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Spain: visas, tax & cost of living

Moving to Spain? Plain answers on the digital nomad visa, 183-day tax residency, cost of living and life as a foreigner. Figures are estimates.

Spain: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomSpain

Your move to Spain on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitEasyVisa-free entry
  • NomadEasyNomad visa, likely eligible
  • RelocateFairly easyClear residence route

Visiting

Visa-free for up to 90 days. Travel on a passport valid for your whole stay, with a return or onward ticket and proof you can support yourself.

Passport validity: Valid at least 3 months beyond planned departure from Schengen, and issued less than 10 years before arrival; ideally a blank page.

Heads-up: EES biometric registration (fingerprints and photo) rolling out from 12 October 2025, fully operational 10 April 2026, no fee; ETIAS pre-authorisation expected from autumn 2026 at about 20 euros (visa-exempt nationals only).

At the border: Border may ask for a return or onward ticket, travel insurance, proof of accommodation, and sufficient funds; cash of 10,000 euros or more must be declared.

Working remotely

Digital Nomad Visa (visado para teletrabajo de carácter internacional).

Income needed: ~2,849 EUR/month (Digital Nomad Visa, 200% of the SMI annualised over 14 payments; ~34,188 EUR/yr) (estimate)

Duration: 12 months

Fee: ~80 EUR (estimate)

Who qualifies: Open to non-EU remote workers and freelancers with a degree from a recognised university, vocational school or business school, or at least 3 years of professional experience. Employees may work only for companies based outside Spain, with no Spanish employer at all; freelancers may bill a company in Spain as long as it stays within 20 percent of their total professional activity, which is a share of workload, not of income. The company or group must show at least a year of real, continuous activity, and the working or client relationship must already be 3 months old. You also need private health cover matching what the Spanish public system provides, and a clean criminal record. Watch the income test: consular pages publish about 2,442 EUR a month (twice the 1,221 EUR monthly SMI) while the annualised 14-payment reading gives about 2,849 EUR, so confirm the figure with the consulate or the UGE-CE handling your file.

Tax and residency

Art. 9.1 LIRPF has three tests, not one: more than 183 days in the calendar year, the main base of your activities or economic interests sitting in Spain, or the rebuttable presumption that applies when your non-separated spouse and dependent minor children live here. Any one of them makes you resident on worldwide income. The Beckham regime does not shelter a foreign salary: art. 93 LIRPF deems all employment income earned while the regime runs to be obtained in Spain, taxed at a flat 24% up to 600,000 EUR and 47% above. Its real benefit sits on foreign capital income. (estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Double-tax treaty: yes, in force since 2014

Practical

Currency: EUR. Cost of living: mid.

Healthcare: For visits, an EHIC (or the UK's GHIC) covers medically necessary state care; without one there is no reciprocal cover and you fall back on travel medical insurance. Residents access care through social security or private cover, which the Digital Nomad Visa requires.

Healthcare agreement: A UK GHIC or valid EHIC covers medically necessary state healthcare for visits.

Driving: An International Driving Permit is recommended alongside the home licence for short visits, and residents must obtain or exchange for a Spanish licence.

Sources: Spain, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: international telework (digital nomad) visa, consular network · Spain, Ley 14/2013 arts. 74 bis to 74 quinquies (international teleworking, added by the Startups Law, Ley 28/2022), consolidated text, BOE · Spain, Ley 35/2006 (IRPF) art. 93: special impatriate regime, the "Beckham" regime, consolidated text, BOE · Spain, Agencia Tributaria: residencia habitual en territorio español (art. 9.1 LIRPF) · Spain, Real Decreto 126/2026: salario mínimo interprofesional for 2026 (1,221 EUR/month over 14 payments), BOE · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Should you move to Spain?

If you want warm coasts, walkable cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia) and a cost of living below most of Western Europe, Spain is hard to beat. Since 2023 it has been one of the easier large EU countries for remote workers to settle in legally, and the lifestyle is the real draw.

