Spain · Last updated: September 22, 2026 · Last verified: September 2026

Moving to Spain from Canada

How Canadians move to Spain today: the non-lucrative visa, the digital nomad visa, youth mobility, work and study routes, plus 2026 income thresholds.

Short answer: Canadians can visit Spain for up to 90 days without a visa, but living there means a long-stay visa. The main routes are the non-lucrative visa for people who will not work, the digital nomad visa for remote workers, youth mobility for ages 18 to 35, work visas, and study. Spain’s Golden Visa for investors ended on April 3, 2025.

The Main Routes at a Glance

The Golden Visa is gone. Spain stopped granting investor residence permits on April 3, 2025, when Organic Law 1/2025 repealed the investor route. Buying property no longer leads to residence.

The Non-Lucrative Visa

This is the usual route for retirees and people living on savings, pensions, or investment income.

• Money: Spain requires funds or regular income equal to 400% of the IPREM, a public reference figure, for the main applicant, plus 100% of the IPREM for each family member. For 2026, lawyers put this at about €2,400 a month (about €28,800 a year) for one person, plus about €600 a month per family member. Savings can count.
• No work: This visa does not allow you to work in Spain. If you plan to work remotely, the digital nomad visa is the route designed for that.
• Health insurance: You need private health insurance that covers you in Spain, and the detail matters here. The policy has to come from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, with full coverage and no co-payments. Travel-style or standard international policies are one of the most common reasons applications get rejected, so confirm your policy meets the requirement before you apply.
• Where to apply: At the Spanish consular office that covers where you live in Canada.
• How long it lasts: An initial one-year permit, then renewals if you keep meeting the conditions.

Planning to retire? See retiring in Europe from Canada. If you are weighing Spain against Portugal, the closest equivalent is Portugal’s D7 visa, which has a much lower income bar, so it is worth comparing the two before you commit.

The Digital Nomad Visa

Spain’s international telework visa is for people who work remotely for employers or clients outside Spain.

• Income: At least 200% of Spain’s minimum wage for the main applicant, plus 75% of the minimum wage for the first family member and 25% for each additional one.
• The 2026 figure depends on who calculates it. A Spanish consular page lists about €2,442 a month. Calculations based on the annual minimum wage, which Spain pays in 14 installments, come to about €2,850 a month. Plan for the higher figure.
• Your work: Immigration lawyers report that your employer or client relationship should be at least three months old, a foreign employer should have been operating for at least a year, and freelancers can earn no more than 20% of their income from Spanish clients.
• Where to apply: At a Spanish consulate before you move, which gives a one-year visa, or from inside Spain if you are there legally, which can give a longer residence permit.
• Social security: Your social security coverage must be set up correctly, either through your home system or by registering in Spain. This trips up applicants more than anything else, so get advice on it early.

Developers are the most common applicants. See tech jobs in Europe for how this route compares with taking a local job.

Portugal’s digital nomad visa (D8) is the direct equivalent, though its income bar is higher, so remote workers choosing between the two should compare the thresholds.

Youth Mobility: If You Are 18 to 35

Spain and Canada have a youth mobility agreement. According to Spain’s consulates in Canada, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen with a valid Canadian passport who lives in Canada, and
• be 18 to 35 when you apply.

It covers several situations, including a working holiday (travel with casual work or volunteering), pre-arranged jobs for professional development, and internships for Canadian post-secondary students. Spain sets an annual quota for Canadians, so apply early. You apply at the Spanish consular office for your area. See also working holidays in Europe.

Working and Studying

• Work visas: Most people need a Spanish job offer. Highly qualified professionals have a faster route that the employer usually starts, and the EU Blue Card covers higher-skilled roles above a salary threshold. See the employer and Blue Card checklist.
• Freelancing in Spain: Registering as self-employed brings monthly social security contributions and quarterly tax filings. Budget for the admin as well as the money.
• Study: A student visa requires admission to a Spanish program. See the study route checklist.

Health Care, Taxes, and Pensions

• Health care: Plan for private insurance at first. Your provincial coverage will usually end if you are away for an extended period, so check your province’s rules.
• Taxes: You generally become a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain, and Spanish tax residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income. Special regimes exist for some new arrivals, but they have conditions and deadlines, so plan the tax side before you move. Moving does not automatically end your Canadian tax obligations. See leaving Canada: tax residency explained, and get cross-border tax advice.
• Pensions: Canada and Spain have a social security agreement that can help you qualify for benefits in both countries.

Staying Long Term

• Permanent residence: Long-term residence generally becomes possible after five years of legal residence.
• Citizenship: For Canadians, Spanish citizenship by residence generally requires 10 years of legal residence. Some other nationalities have shorter periods, but Canada is not one of them.

After You Arrive

• Get your residence card (TIE) after you arrive. Deadlines are short, so book early.
• Register with your town hall (the “empadronamiento”). You will need it for many other steps.
• Expect paperwork in Spanish. Canadian documents usually need an apostille and an official translation, and many must be recent. Missing apostilles, missing translations, and documents past their age limit are common reasons for refusal.
• Processing varies by place. Spain is highly decentralized, so paperwork and appointment availability differ between consulates and between regions.

Use the Spain relocation checklist to plan each step.

Do the Canada-EU Talks Change Any of This?

No. The proposal to make Canada an EU “associate member” has not changed Spanish visa rules. See what associate membership would mean for Canadians, or take the pathway quiz.

After the October 2026 summit: Canada and the EU committed to define a closer association, short of EU membership, by their 2027 summit, and to open talks on Erasmus+ and mobility. None of it changes visa, residence, or citizenship rules today. What the summit decided.

Official Sources

• Consulate General of Spain in Toronto: Youth mobility visa
• Consulate General of Spain in Montreal: Youth mobility visa
• Spanish consular services: Non-lucrative residence visa (example consulate page, in Spanish)
• Spanish consular services: Telework (digital nomad) visa (example consulate page)
• Government of Canada: Travel advice for Spain

This guide is informational only and is not legal, immigration, or tax advice. Spanish requirements change often, and income thresholds are updated most years. Always confirm current requirements with the Spanish consular office for your area, and consult a licensed immigration lawyer or regulated consultant before making plans.

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