Tax, economy, and demographics

Dimension	Mexico	Spain
Corporate income tax	30%Very high	25%Very high
Corporate tax basis	WorldwideWorldwide	WorldwideWorldwide
Personal income tax (marginal)	35%Moderate	47%High
Personal tax basis	WorldwideWorldwide	WorldwideWorldwide
Population	133.0 M×2.68	49.6 M
Area	1,964,375 km²×3.88	505,990 km²
Population density	68 /km²	98 /km²
Capital	Mexico City	Madrid
Currency	MXN (Mexican peso)	EUR (Euro)
Main airport	MEX (Mexico City International Airport)	MAD (Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport)
Phone code	+52	+34
Internet TLD	.mx	.es

Visa access controls

Your access

Pick your nationality above to see how long you can stay in each country and whether you need a visa.

Passport power

Mobility strength of each country's passport, useful if you are weighing it as a future citizenship.

Mexico passport

#20

Henley rank

156

Visa-free destinations

• Schengen visa-free

Spain passport

#4

Henley rank

185

Visa-free destinations

• Schengen visa-free
• UK visa-free
• US ESTA
• Canada eTA
• Australia eTA

Verdict

For professionals who prioritize safetyshield index, Spain leads with 8.5 / 10 versus 4.5 / 10 for Mexico. On justice & order index, Spain is at 7.8 / 10 compared with 4.2 / 10 for Mexico.

Frequently asked questions

• Mexico

  Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Mexico without friction?

  Foreign residents can open accounts, convert currency, invest, and acquire most assets in Mexico, but onboarding involves real friction rather than none. Mexican banking is supervised by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), a deconcentrated body of the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP), while the Banco de México acts as the central bank and monetary authority. Major retail banks include Banamex (Banco Nacional de México, separated from Citi México in December 2024), BBVA México, Santander México, Banorte, HSBC México, Scotiabank, and Inbursa. Account opening for foreign residents typically requires a valid passport, a residence document, a Clave Única de Registro de Población (CURP), proof of a Mexican address such as a recent utility bill, and in many cases a Registro Federal de Contribuyentes (RFC) tax registration, with source-of-funds evidence for higher-value or investment accounts, although exact requirements vary by bank and product. Accounts are tiered from Nivel 1 to Nivel 4, where the lower tiers carry monthly deposit limits and Nivel 4 offers full-documentation functionality with no general statutory deposit cap beyond any limit agreed with the bank. Lead times range from same-day digital onboarding to several weeks where enhanced due diligence applies. Private banking and patrimonial segments operate at the major banks, including BBVA Patrimonial, Santander Select, Banorte Banca Patrimonial, and Banamex, alongside international wealth managers present through different vehicles, with UBS running CNBV-regulated entities, Morgan Stanley through a casa de bolsa, and Julius Baer through a representative office. Entry thresholds are set by each institution rather than by a single market-wide minimum, and local patrimonial tiers can start well below the levels associated with offshore private banking. Mexico applies the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) through its tax authority and was not listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a high-risk or increased-monitoring jurisdiction at its February 2026 plenary. Mexico has operated a free-floating exchange-rate regime since December 1994, with no general capital controls, so conversion between United States dollars (USD) and Mexican pesos (MXN) and outbound transfers are freely available in practice, subject to bank-level identity and anti-money-laundering checks, sanctions screening, tax documentation, and transaction reporting. Foreigners may own real estate directly outside the constitutional Restricted Zone, defined under Article 27 of the Constitution as the strip within 100 kilometres of an international border and 50 kilometres of any coastline. Inside that zone, residential acquisition is channelled through a fideicomiso, a 50-year renewable bank trust under which the bank holds legal title and the foreigner is the beneficiary. A Mexican company, including one held entirely by foreign capital, may instead hold property directly inside the Restricted Zone for non-residential purposes, while foreign-owned companies may not acquire residential-use property there. Investment access to the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV) runs through licensed casas de bolsa such as GBM, Actinver, Vector, Monex, Punto Casa de Bolsa, and UBS, among other CNBV-supervised intermediaries, with onboarding speed depending on the brokerage, residence status, tax registration, and compliance review rather than being uniformly same-day. Crypto-assets are not legal tender in Mexico and are not treated as foreign currency under the joint position of the Banco de México, the SHCP, and the CNBV, and Mexican financial institutions are not authorised to offer crypto-asset operations to the public, although non-bank exchanges such as Bitso operate in the retail market, so crypto should not be read as a regulated substitute for bank deposits or securities custody. Mexican tax residents may also carry annual reporting and tax obligations on income earned through foreign entities and transparent foreign vehicles under the controlled-foreign-entity and preferred-tax-regime rules of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR), principally Articles 176 to 178 of its Title VI, filed through the dedicated annual informative return, rather than under a blanket offshore-account disclosure.

