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MOVING TO SPAIN

CHECKLIST: Everything digital nomads moving to Spain need to consider

Spain’s Startups Law is 100 percent going ahead after its very last ratification by the Senate and Parliament. If you’re a remote worker who’s now planning to come to Spain, there’s a lot more apart from the enticing law to consider beforehand, from costs to location.

Published: 2 December 2022 16:15 CET
Updated: 7 January 2023 09:10 CET
spain digital nomad visa
Despite the country's enticing new Startups Law, digital nomads who want to move to Spain have to consider where to move to, how much rent and other living costs are, access to healthcare and more. Photo: Maria Tan / AFP

Spain’s Startups Law has now been completely ratified by the Spanish Senate and on Thursday December 1st was voted in definitively by Spain’s Parliament in one final vote, meaning that there are no more obstacles for the legislation to jump through.

In other words, it is a reality and there is no looking back or toing and froing for a law which has continued to receive support from all sides of the political spectrum in these very final stages.

In these last stages, the Spanish Senate added several amendments relating to better perks for serial entrepreneurs (people who start multiple businesses), incentives for startups in rural communities of Spain and denying the condition of “startup” to companies that have partners that “present risks”.

In a nutshell, Spain’s Startups Law is considered a first in Europe, with lots of incentives and tax benefits for foreign startups, less bureaucratic obstacles overall and favourable conditions for non-EU remote workers and digital nomads, including a residency visa.

The following two articles cover everything that you should know if you’re looking to benefit from the new law as a startup in Spain, but in this article our focus will be on non-EU remote workers and digital nomads and what to consider with a move to Spain.

Here is a list of what digital nomads should consider if they’re thinking of taking advantage of Spain’s new legislation.

Spanish residency and taxes   

The new digital nomad visa is particularly promising for non-EU digital nomads from countries such as the UK, US or Australia for example, as until now getting a residency permit for remote work hasn’t been at all easy, with the best option being to apply for the self-employment visa which requires a business plan, proof of guaranteed earnings and more. It will also be available for remote workers with a contract for an overseas company.

Digital nomads will be able to benefit from Spain’s Non-Residents Tax (IRNR) at a reduced tax rate of 15 percent for the first four years, even though they can spend more than 183 days a year in Spain and are therefore technically fiscal residents.

You can read in more detail about what digital nomads stand to gain in terms of taxes and a residency visa in the article directly below.

READ MORE: Spain’s new digital nomad visa – Everything we know so far

Where to move to in Spain as a digital nomad

This will be one of the most important decisions that you have to make, but again we have you covered.

From the best places for co-working and digital nomad culture to the best place for cost of living and for integrating into Spanish culture, the article below gives you an overview of some of the most popular destinations for nómadas digitales.

FIND OUT: Ten of the best cities for digital nomads to move to in Spain

Then again, you may be interested in enjoying a quieter life in rural Spain. You’ll sometimes see news stories about the offer of free accommodation in quaint Spanish villages that want remote workers, but these quickly get filled.

One of the best ways of finding the right place is by searching yourself, the article below explains how to do it.

FIND OUT: How to find Spanish villages that are helping people to move there

And do you really know what life in rural Spain will be like? Here are some points to consider.

READ MORE: Nine things you should know before moving to rural Spain

Rental costs

Spain is generally seen as having a very affordable cost of living, but it greatly depends on where you move to in the country. 

According to Spain’s leading property search portal Idealista, who released a report earlier this year, the most expensive cities to rent in Spain are San Sebastián and Bilbao at around €901 a month, followed by Barcelona and Madrid with €875 and €848 a month respectively.

The Balearics, the rest of the Basque Country and the area around Marbella also have above-average rental prices.

The cheapest places to rent are in the interior of the country around Teruel, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Zamora and Palencia, while Almería and Huelva were the cheapest coastal cities averaging €504 and €477 a month.

As inflation rises, rents are increasing, so you may find that they are higher come January 2023.

You’ll also have to consider temporary accommodation for when you first arrive in Spain, the article below should help you with that.

READ MORE: How to find temporary accommodation in Spain when you first arrive 

General costs of living

As with rent, the general cost of living varies greatly, depending on where you want to base yourself within Spain. Barcelona, Madrid and places in the Basque Country generally have the highest cost of living, while places in central Spain and inland Andalusia have some of the lowest prices.

