Golden Visa Europe: what remains after the Spanish exit
Spain ended its golden visa in April 2025 and Portugal had already dropped real estate. Europe's residency-by-investment map has shifted — and it's confusing.
For years the pitch was simple: invest enough — almost always in real estate — and get a European residency. “Golden visa” became shorthand for a door into the Old Continent, and Spain and Portugal were the most sought-after destinations.
That pitch has aged badly. On 3 April 2025, Spain ended its golden visa. Portugal had already removed the real-estate route in October 2023. Greece raised its thresholds. Malta lost its citizenship programme to a ruling from the EU’s Court of Justice. The map has changed — and most searches still show an outdated version of it.
This article gives the current picture of residency-by-investment in Europe, with the rule cited, and — more important for a family — separates what a golden visa is from what it is not.
What closed, what tightened, what remains
The shift followed two pressures at once: the European Commission’s recommendations (flagging risks around security, money laundering and weak oversight) and housing-affordability politics in cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, where the foreign investor became a domestic problem.
- Spain — closed. Organic Law 1/2025 abolished investor residency, effective 3 April 2025. It had required €500,000 in property (or larger amounts in shares, funds, deposits or bonds). Existing holders keep their rights; no new applications are accepted.
- Portugal — no real estate. The Mais Habitação reform removed all property-based routes in October 2023. The golden visa still exists, but through funds, innovation, cultural heritage, science and entrepreneurship — not property purchase. It keeps low stay requirements and a path to citizenship after five years.
- Greece — pricier. Thresholds rose to €800,000 in high-demand areas (Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini) and €400,000 elsewhere; the old €250,000 entry point now applies only to conversion/restoration projects.
- Malta — no citizenship. The Court of Justice of the EU ruled the citizenship-by-investment programme unlawful.
The result: the most popular route — European residency through buying a property — has largely vanished in the two destinations that made it famous.
What a golden visa never was (and still is not)
Here is the clarification that avoids the wrong decision, and one migration marketing rarely makes.
A golden visa is not citizenship. It is, as a rule, a residence permit — a right to live, with Schengen mobility — that leads to citizenship only after years of actual residence and meeting requirements (language, physical presence, integration). Buying the visa does not buy the passport.
A golden visa is not tax residency. Having the right to live in a country does not automatically make you its tax resident, nor does it disconnect you from your home country’s tax authority. It is the same distinction covered in Legal and tax residency in Uruguay: they are different planes, with different rules.
A golden visa does not settle your home-country exit. Obtaining a European residency does not, by itself, formalise the end of your home tax residence. Without correctly exiting tax residence, your home country keeps taxing your worldwide income — golden visa or not.
A golden visa is a mobility and residency tool, not a tax or estate plan. Confusing it with one is the origin of costly decisions.
A note on responsibility: residency-by-investment programmes, their thresholds, requirements and deadlines change frequently and vary by country; several changed only in the past eighteen months. The rules in this article reflect the picture verified in the official sources in July 2026. No migration decision should be made without confirming the current programme with the official source and, on the home side, without planning tax residence and exit.
What if the goal is tax efficiency, not just mobility?
Worth being direct here. If what the family seeks is mobility and a foothold in Europe, a golden visa (where it still exists) can make sense today — mainly through Portugal (funds) or Greece (property, at a higher level).
But if the goal is tax efficiency and estate organisation, the golden visa is the wrong tool for that question — it does not change your tax residence or settle your home country. In that case, the relevant comparison is not “which golden visa”, but “which real tax residence, with substance, fits my case” — which reopens the comparison with destinations like Uruguay, covered in Uruguay residency: what changed in 2026, and, for those still considering Portugal, with the new IFICI.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still get a Spanish golden visa by buying property?
No. Spain ended its golden visa on 3 April 2025. Existing holders keep their rights; no new applications are accepted.
What about Portugal, by buying property?
Not through property. Portugal removed the real-estate route in 2023. The golden visa continues through funds, innovation and other routes.
Does a golden visa give me European citizenship?
Not automatically. It is a residence permit that can lead to citizenship after years of residence and meeting requirements.
Does it make me a tax resident and take me out of my home country?
No. Legal residence is not tax residence, and a golden visa does not formalise your exit. Without it, your home country keeps taxing your worldwide income.
How to verify for yourself
- End of the Spanish golden visa — Organic Law 1/2025, published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado.
- Portugal’s golden visa (current routes) — Portugal’s migration authority (AIMA) and the Mais Habitação reform.
- Greece’s thresholds and other programmes — the competent authority of each country.
If any point differs from the official source when you read it, the official source prevails.
Where to start
The European golden visa did not die, but it shrank — and the property route that made it popular has largely left the map in the two preferred destinations.
The right question is not “which golden visa do I buy.” It is “what do I actually want — mobility, tax residence, succession — and which tool addresses that, given my home country.” Confusing the three is the classic mistake.
That is what our work in residency and visas and tax residency is about: separating mobility from taxation, and choosing the right tool for each goal.
One conversation is enough to know whether a golden visa solves what you are looking for — or whether your question was a different one.
Informational content. It does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, investment or immigration advice. The rules cited were verified against the official sources indicated in July 2026 and change frequently. Residency programmes require individual analysis and confirmation with the official source.