Spain digital nomad visa and entry

EU and EEA citizens move freely. If you are from outside the EU, the main door is the Spain digital nomad visa. You prove steady remote income, a clean record and private health cover, and you are in. The income bar is tied to Spain’s minimum wage, so it drifts upward each year. The 2026 SMI is 1,221 euros a month over 14 payments, and annualising the 200 percent rule puts a solo applicant at about 2,849 euros a month, roughly 34,188 euros a year, with more if family come along. Consulates often publish a lower figure, around 2,442 euros, by simply doubling the monthly SMI, so check which basis yours applies before you rule yourself out. One condition catches people out: if you are an employee you may not work for a company based in Spain at all, and the familiar 20 percent allowance is only for freelancers, measured as a share of your professional activity rather than of your income. The old golden investment visa closed in April 2025, so that shortcut is gone. Short trips still follow the Schengen 90 in 180 days rule.

Tax residency and the 183-day rule

Stay more than 183 days in a calendar year and Spain will generally treat you as a tax resident, taxed on your worldwide income. The day count is only one of three tests in article 9.1 LIRPF: you are also resident if the main base of your activities or economic interests sits in Spain, and Spain presumes residence, rebuttably, when your non-separated spouse and dependent minor children live here. The Beckham regime is the escape hatch many new arrivals chase, and it is widely oversold. It taxes you at a flat 24 percent up to 600,000 euros and 47 percent above, but article 93 LIRPF treats all employment income you earn while the regime runs as obtained in Spain, wherever you actually do the work, so a foreign salary sits inside the net rather than outside it. What it genuinely shelters is foreign capital income. Entry is tight as well (you must move for work and not have been a Spanish resident in the prior five years), so confirm both that you qualify and what it would really save you before you build a plan around it.

Cost of living in Spain

Living in Spain runs cheaper than northern Europe, though Madrid and Barcelona rents have climbed hard. A solo nomad lands somewhere around 1,500 to 2,500 euros a month all in, depending on the city. Valencia, Seville or Granada sit at the low end. The big two cities push you toward the top, mostly on rent. Food stays kind. Markets, cheap menús del día and a bottle of decent wine for a few euros all help. One trap to plan for: if you go self-employed (autónomo), social security and a gestor add a fixed monthly cost that lighter guides tend to skip.

Figures are estimates. Always check the official source linked below.

At a glance

Currency
EUR
Cost of living
Moderate
Digital-nomad visa
Yes

Frequently asked questions

Spain: is there a digital nomad visa?
Digital Nomad Visa (visado para teletrabajo de carácter internacional). Open to non-EU remote workers and freelancers with a degree from a recognised university, vocational school or business school, or at least 3 years of professional experience. Employees may work only for companies based outside Spain, with no Spanish employer at all; freelancers may bill a company in Spain as long as it stays within 20 percent of their total professional activity, which is a share of workload, not of income. The company or group must show at least a year of real, continuous activity, and the working or client relationship must already be 3 months old. You also need private health cover matching what the Spanish public system provides, and a clean criminal record. Watch the income test: consular pages publish about 2,442 EUR a month (twice the 1,221 EUR monthly SMI) while the annualised 14-payment reading gives about 2,849 EUR, so confirm the figure with the consulate or the UGE-CE handling your file.
Spain: when do you become a tax resident?
Art. 9.1 LIRPF has three tests, not one: more than 183 days in the calendar year, the main base of your activities or economic interests sitting in Spain, or the rebuttable presumption that applies when your non-separated spouse and dependent minor children live here. Any one of them makes you resident on worldwide income. The Beckham regime does not shelter a foreign salary: art. 93 LIRPF deems all employment income earned while the regime runs to be obtained in Spain, taxed at a flat 24% up to 600,000 EUR and 47% above. Its real benefit sits on foreign capital income.
Spain: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is moderate and the local currency is the EUR. Treat any figures as estimates.
Spain: do you need health insurance?
For visits, an EHIC (or the UK's GHIC) covers medically necessary state care; without one there is no reciprocal cover and you fall back on travel medical insurance. Residents access care through social security or private cover, which the Digital Nomad Visa requires.
Spain: can you drive on a foreign licence?
An International Driving Permit is recommended alongside the home licence for short visits, and residents must obtain or exchange for a Spanish licence.

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