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Pros and cons: What foreigners should be aware of before applying for Spain’s golden visa

Spain’s golden visa offers non-EU citizens the possibility to live in Spain. However, if you're thinking about applying and investing a sizeable amount, there are some key points to consider before deciding if it’s right for you.

Published: 5 August 2021 17:30 CEST
Updated: 22 August 2023 17:33 CEST
Pros and cons: What foreigners should be aware of before applying for Spain's golden visa
Golden visa, Spain. Photo: Frames For Your Heart / Unsplash

Spain’s golden visa, sometimes referred to as an investor visa, allows non-EU citizens the right to live in Spain if they meet several requirements.

These include buying a property worth over €500,000, investing €1 million in a Spanish company or having €1 million in a Spanish bank account.

Since the scheme was launched in 2013, the number of third-country nationals applying has risen every year. Between 2013 and 2022, the Spanish government has issued a total of 4,940 golden visas. 

Due to Brexit, the golden visa is also one of the easiest ways that British citizens can now legally move to Spain, providing they have a lot of cash to be able to do so. 

It’s a sizeable investment for even those earning six figures every year, so before you decide whether this is the best visa or residency option for you, here is an important list of advantages and disadvantages that come with Spain’s visado dorado (golden visa). 

Pros:

  • Your family can be included on the visa
    Your spouse/partner, any children under 18 and dependent parents can also be beneficiaries of the visa and will be allowed to live in Spain with you.
  • The golden visa can be a pathway to citizenship if you live in Spain for 10 years
    The golden visa is issued for an initial period of one year, but once you’re in Spain you can apply for a residency permit for a further two years. Once this time is up, you can apply to stay for another five years. After five years, you will be eligible for permanent residency and after 10 years of residing in Spain, you will be able to apply for Spanish citizenship.
  • You and your family will be allowed to work in Spain
    The golden visa allows you and your dependents (if of legal age) to be able to get a job and work in Spain, providing local requirements are met.
  • It enables you to have freedom of movement throughout the Schengen zone
    The golden visa will allow you and your family visa-free travel throughout the Schengen area’s 26 countries.  
  • You don’t have to be physically in Spain to apply for it, but can be if you want
    You don’t have to travel to Spain to apply for the golden visa – everything can be done online or through immigration lawyers here in Spain. If you are in Spain at the time and want to apply for it, the good news is that you won’t have to leave the country before doing so. The whole process is relatively quick too. According to the Spanish government website, it will be processed within 20 working days.
  • You can buy several properties which add up to €500,000
    One option for the visa is to buy a property for €500,000 or more, but you are not required to spend it all on one property. You will still be eligible for the visa if you buy multiple properties, as long as the total amount adds up to more than €500,000.
  • The golden visa is retroactive
    This means that if you already bought a property in Spain worth over €500,000 after 2014, but didn’t apply for a golden visa at the time, it’s still possible to do it now.

  • The property can be sold once you have obtained permanent residency
    Once you have lived in Spain for more than five years and have obtained permanent residency, you are able to sell the property without forfeiting your right to reside in Spain.

Cons:

  • You need to have a lot of money and cannot use a mortgage loan or financing for your investments
    As mentioned above, to apply for the golden visa, you must have a fair amount of savings. This means investing at least €500,000 in real estate, buying shares in a Spanish company worth €1 million or having €1 million in a Spanish bank account. This cannot be done through a mortgage company or a loan, and must be from your own pocket.
  • There are cheaper golden visas in Europe
    To apply for Greece’s golden visa, you need to spend €250,000 on a property, for Malta it’s €270,000. 

  • You are not automatically eligible for Spain’s public health care system
    In order to apply for the golden visa, the Spanish government requires you to have private health insurance. This means that you will not automatically be eligible for the free public health care system. You may be able to benefit from this later if you get a job or become self-employed and start paying into the social security system.

  • The property has to be in one person’s name 
    If you bought a property worth €500,000, but it has you and your spouse’s name on the deeds as joint owners, then you will not be able to apply for the golden visa because you will only have €250,000 in your name. All €500,000 or more must be in one person’s name. 

  • Initially, the golden visa is only valid for one year
    When you first apply for the golden visa, you will not be granted the right to live in Spain permanently right away. You are able to exchange it for a residence permit, valid for a further two years once you’re in Spain though, and then get permanent residency after five years. 
  • You will be liable to pay property taxes on top of the €500,000
    If you are applying for the golden visa by investing in a property, you will also need to pay VAT, transfer tax and stamp duty (known as AJD in Spain) on top of the cost of the house.
  • You will be liable to pay non-resident tax on your property
    If you choose not to live in Spain, even if you don’t rent your property out, you will still be liable to pay non-resident tax on it. This will be roughly 24 percent.  
  • You may have to pay wealth tax
    Whether you decide to become a resident of Spain or not, if you get the golden visa or buy property here, you will be liable to pay wealth tax on all your worldwide assets, if they add up to more than €700.000. This includes being taxed on things such as life insurance plans, jewellery, yachts, art and antiquities. If you’re a resident in Spain, however, you will have a €300,000 tax allowance on your place of permanent residence. The percentage you are charged depends on whether you are a resident in Spain or not, but it’s typically between 2 and 2.5 percent.