• Spain

  Can foreign residents open bank accounts and deploy capital in Spain without friction?

  Spain is a European Union (EU) and euro-area banking jurisdiction operating under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), in which the European Central Bank (ECB) directly supervises significant institutions while the Banco de España oversees less significant banks and macroprudential policy, the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) supervises securities markets and investment services, and Sepblac acts as the financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisory authority. The largest domestic banks by assets are Santander, CaixaBank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and Bankinter, followed by Unicaja, Abanca, Kutxabank and Ibercaja and a layer of cooperative and rural banking groups, while international institutions such as HSBC, Citi, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas operate mainly through corporate, institutional, private banking and wealth management arms rather than full mass-retail networks. Spain applies the EU anti-money laundering framework through Ley 10/2010 of 28 April, with the new EU package of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 and Directive (EU) 2024/1640 taking effect mainly from 10 July 2027 under phased transposition and application dates. Foreign residents and non-residents can open Spanish accounts, but onboarding is risk-based rather than frictionless, with institutions requiring identity documents, proof of resident or non-resident status, the Numero de Identidad de Extranjero (NIE) where applicable, proof of address and evidence of economic activity, and higher-value, private banking, complex-structure, foreign-wealth or politically exposed profiles triggering enhanced due diligence with source-of-funds and source-of-wealth evidence. Processing times are not fixed by law and depend on the institution, the client profile and the completeness of documentation. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting is fully operational. Cryptoassets are legal and taxed under ordinary Spanish rules, and the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework applies, with the CNMV as the competent authority for crypto-asset service provider authorization and the Banco de España retaining functions over e-money and asset-referenced token issuers. The Banco de España legacy provider registry stopped accepting new entries on 30 December 2024, and the Spanish transition window for pre-existing providers runs to 30 June 2026. Capital movements within the EU and between Spain and third countries are free under Article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), subject to anti-money laundering controls, sanctions and tax reporting. Physical means of payment, meaning cash and bearer instruments, must be declared on form S-1 under Article 34 of Ley 10/2010 from EUR 10,000 when entering or leaving Spain and from EUR 100,000 for internal movements within Spanish territory, while bank transfers are not subject to this cash declaration. Spanish tax residents may also face the Modelo 720 informative return on foreign assets above EUR 50,000 per reportable category, covering foreign accounts, securities and rights, and real estate, and the Modelo 721 informative return on cryptoassets situated abroad above EUR 50,000, meaning cryptoassets custodied by non-resident providers, with self-custody wallets outside its scope. Foreign nationals can acquire Spanish real estate without a general nationality-based prohibition, subject to the NIE, tax, anti-money laundering, notarial and land registry formalities. The main exception is the restricted foreign-ownership zones under Ley 8/1975 and Royal Decree 689/1978, which require military authorization and are far broader than isolated military perimeters, covering insular territories, Cartagena, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Bay of Cadiz, the Portuguese and French border areas, Galicia and the Spanish territories in North Africa, with EU citizens exempt from this authorization and European Economic Area (EEA) nationals generally treated as equivalent in practice. Agricultural land carries no general nationality-based restriction but remains subject to ordinary land, planning, environmental and defense-zone rules. Mortgage financing is available to foreign buyers as a matter of market practice rather than right and is profile-dependent, with EU non-residents commonly accessing 60 to 70 percent loan-to-value and non-EU buyers more often 50 to 60 percent, under fixed, variable or mixed structures rather than only Euribor-linked pricing. Capital deployment into Spanish equities, bonds and funds is open to non-residents through regulated intermediaries, and withholding tax can be reduced under an applicable double tax treaty, although treaty relief requires a certificate of tax residence and is not automatic.

