How long can you leave Spain for? It’s the Expats guide to leaving Spain, stress-free. Here are the answers for everyone, whether you’re a Withdrawal Agreement resident, a third country national on a visa, or an EU citizen. It also depends on whether you’re a temporary or a permanent resident.

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When you become a resident of Spain, how long can you leave Spain for?

Six months!

Not necessarily. It depends! Let’s dive in and find out.

If you want to remain a resident of Spain, there are rules about how many days you can be absent without jeopardising your residency status. 

What if I’ve got a job that takes me out of the country a lot? 

Well, the point of getting residency in Spain is that you want to make it your home, the place where you spend the most time. So before you commit to that, you should make sure that fits in with your lifestyle and your plans for the future.

So generally speaking, you’re expected to spend more than half of the year here.

Six months, I was right!

But it does depend on your individual circumstances, so on this article you’ll get a guide to the basic variations, and you can ask questions about the more complicated details in the comments below.

Is it really that complicated?

For most people it’s quite easy, but when I was gathering the information to put this article together I found there were so many answers that demanded further questions and sent me down blind alleyways. It made creating a complete guide really difficult, and this article would have had to be so long and mostly irrelevant to the majority of you.

I see. Stick to the basics then!

I will. First of all it depends on what kind of residency you have, and what passport you hold. So, everyone begins as what’s called a temporary resident but they can, after five years, become a permanent resident. 

Lovely. I can’t wait!

Now, let’s look at the different groups of residents. First of all, if you’re an EU citizen with temporary residency, you can be absent for up to six months per year.

Is that per calendar year?

No, it’s calculated from your date of residency that’s on your green residency card.

Okay, what if I’m a permanent resident?

Then you can have up to two continuous years of full absence. 

Great. What’s the next group?

UK citizens who became residents before Brexit and are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. If that’s you and you’re still a temporary resident, you can also be absent for up to six months, but as a permanent resident, you can be away for up to five years of continuous absence!

Wow, that’s more than if you’re an EU citizen!

It is, but it’s easier for an EU citizen to re-register as a resident if they’ve been away too long. However, if you lost your residency as a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement, you’d have to start again from scratch and get yourself a visa if you wanted to become a resident again. 

Just like third country nationals!

Well exactly, that’s what UK citizens are since Brexit. 

So how long can you be absent if you move to Spain on a visa, like the Non Lucrative Visa?

This is where it gets a little more complicated. As a temporary resident, the rule used to be that you could only be absent for up to six months per year, but the law has changed in 2024 so they couldn’t remove your right to residency if you’d been absent for over six months. 
[Update – with the new rules coming into force in May 2025, you must be in Spain for 183 days per year to be able to renew your residency].

So you could stay away as long as you like?

Well, that’s not really something you want to be planning on doing, mostly because you’ll have difficulty becoming a permanent resident if you’re away for too long. 

Why?

To become a permanent resident when you’re here on a visa, you can only be absent for a total of ten months in the five year period of temporary residency. 

That’s only two months per year then.

On average yes. I mean, you could remain a temporary resident for longer than five years if you don’t fulfil the requirements to become permanent, but that would mean on the Non Lucrative Visa for example, you’d still need to prove the financial requirements every two years, and you’d still not be able to work.

What about once you’re a permanent resident?

Then you can be absent for up to a year without losing your residency. 

Is that the same whatever visa you’re on?

It’s the same for most of them. The Golden Visa though is a bit different because you only really need to spend one day in Spain each year to maintain it, but again, if you want to become a permanent resident after five years, you can only have been absent for ten months in total, just like the other visas. 

Is there a long term residency as well?

Permanent residency is also called Larga Duración, or long term residency, but don’t get Spanish long term residency mixed up with the EU’s long term residency, which allows you to move to a different EU country and work there too. 

Can you apply for the EU version after five years as a temporary resident?

You can, but it’s a different and more difficult application process and can take longer to get.  

Is that all of the basics then?

Yes, that’s quite enough for this article. Like I said at the start, there are lots of other details you might need to know for your circumstances, so if you have any questions, ask them in the comments.

Like how long can I be absent if I’m the spouse of an EU citizen?

Six months?

Really?

It depends!

Ooh, you and your it depends!

It’s the one rule you can be absolutely sure of!

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Article by Skatz