  • You have to prove financial means as well

    Apart from the €500K investment in a Spanish property, you also have to prove you have sufficient financial means or income to cover your costs and your family’s. The standard financial requirement for golden visa applicants is 400 percent of the IPREM: €2,400 per month.

    So for a non-EU national wanting to apply for residency for himself alone through a golden visa, the amount they need to prove per year is €28,800. The permit generally lasts two years so that amounts to €57,600.

    For every family member included in the residency application it’s an extra 100 percent of the IPREM which for 2023 is €600. 

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PROPERTY

BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Though many people hang laundry, plants, and flags from their balcony, in Spain the rules on what you can and can't do on 'el balcón' are not well-known.

Published: 8 May 2024 17:13 CEST
Updated: 11 May 2024 08:31 CEST
BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Imagine the scene: you’ve just bought or signed the lease on your dream apartment. It’s bright and airy, with plenty of space, and even has a nice-sized balcony to get some fresh air on. You can do whatever you want there, right? 

Not exactly. In Spain the rules on what you can and can’t do on a balcony (even if it’s private) depend on a few factors, namely the regional and local rules, as well as getting the approval of the building’s homeowner’s association – known in Spain as la comunidad.

Some of them might just surprise you.

READ ALSO: ‘La comunidad’: What property owners in Spain need to know about homeowners’ associations

There are four main things or activities on balconies that could potentially put you on the wrong side of the local rules and even get you fined: barbecues, plants, laundry, and flags.

In all cases (even if you don’t think you’re breaking any rules) you’ll generally need to consider two things: firstly, does this affect or change the building’s façade? And secondly: will la comunidad allow it?

Barbecues

In Spain there is no national law prohibiting barbecues on private property, so in principle it is legal as long as the barbecue is lit in a private space such as your own balcony, garden or terrace, and not a shared space.

Often in Spain, the roof (usually referred to as la terrazza) is a shared space people use for storage and hanging their laundry, so be sure to check with the comunidad.

In terms of your own balcony, however, although there’s no law saying outright you can’t have a barbecue, you’ll need to take into account the rules and regulations in force in each locality or region. There may also be specific rules within the building that long-term homeowners have developed over the years.

As we will see, many of these low-level regulations are delegated to local governments and town halls in Spain, so the answer to these sorts of questions is usually: it depends where you are.

However, according to Article 7 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law, “the owner and the occupant of the flat or premises are not allowed to carry out in it or in the rest of the property activities prohibited in bylaws, which are harmful to the property or which contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illegal activities.”

This basically gives your neighbours the right to complain about noise, smells, smoke and any possible fire risk in or around their building, which barbecues could plausibly fall under.

As with co-living anywhere in the world, regardless of the regional or local rules, employ some common sense: be reasonable, listen to neighbour’s concerns and take up any disputes with the President of la comunidad.

READ ALSO: What you need to know before having a barbecue in Spain

Plants

Again, with plants the responsibility falls on each local authority to set the rules. In Spain, most regions and town halls state that, as long as the architectural or structural elements of the building are not changed or weakened in any way, putting plants on your balcony is permitted.

However, note that many terraces and balconies do have maximum weight regulations that must be respected in order to guarantee their safety, which is 200kg per square metre. If this figure is exceeded (and it can be proved) you could theoretically be fined.

Laundry

Laundry lines criss-crossing the streets might be one of the more picturesque images of Spanish life, but the people doing it might actually be breaking the rules.

How do you know? You guessed it, it depends where you. You’ll need to check with your local authority on this one, though municipal regulations in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia all regulate hanging laundry from your balcony, which is again outlined in the Horizontal Property Law.

This principally seems to be because it affects the façade of the building (a common theme when it comes to balcony rules in Spain).

In places with rules about hanging laundry from balconies, you could be fined up to 750 euros if you don’t comply with the rules.

However, according to Foto Casa, even if you live in an area where there are no bans or penalties against hanging laundry on the balcony, you’ll still likely need the permission of la comunidad.

READ MORE: Spain’s weirdest laws that foreigners should know about

What about flags?

Whether it be the Spanish flag, the Catalan, Valencian or Andalusian flags, or LGBT, trade union or football team flags, flags proudly hanging from balconies is another mainstay of Spanish life.

It’s also one of the more controversial ones too, especially within comunidad meetings. Hanging flags on the balcony, as well as allegedly altering the aesthetics and security of the building (the same concern as with laundry) often has ideological connotations that can cause conflict.

Again, as with laundry, hanging flags on the balcony will require the approval of all the owners within the community, something that must be agreed at a meeting, as per the Horizontal Property Law.

However, if the flag is placed inside the property, as it is a private property, fellow homeowners cannot oppose it, even if it is visible from the street, according to Foto Casa.

Nudity 

Article of 185 of Spain’s Penal Code only considers being naked at home to be obscene exhibitionism and sexual provocation if it affects minors, in which case it is punishable with a fine or up to a year in prison.

Therefore, you could technically sunbathe shirtless or naked on your balcony in most cases without getting into trouble, although it won’t necessarily go down well with your neighbours and/or flatmates and you be reprimanded for it.

READ ALSO: Can you go shirtless or wear a bikini in the street in Spain?

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