• Mexico

  How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Mexico?

  Mexico taxes its fiscal residents on worldwide income, whatever the source of the wealth, an obligation that derives from Article 1 of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR). Tax residency itself is defined in Article 9 of the Codigo Fiscal de la Federacion, which is triggered by a permanent home in Mexico or, for a person with a home in more than one country, by a centre of vital interests in Mexico, meaning that more than 50 percent of the calendar-year income is Mexican-sourced or that the principal centre of professional activities sits there. The federal corporate income tax, the Impuesto sobre la Renta (ISR), is a flat 30 percent under Article 9 LISR with no state-level corporate surcharge. Concessionary corporate regimes available in 2026 include the manufacturing, maquila and export services regime (IMMEX) under the Decreto of 1 November 2006 and Articles 181 to 183 LISR, where a Safe Harbor methodology has been mandatory since fiscal year 2025 after the last advance pricing agreements covered 2020 to 2024. Under Safe Harbor the taxable base is the higher of 6.9 percent of assets used or 6.5 percent of operating costs and expenses, and the resulting effective burden depends on each company's cost, asset and margin structure rather than on any fixed statutory rate. The Regimen Simplificado de Confianza (RESICO) for legal entities, under Articles 206 to 215 LISR, applies cash-basis 30 percent ISR to Mexican-resident corporations with up to MXN 35 million annual revenue and only individual resident shareholders, and allows accelerated investment deduction at the maximum percentages of Article 209 LISR only where total investments in the year do not exceed MXN 3 million, the general Title II percentages applying above that threshold. The Polos de Desarrollo Economico para el Bienestar regime, created by decree in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion of 22 May 2025, grants a 100 percent ISR credit during fiscal years 1 to 3, then 50 percent or up to 90 percent where minimum employment thresholds are exceeded during years 4 to 6, plus 100 percent immediate deduction of new fixed assets through 30 September 2030 and a 100 percent VAT credit on intra-Polo transactions, with 14 Polos approved by the inter-ministerial committee as of May 2025. The Plan Mexico decree, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion of 21 January 2025, layers accelerated depreciation of 41 to 91 percent on new fixed assets acquired in 2025 and 2026 and 35 to 89 percent on assets acquired between 2027 and 30 September 2030, plus a 25 percent additional deduction on the increase in training and innovation expenses for priority sectors anywhere in Mexico. Personal income tax is progressive from 1.92 to 35 percent across 11 brackets under the annual tariff of Article 152 LISR. For 2026 the 35 percent top marginal rate applies to annual taxable income above MXN 5,107,703.93, the bracket published in Annex 8 of the Resolucion Miscelanea Fiscal 2026 (Diario Oficial de la Federacion of 28 December 2025) after the tables were rebased by 13.21 percent for accumulated inflation. The RESICO regime for individuals, under Articles 113-E to 113-J LISR, offers a flat 1.00 to 2.50 percent ISR on gross business, professional or rental income up to MXN 3.5 million annual, with no deductions, and is unavailable to partners or shareholders of legal entities, to related-party transactors and to foreign residents. There is no separate federal wealth tax, no standalone inheritance or gift tax and no general exit tax at the individual level. Inheritances and legacies are exempt from ISR under Article 93 LISR, while gifts are exempt between spouses and in the direct ascending or descending line and other gifts are exempt only up to three times the annual Unidad de Medida y Actualizacion, the excess being taxable. Capital gains realised by resident individuals on listed Mexican shares are taxed at 10 percent under the dedicated regime of Article 129 LISR, computed on net annual gains with brokers reporting and provisionally withholding and the balance settled in the annual return, rather than as a simple final withholding. The standard VAT rate is 16 percent, with an effective 8 percent rate in the Northern Border Zone through a fiscal stimulus that credits half of the tax, and a 0 percent rate on exports. The Ley de Ingresos de la Federacion 2026, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion on 7 November 2025, introduces in its Twenty-Fourth Transitory Article a final 15 percent ISR on legally sourced funds held abroad until 8 September 2025, returned to Mexico no later than 31 December 2026 and kept invested in Mexican productive activities for at least three years, the levy applying to the gross amount without deductions and being definitive. Mexico operates a treaty network of more than 60 jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea and most OECD members, with a foreign tax credit available to residents under Article 5 LISR. Mexico participates in the OECD Inclusive Framework but has not enacted a domestic Pillar Two minimum-tax package, with no qualified domestic minimum top-up tax, income inclusion rule or undertaxed profits rule in force as of May 2026, which leaves Polo and IMMEX entities with potential top-up tax exposure at the level of the ultimate parent jurisdiction.

