Spain’s Golden Visa has been abolished. Find out whether you can still apply, how long for, and whether your existing visa is under threat.

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The Golden Visa for Spain has been abolished!
But can you still apply?
When does the law take effect?
Will you be allowed to renew your visa after that?
And is your existing visa under threat?
Was spending half a million or more on a property a complete waste of time?

In 2024 there was talk of removing the property part of the Golden Visa, where if you invested at least €500k in one or more properties in Spain, you could apply for a visa that allowed you to come and go as you please, more or less, you only really had to spend a day in Spain each year and not sell your property to remain eligible. 

But then on November the 14th 2024, the abolition of the whole Golden Visa (not just the property part) was approved in Congress, then sent to the Senate to be ratified, and finally on January the 3rd 2025, the new law was published in Spain’s official bulletin.

So is that it then for applications? Well, not quite, there’s always a gap between the publication of the law and it coming into force. In this case, it takes effect on April the 20th 2025. So technically, you can still get an application in by that date. 

The trouble is, if you’re going for the property option and you haven’t already bought the property or aren’t in the process of doing that yet, you and the seller and both of your lawyers will have to move pretty fast to get the sale and the paperwork completed, then your lawyer will have to be equally quick in putting the Golden Visa application through. If there’s a problem with the sale or your bank or the architect’s survey or your present property sale falls through, or something goes wrong with the chain somewhere, well, I think you get the point. It would be a very tense time, and you have to bear in mind that your visa application could be refused after all of that.

But hey, if you bought a property anytime in the last 10 years and its investment value at the time (that’s the price you paid for it, not including taxes and fees) was sufficient, then you’ve got a few months to get your Golden Visa application in. 

Will you be allowed to renew your visa?

You need to know something else first, you should bear in mind that there are two ways to apply, first of all you can do it through the consulate nearest to where you are resident. There’s quite a fee for doing that, and also the initial period of the visa is only a year. However, you can apply for the Golden Visa from inside Spain through the UGE, while you’re having a bit of a holiday perhaps. There’s no big fee to pay, and the initial period of the visa is two years instead of one. 

So what happens if you get your visa then want to renew it after those 1 or two year periods? Does the abolition mean you can’t do that? 

Well, no, you can still renew because the law allows for people who applied before the abolition date to ‘continue with their contract’ if you like. The same applies to people who got their visas a couple of years ago for example. They can still renew, and go on to get permanent residency if they’ve fulfilled the relevant requirements.

I hope that answers your questions. I’ve done one or two other articles in the past about the Golden Visa and how to apply, plus a live interview video with a Spanish lawyer who is a specialist in applying so if you need more information, check out the link HERE.

If you’re out of time and want to find out if there are any other Spanish visas that suit your situation, join me on the live shows on Saturdays where you can ask the experts. 

And if the information in this article is useful, sign up for our monthly newsletter to get updates, and scan the QR code below to help us help you. 

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Article by Skatz