The Spanish Golden Visa Has Ended: What Property Buyers Should Know Now

If you have been researching a Spanish property purchase for a while, you may still see references to the Golden Visa online, in forums, or from agents who have not updated their material. It is important to be direct about this: the Golden Visa ended on 3 April 2025 and is not available in any form, regardless of the size of the purchase.

This does not mean buying in Spain has become harder for people living in the United Kingdom. It means one particular residency-through-investment route has gone. The ordinary path for a non-resident buyer, arranging a Spanish mortgage, opening a Spanish bank account, completing the purchase before a notary, continues exactly as before.

The Golden Visa was always a residency instrument, not a financing one. It allowed a certain category of investor to obtain a Spanish residence permit tied to a qualifying investment. It never determined whether a bank would lend, how much deposit was required, or which documents were needed. Those questions were, and remain, entirely separate from any visa programme.

So if your plan was to buy a property in Spain and obtain a mortgage from a Spanish bank, nothing in that process has changed because the Golden Visa ended. What has changed is that anyone who assumed property purchase would automatically open a residency route needs a different plan for that specific question, most likely through an immigration lawyer rather than through the purchase itself.

What matters now, for a buyer from the United Kingdom, is preparing a solid mortgage file: proof of income, evidence of existing commitments, and identification, all organised in a way a Spanish bank can assess. The documents a UK applicant typically provides include the following.

Spanish banks usually ask non-resident buyers for a larger deposit than they would ask a resident; the exact share depends on the bank, your country and your profile, so it is not something we can state as a fixed figure. What we can say with confidence is that terms usually run until the borrower is around 70 to 75 years old, and that fixed, variable and mixed rate structures all exist in the Spanish market.

Since the United Kingdom uses the pound rather than the euro, movements in the exchange rate and the cost of converting currency are worth building into your planning from the start, both for the purchase itself and for the additional costs that come with it: transfer tax on resale homes, VAT at 10% plus stamp duty on new builds, notary fees, land registry, gestoría and the bank's own valuation of the property.

Spain is a relatively short flight away from most UK airports, making regular visits to a Spanish property straightforward for owners based in Britain. Many British buyers are drawn to Spain for its climate, coastal lifestyle and established expatriate communities. One practical point to bear in mind is that Spanish inheritance law differs from UK rules, so it is worth taking specific advice on how it may affect the property and one's estate. Currency movements between sterling and the euro can also affect the overall cost of purchase and ongoing expenses.

Spain and the United Kingdom have a double taxation agreement in place, and a local tax adviser should confirm how rental income or gains from Spanish property must be declared and reported to HMRC.

As the United Kingdom is no longer an EU member state, British citizens may stay in Spain for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa, and must apply for a visa or residence permit for longer stays.

Since the United Kingdom uses the pound sterling (GBP) rather than the euro, buyers should factor in exchange-rate movements and currency conversion costs when paying for a property or transferring funds to Spain.