• Spain

  How does taxation apply to residents and foreign-source income in Spain?

  Spain operates a worldwide taxation system for both companies and individuals, modulated by a dense network of special regimes and the 95 percent participation exemption mechanism. The general corporate income tax (CIT) rate is 25 percent under Ley 27/2014, the Corporate Income Tax Law (LIS), but Ley 7/2024 added a transitional reduced-rate schedule under the new Disposicion Transitoria 44 LIS effective 1 January 2025: microenterprises with turnover below EUR 1 million are taxed on a progressive scale (21 percent on the first EUR 50,000 and 22 percent on the rest in 2025, falling to 17 and 20 percent from 2027), and small companies with turnover below EUR 10 million move from 24 percent in 2025 down to 20 percent by 2029. Emerging companies certified by the Empresa Nacional de Innovacion (ENISA) under Ley 28/2022 are taxed at 15 percent for the first profitable year plus the 3 following, with deferral of CIT payment for the first 2 profitable years and exemption from fractional payments. The Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) under Ley 19/1994 applies a 4 percent corporate rate on income from activities materially carried out in the Canary Islands, capped at EUR 1.8 million plus EUR 500,000 per additional employee above the statutory minimum, requiring at least one Canary-resident director, EUR 100,000 (Tenerife, Gran Canaria) or EUR 50,000 (other islands) of fixed-asset investment within 2 years and 5 or 3 jobs created within 6 months, with new entity registrations authorized until 31 December 2026 and tax benefits available until 31 December 2032 subject to the EU State aid framework. The Patent Box under Article 23 LIS grants a 60 percent reduction on net income from licensing or sale of qualifying intangibles (patents, utility models, legally protected designs and models, and advanced registered software derived from research and development), excluding trademarks, ordinary software, secret formulas and procedures and commercial know-how, under the OECD Modified Nexus Approach, dropping the effective rate to approximately 10 percent. The Entidad de Tenencia de Valores Extranjeros (ETVE) holding regime under Articles 107 to 108 LIS combined with the Article 21 LIS participation exemption taxes qualifying foreign dividends and capital gains at approximately 1.25 percent (5 percent of 25 percent) and exempts outbound distributions to non-resident shareholders. Personal income tax is progressive. The state scale tops at 24.5 percent above EUR 300,000 of general income, and adding the autonomous community scale produces a combined top rate of 47 percent under the default reference, ranging by region from 45 percent in Madrid to 50 percent in Catalonia, 51.5 percent in La Rioja and 54 percent in the Valencian Community. Savings income (dividends, interest, capital gains) is taxed at 19 percent up to EUR 6,000, 21 percent up to EUR 50,000, 23 percent up to EUR 200,000, 27 percent up to EUR 300,000 and 30 percent above, the top bracket having risen from 28 to 30 percent under Ley 7/2024 effective 1 January 2025. The Beckham Law under Article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law (LIRPF), expanded by Ley 28/2022 effective 1 January 2023, allows qualifying inpatriates with no Spanish tax residence in the prior 5 tax years to be taxed under Non-Resident Income Tax (IRNR) rules at a flat 24 percent up to EUR 600,000 and 47 percent above for 6 tax years. Employment and entrepreneurial business income is taxed wherever it arises, while foreign-source passive income such as dividends, interest and capital gains stays outside the Spanish tax net. The 2023 reform extended Beckham to employee digital nomads, entrepreneurs with ENISA certification and highly qualified professionals serving startups, plus spouses and children under 25. Spain levies wealth tax on worldwide assets above EUR 700,000 (with a EUR 300,000 primary residence allowance) and progressive rates from 0.2 to 3.5 percent, with material autonomous community variation. Madrid and Andalusia maintain a 100 percent rebate that neutralizes ordinary wealth tax for net worth below the large-fortune threshold, but since 2023, under Madrid Ley 12/2023 and the equivalent Andalusian measure, that rebate becomes a variable one for taxpayers liable to the federal large-fortune tax, so net worth above EUR 3 million is effectively taxed regionally rather than escaping wealth taxation. The Balearic Islands raised their exemption to EUR 3 million effective 1 January 2024 and Valencia to EUR 1 million, while Catalonia maintains a EUR 500,000 exemption with the highest progressive rates. The Impuesto Temporal de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas (ITSGF), introduced for the 2022 and 2023 tax years as a federal anti-arbitrage floor on net worth above EUR 3 million and extended by Real Decreto-ley 8/2023 until wealth taxation is reformed within the regional financing system, applies regardless of region with credit for regional wealth tax paid. Inheritance and gift tax applies with major regional variation, effectively near-zero for close family in Madrid, Andalusia and the Valencian Community (the last through a 99 percent bonus on Groups I and II since 28 May 2023 under Ley 6/2023), while Catalonia and a few other communities such as Asturias can remain materially more expensive for larger estates depending on the relationship and estate size. Capital gains on principal residence sale are exempt under reinvestment rules. Spain has an extensive double tax treaty network covering all major OECD jurisdictions, comprehensive Latin American coverage given language and historical ties, and full Parent-Subsidiary and Interest-Royalties Directive access within the EU.

