is genuinely comparable.

Portugal is the strongest choice for those whose real objective is EU citizenship, since it retains an exceptionally light stay requirement of an average of seven days a year. Its property route was removed in October 2023, so the qualifying investment is now a regulated fund subscription.

Cyprus offers the fastest permanent residence for the lowest property outlay. Latvia and Hungary sit at the accessible end of the EU market, and Malta offers a permanent, rather than renewable, residence status from the outset.

All figures are the position as of July 2026. Programme fees, thresholds and eligible asset definitions change, and should be confirmed at the point of application.

How does Greece compare with Spain on lifestyle and cost?

Closely enough that most clients who had shortlisted Spain end up comfortable with Greece. Both offer Mediterranean climate, Schengen residence, a large international community and a mature private healthcare and international schooling sector.

The differences are commercial. Greece requires a single qualifying property of at least 120 square metres held in personal name, and the €800,000 tier now applies to Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and islands with more than 3,100 residents - the locations most Spanish buyers would have considered equivalent. Outside those areas, €400,000 buys the same permit.

Greece's naturalisation timeline is seven years of legal residence with a genuine presence requirement - longer and more demanding than most investors assume. Residence and citizenship are different products, and our guide to European golden visas and property residency sets out those distinctions programme by programme.

What does Spain's closure tell us about programme risk?

That no programme is permanent, and that closure risk is concentrated where politics is loudest. Spain followed Portugal's removal of the property route in 2023 and Ireland's closure in 2023, and the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled against Malta's investor-citizenship route on 29 April 2025.

The consistent pattern is that grandfathering is the norm. In every recent European closure, applicants already in the system and permits already granted have been protected. The cost of hesitation has been the loss of an option, not the loss of an investment.

Our advice is straightforward. Treat a favourable threshold as a window rather than a fixture, structure around assets that are politically defensible, and never select a programme on the assumption that its current terms will still be available in three years.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still apply for Spain's golden visa in 2026?

No. Spain stopped accepting new golden visa applications on 3 April 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 took effect. There is no transitional window for new applicants and no replacement investor route. Buying Spanish property is still permitted, but it no longer confers any residence entitlement. New applicants must use the non-lucrative, digital nomad, entrepreneur or work visa routes instead.

Will my existing Spanish golden visa still be renewed?

Yes. The transitional provisions of Organic Law 1/2025 preserve visas and authorisations that were valid when the law took effect, and renewals continue to be assessed under the framework that applied when the permit was granted. Holders are generally expected to maintain the original qualifying investment and to enter Spain at least once a year. Confirm your specific renewal conditions before your permit expires.

Which country is the closest replacement for Spain's golden visa?

Greece is the closest structural match, because it is the only remaining EU programme where buying residential property still delivers a residence permit, with thresholds of €250,000, €400,000 or €800,000 depending on location and property type as of July 2026. For investors whose real objective is EU citizenship rather than lifestyle, Portugal's fund route remains the stronger long-term choice.

Does a European golden visa lead to citizenship?

Sometimes, but never quickly and never automatically. Residence programmes start a naturalisation clock that typically runs seven to ten years, and most require genuine physical presence, language competence and integration testing before citizenship is granted. Portugal now requires ten years for most nationalities for applications submitted from 19 May 2026. Treat citizenship as a possible outcome, not a purchased product.

Why did Spain end the programme when others kept theirs?

Spain's scheme was almost entirely used for residential property purchase, which made it politically inseparable from a domestic housing affordability debate. Ending it was a low-cost decision for the government and a visible one for voters. Programmes built around funds, bonds, business capital or commercial assets have attracted far less political attention and have generally survived the same period intact.

Speak to Passport Legacy

If Spain was your plan, the right next step is a conversation about what you were actually buying - Schengen access, a family home, a tax position or a citizenship pathway - because the closest replacement differs in each case. Our team can model the realistic timelines and total cost of the open European programmes against your objectives. Contact us to arrange a confidential consultation, or explore our residence by investment programmes.