It’s worth keeping in mind that if you choose Barcelona, the cost of living has risen by 31 percent in the last five years. According to the annual report by the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona (AMB), the minimum wage needed to be able to live comfortably in Barcelona is €1,435 gross per month.

You will need similar amounts for Madrid and the major Basque cities but will be able to get away with earning less in some of the smaller towns and cities.

Keep in mind as well that Spain is yet to disclose what the minimum income will be for digital nomads to be able to access the visa.

READ ALSO: 

Costs of co-working spaces

You’ll find co-working spaces all over Spain, mostly in the main cities but, even in small villages that are trying to attract more people because of depopulation. 

According to the latest report on the Status of Coworking in Spain in 2020-2021, Barcelona has the most coworking spaces, followed by Madrid.

Málaga, Seville and Granada, however, have the greatest offer of coworking spaces at the most affordable prices.

Co-working spaces are available to rent in Spain by the hour, day or month and also have the option for private offices for meetings and calls. 

According to the report, in 2021 the average price of a desk in a co-working space was €188 per month.

If you want to find out more about renting in Spain, check out The Local’s page on renting here. 

Internet speeds

Internet speeds are generally good in Spain, across much of the country, even in small villages. 

According to the Speedtest Global Index, Spain has an average broadband download speed of 154Mbps and an upload speed of 107Mbps.

For mobile speeds, the average download speed was 35Mbps and the upload speed was 10Mbps. Phone internet speeds were slightly faster in the bigger cities such as Barcelona and Madrid.

Healthcare in Spain

Even though the Startups Law will not be tweaked anymore and all that needs to happen is that it comes into force, one of the matters that still hasn’t been mentioned by Spanish authorities is what healthcare options will be available to holders of digital nomad visas. 

Will they need to get a private healthcare scheme as is required for non-lucrative visa applicants which can be expensive especially if you have pre-existing conditions? Will they be able to pay social security fees or the convenio especial pay-in scheme to access public healthcare? 

Whatever the outcome, Spanish healthcare has a good reputation although in recent times there have been protests about the lack of doctors and health workers in the country and consequently longer waiting times. 

Private healthcare options are affordable for people with no pre-existing health conditions.

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VISAS

INTERVIEW: ‘There are three main alternatives to Spain’s golden visa’

What happens to foreigners on Spain’s golden visa now that the scheme will be scrapped? How about those in the process of applying and non-EU nationals considering buying a home and moving to Spain? The Local spoke to several experts to get the lowdown on what changes.

Published: 11 April 2024 13:09 CEST
INTERVIEW: 'There are three main alternatives to Spain's golden visa'

On Monday April 8th, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that it will soon no longer be possible for foreigners to obtain Spanish residency by buying a €500,000 property in the country.

The latest government figures suggest that 14,576 wealthy non-EU nationals have obtained the golden visa by buying a half-a-million-euros home since the scheme launched in 2023, with a particularly big surge in visas granted over the last two years, which “raised the alarm”. 

The government says it’s about reducing price speculation in the property market but for the opposition it’s purely a political “smokescreen” at a time of rising property and rent prices that are affecting locals but not higher-earning foreigners in Spain. 

Q&A: When and why is Spain axing the golden visa?

“It won’t have the desired effect of freeing up property because golden visa holders are not competing usually at the prices where locals are being priced out; the culprits are Airbnb-style rentals.” Graham Hunt, who runs Valencia Property and has helped numerous clients process their golden visas, told The Local Spain.

“Most golden visa buyers we have had to buy a place to live in and not as a speculative investment. A few buy under the limit then complement it with a second rental property or garage space to make up the €500,000.”

Although a €500,000 property is certainly not within reach for most foreigners in Spain, the end of the golden visa scheme as we’ve known it means there are fewer visa choices for foreigners.

For Hunt, “a simple reform requiring golden visa residents to live for more than six months per year in Spain thus becoming tax residents would have sufficed to make it more lucrative for the government, while at the same time closing some of the loopholes of origin of funds which may have been a problem with Russian and Chinese applicants”.

The golden visa is the only visa that doesn’t require foreign residents to become tax residents in Spain, nor spend a minimum amount of time in Spain to keep residency (1 day a year to renew).

Maryem Essadik, an immigration lawyer for international law firm Marfour, told The Local: “this visa has brought a lot of foreign capital to Spain and the new measure stops the arrival of foreigners with great economic means and a high level of consumption”. 

