Spain's golden visa is dead. Here's what happened — and what to do instead.

On 3 April 2025, Spain abolished its investor residence permit — all of it, including the famous €500,000 property route. If you hold one, you keep it. If you were planning on one, you need a new plan. This is the honest version of both.

What exactly ended

The golden visa lived in articles 63–67 of Spain's 2013 entrepreneurs law (Ley 14/2013). Organic Law 1/2025 — formally a justice-efficiency law — repealed those articles with effect from 3 April 2025. That killed every investor category at once: the €500,000 property purchase, €1 million in shares or funds, €2 million in government debt, and qualifying business projects. Spain's government framed the move as housing policy; the property route accounted for the overwhelming majority of applications.

If you already hold one

Permits issued before 3 April 2025 remain valid. Applications filed before the deadline were processed under the old rules. Renewals continue under the rules in force at the initial grant — but note the caveat: that renewal detail rests on the law's transitional provisions as interpreted by major law and advisory firms, not on a plain-language government page. If your renewal is coming up, have an immigration lawyer confirm your specific position rather than relying on general summaries — including this one.

What to use instead

There is no like-for-like replacement. The golden visa's unique feature was residence with minimal physical presence. Nothing in Spain's current system offers that. Your realistic options:

You can still buy the house

Nothing stops Americans or Canadians buying Spanish property — it just no longer confers residence. Normal costs apply: 10% IVA plus stamp duty on new builds, or regional transfer tax of roughly 4–13% on resales (Madrid 6%, Valencia 9% from 1 June 2026, Cataluña 10–13%), plus ~1–2.5% in notary, registry and gestoría fees. One thing to watch: a bill proposing a tax of up to 100% on purchases by non-EU non-residents was registered in Congress in May 2025. As of mid-2026 it is stalled without a majority and is not law — but it tells you which way the political wind blows. Details in the Housing guide.

Why this matters beyond Spain

Spain joined a broader European retreat from investor migration. If your plan was "buy residence somewhere in Europe," treat every remaining scheme as politically fragile — and check the current law, not a 2023 blog post, before wiring money anywhere.