Spain after the golden visa: the non-lucrative visa and the Beckham regime

Ending the investor route did not close Spain to foreign residents. Two other instruments carry most of the people who would have used it, and they ask for different things — one for those who will not work, one for those who will.

The non-lucrative visa

A residence permit for people who will live in Spain on existing means without economic activity there.

• Evidenced, recurring passive income or sufficient assets, above a threshold that scales with family size.
• Private health insurance with full cover and no co-payment.
• No employment in Spain, and the treatment of remote work for a foreign employer under this visa has been contested — it is not the instrument for that.
• It requires actual residence to renew, which means Spanish tax residence follows.

The digital nomad visa

Introduced for remote workers employed by or contracting with companies outside Spain, with limits on how much of the income may come from Spanish clients. It is the honest instrument for the population that was misusing the non-lucrative visa, and it comes with access to a favourable tax treatment.

The inbound regime

The special regime commonly named after a footballer allows qualifying new arrivals to be taxed as non-residents on a flat basis on Spanish employment income for a period, with foreign income largely outside scope. It was extended to cover certain remote workers and entrepreneurs. It is elected, has conditions on not having been resident recently, and is the single largest variable in whether a move to Spain works financially.

What has to be weighed

• Wealth tax. Spain levies it, regional rates and reliefs differ enormously, and one region's position is not another's. Where you live inside Spain is a tax decision.
• Reporting. The declaration of foreign assets is detailed and its penalty regime has been litigated; it is not optional.
• Succession and gift tax, again regional, and again a reason the choice of region matters.

The summary

Spain remains one of the easiest European countries to move to and one of the more complicated to be tax resident in. The permit question is answerable in an afternoon; the region and the regime question deserves proper advice, because the same family can face materially different outcomes in two provinces.