Country guide

Spain,
decoded.

The non-lucrative visa needs €2,400/month in income. A home averages €2,315/m². Alicante gets 2,953 hours of sun a year. Here's everything else — from official sources, checked and dated.

Last verified: 8 July 2026
Spain quick facts · verified 8 July 2026
49.7MPopulation, of which 7.3M are foreign nationals (INE, Apr 2026, provisional)
€2,400/mo2026 non-lucrative visa income requirement for one applicant (400% of IPREM)
€2,315/m²Official average home value, Q1 2026 (MIVAU) — prices up 12.9% in a year (INE)
84.0 yrsLife expectancy — 3rd highest in the EU; Spanish women rank #1 at 86.7 (Eurostat, 2024)
3.2%Inflation, May 2026 year-on-year (2025 average ~2.7%) — INE
€60–157/moPublic-healthcare buy-in (convenio especial) after 1 year's residence — under/over 65 (2026)
10 yrsResidence required for citizenship as an American or Canadian — the 2-year fast track is Ibero-American only
~48,700US citizens holding Spanish residence documents (OPI, Jun 2025)
The Spain guide

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Recent rule changes

Three things that changed recently — and matter

The golden visa is gone. Spain abolished its investor visa on 3 April 2025 (Organic Law 1/2025) — all categories, including the €500,000 property route. Permits issued before that date remain valid and renew under the old rules. For most Americans and Canadians the realistic routes are now the non-lucrative visa and the digital nomad visa.
The non-lucrative visa now demands real residence. Under the new immigration regulation (RD 1155/2024, in force 20 May 2025), renewing an NLV requires having actually lived in Spain more than 183 days in the calendar year. That ends the "snowbird permit" strategy — and it makes every NLV holder a Spanish tax resident by design.
Biometric borders are live; ETIAS is next. The EU Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 — your Schengen days are counted electronically, no more passport stamps. ETIAS travel authorisation (€20, fee-exempt if you're over 70) is scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026; the exact date is still to be announced.
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Sources

  1. INE — Estadística Continua de Población, Q1 2026 (population): ine.es
  2. Consulate General of Spain in Washington — non-lucrative visa (2026 IPREM figures): exteriores.gob.es
  3. MIVAU — Valor tasado de la vivienda, Q1 2026: mivau.gob.es · INE — Índice de Precios de Vivienda, Q1 2026: ine.es
  4. Eurostat — life expectancy 2024: ec.europa.eu/eurostat
  5. INE — IPC, May 2026: ine.es
  6. Ministerio de Sanidad — convenio especial: sanidad.gob.es
  7. Spanish nationality by residence: administracion.gob.es
  8. OPI / Ministerio de Inclusión — foreign residents with valid documentation (30 Jun 2025): inclusion.gob.es
  9. Golden visa abolition — BOE, Ley Orgánica 1/2025: boe.es · EES fully operational: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu
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