So what now for those who already have a golden visa and those in the process of applying for it? Is it too late to get Spain’s golden visa at the last minute? And what other Spanish visas could high-income third-country nationals opt for?

What does this mean for people who already have the golden visa?

“Those who currently hold a golden visa will NOT be affected,” Gerard Martínez of immigration law firm Balcells Group stressed to The Local Spain. 

“They will keep their residency card and this measure will not affect them”.

Immigration lawyer Maryem Essadik added that “the residency authorisation of existing golden visa holders through investment in real estate is a guaranteed right and the new law cannot be more unfavourable than the terms applied to them at the time”.

Essadik told The Local that a clear and recent example of this happening is when “UK nationals legally residing in Spain when the UK left the EU were not affected, even though many had to carry out exchanges of their permits”.

Does anything change for people in the process of applying for Spain’s golden visa?

“In principle, applications being processed are assessed according to the law that was in force, unless retroactive measures are established by the new law,” Essadik states.

“It’s too early to go into detail, we have to wait for the law to be approved.”

Gerard Martínez of Balcells is more optimistic: “Those in the process of applying should not be affected either. The government will define a deadline until which this visa can be obtained, so those in the process can have enough time.”

Is it too late to buy a €500,000 Spanish home and apply for the golden visa? 

The golden visa was known as being perhaps the fastest residency authorisation to obtain in Spain – between 10 and 20 days – but of course you also have to factor in that choosing and purchasing a €500,000 property can take time.

“We still need to understand the timings the government sets for its modification,” Martínez admits, “but right now it is not too late, so now is the best time to obtain it, as we don’t know if in x months that option will still be available.”

According to Spanish daily El Periódico de España, the intention of Spain’s Housing Minister is to cancel the golden visa scheme as quickly as possible and to fast-track this process by attaching the legal amendment to another law, the upcoming modification of the Spanish Land Law (Ley de Suelo) which has already overcome some legal hurdles.

It’s worth noting however that the golden visa amendment isn’t a done deal yet and that legislative changes in Spain tend to take longer than expected. 

What are the alternatives to Spain’s golden visa?

“It depends on the circumstances of each person,” Hunt of Valencia Property told The Local Spain.

“But the easiest one if someone doesn’t need to work is the non-lucrative visa (NLV), and if they do need to work then they need to get themselves in a position to apply for the digital nomad visa (DNV).”

Martínez of Balcells Group agreed that the NLV and the DNV are two of the best choices, but added another important alternative: “the golden visa’s other investment categories will still work, so those higher net-worth individuals may still obtain residency by investing in Spanish companies or in Spanish debt”.

Although this is yet to be 100 percent confirmed, it does appear that the only category of the golden visa scheme that is set to be removed is that relating to property, as this is what the government has deemed problematic in terms of price speculation. 

Therefore, investing €1 million in shares in Spanish companies, or €2 million in government bonds, or transferring €1 million to a Spanish bank account, will still be likely to obtain Spanish residency through the golden visa for the time being.

READ ALSO: What the end of Spain’s golden visa means for foreigners

How do the non-lucrative visa and the digital nomad visa compare to the golden visa?

Spain’s golden visa has been considered the ‘easiest’ Spanish residency visa to obtain because it doesn’t take long to be processed, and as mentioned earlier it didn’t have the requirement of becoming a Spanish tax resident and no risk of losing residency for being out of the country (1 day a year). 

However, the non-lucrative visa and the digital nomad visa are two worthy alternatives for people with plenty of savings or high incomes. 

The non-lucrative visa doesn’t allow you to work but gives you Spanish residency if you can prove €28,000 in funds to cover your costs for the year, and €7,200 for every extra family member included on the residency application, as well as providing comprehensive medical insurance. 

Proving financial means and medical cover are also required for the golden visa.

Other perks of the NLV include the right to invest in Spain, freedom of movement around the Schengen Zone, a lower financial burden than the golden visa and the option of swapping over to a work of self-employed visa.

If you want to work from Spain, the digital nomad visa requires €2,646 in monthly earnings to be eligible, it enables you to live in the country for five years, you can also bring family members with and your partner has the right to work as well, among other perks such as freedom of movement around Schengen nations.

Non-lucrative vs digital nomad visa: Which one should you choose to move to Spain?

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