For now, the Golden Visa is still in effect in our country. What is going to happen?
4 Noviembre, 2025
The words of the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Sánchez, still resonate in the minds of thousands of foreign citizens since yesterday, April 8th, when he publicly stated that the Council of Ministers would analyze today a report presented by the Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Ms. Isabel Rodríguez, to modify the Law approved by the PP Government in 2013 and thus eliminate the Golden Visa.
The Golden Visa, correctly called the investor residence visa, is a type of visa that allows foreigners to access the residency regime when they invest more than 500,000 euros in real estate in Spain. It is detailed in Articles 63 and following of Law 14/2013, of September 27, on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalization.
Specifically, the head of the government stated yesterday, "We are going to eliminate the granting of the Golden Visa, which allows access to the residency regime when investing more than 500,000 euros in real estate," and "we are going to take the necessary measures to ensure that housing is a right and not merely speculative business."
However, despite the panic that has spread in many sectors, this 'elimination' is not, to say the least, simple to carry out.
Firstly, it must be noted that what we experienced yesterday are simply non-binding statements. The Council of Ministers was going to analyze today the proposal to eliminate this visa, but there is still nothing official, and that is because the process of amending a law is anything but swift.
The government submits the draft bill to the Congress Desk along with an explanatory statement. The Desk orders the publication of the text in the Official Gazette of the General Courts, sends the draft bill to the relevant committee based on the topic it addresses, and opens a period - extendable - of 15 business days for parliamentary groups to submit amendments.
If any party submits comprehensive amendments, a plenary session is held where deputies will vote on them. For them to be approved, the support of a simple majority is required.
Subsequently, the drafting committee, deliberation, drafting of the report, and voting take place. The report is approved if it also has the support of the simple majority of the Chamber. The draft bill is then sent to the Senate.
The upper house receives the draft bill approved by the Congress and assigns it to the competent committee, being able to take three actions: ratify it in the same terms, introduce amendments, or veto the text by an absolute majority.
If the law is finally approved, it is sanctioned and promulgated by the King and then published in the Official State Gazette.
The time for this process, on average, is not less than six months.
As we have seen, there is a perfectly real possibility that the Senate may not pass this law reform or may pass it with many nuances. What is certain is that it is not a swift or straightforward process. However, if this total elimination were to ultimately occur, there is still a legal concept called non-retroactivity.
Non-retroactivity refers to the prohibition of applying the effects of a rule or legal act to situations or facts that arose before its entry into force. This means that those who obtained their residency visa through real estate investment or "Golden Visa" before the law eliminating it comes into effect could continue to enjoy it without any issues.
In conclusion, although it is indeed a very striking piece of news, it is still too early to say what will happen with the future of migration policy in Spain, and if it were to occur, there would be a million variables to consider. However, if you are thinking of carrying out this type of procedure or any similar related matter, our recommendation is to start it as soon as possible, so as not to get caught up in the entire process of transitioning laws, as for the moment this procedure remains in force.
