For a decade, buying a Spanish property worth €500.000 or more opened a residency permit to non-EU buyers. That route closed to new applications on 3 April 2025, when the repeal contained in Organic Law 1/2025 came into force. It is worth being precise about what did and did not change, because we still meet buyers working from the old rules.
What ended
Only the investor permit, and only for new applicants. You can no longer obtain Spanish residency by purchasing property, and there is no version of it at a higher threshold. Permits already granted stay valid and can still be renewed, and family members already included stay included.
What did not end
Everything about actually buying. A non-resident can still buy any property in Spain, at any price, with no permission required beyond an NIE number. Ownership, mortgages, letting the property out, selling it on — all unchanged. Spain did not restrict foreign ownership. It withdrew an immigration shortcut.
The routes people use now
The non-lucrative visa, for buyers who do not need to work in Spain and can evidence passive income and private health cover. It suits retirees and anyone living off investments, and it leads to permanent residency after five years.
The digital nomad visa, introduced under Law 28/2022, for people working remotely for employers outside Spain. It carries a favourable tax treatment for qualifying applicants and has quietly become the most common route among our younger buyers.
And for many people, no visa at all. Under the Schengen rules a non-EU passport holder can spend 90 days in any rolling 180 in Spain without one. A great number of the homes on this coast are held exactly that way — used hard in spring and autumn, let or closed the rest of the year.
The practical effect on the market
Less than people expected. The permit was never the reason the majority bought here; it was a bonus attached to a purchase already being made for the weather, the flights and the schools. What we did see was a rush of applications in the first quarter of 2025 ahead of the deadline, then a quiet second quarter, then normal service.
Correct as of 25 June 2026. Immigration rules change; confirm your position with a Spanish immigration lawyer before you rely on any of this.