• Mexico

  What long-term residence options exist in Mexico for internationally mobile individuals?

  Mexico operates a consular Temporary Residency route (Residente Temporal, Article 52(VII) of the Ley de Migración) for stays of more than 180 days and up to 4 years, alongside a direct Permanent Residency route for retired or pensioned applicants (Residente Permanente, Article 54(III)). The Acuerdo published by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 25 July 2025 rebased the economic solvency thresholds onto multiples of the Unidad de Medida y Actualización (UMA), the daily reference unit set at MXN 117.31 from 1 February 2026. Temporary Residency by economic solvency offers four main routes. The income route requires monthly employment or pension income above 680 UMA (about MXN 79,771) over the previous 6 months. The savings route requires an average monthly bank or investment balance of 11,460 UMA (about MXN 1,344,373) over the previous 12 months. The real estate route requires ownership of Mexican property worth more than 91,710 UMA (about MXN 10,758,500). The investment route requires qualifying investment above 45,850 UMA (about MXN 5,378,664), which may be evidenced through capital participation in a Mexican legal entity, transfer of assets or rights to the company, qualifying fixed assets used for business activity, or documentation proving economic or business activity in Mexico. The visa is issued for a single entry, the residence card must be requested before the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) within 30 calendar days of entry, and it is granted for 1 year initially, renewable up to a cumulative 4 years. Family members may qualify through family unity, with an additional economic solvency requirement of 220 UMA (about MXN 25,808) per dependent, which is a means test rather than a fee. Direct Permanent Residency is available to retired or pensioned applicants who show either an average monthly bank or investment balance of 45,850 UMA (about MXN 5,378,664) over the previous 12 months, or pension income above 1,140 UMA (about MXN 133,733) per month over the previous 6 months, granting indefinite stay from issuance of the card. Spouses or common-law partners of Mexican nationals fall under Article 56 and are not documented directly as permanent residents. They are first granted Temporary Residency for 2 years, after which they may change to Permanent Residency if the marital or common-law link subsists. The same 2-year sequence applies to spouses of foreign permanent residents under Article 55. Employer-sponsored Temporary Residency runs under Article 52(VII), through a visa authorisation promoted before the INM by a Mexican employer holding a valid employer registration (Constancia de Inscripción del Empleador). A points-based Permanent Residency is codified under Article 57, but its implementing dispositions are not operational in a clearly defined way under current published rules. The Ley Federal de Derechos amendment published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 7 November 2025 raised INM card fees sharply from 1 January 2026, with the 1-year temporary residence card rising to MXN 11,140.74, approximately double the main 2025 reference amount. A 50 percent fee reduction applies where residency rests on family unity, a national employment offer by a registered employer, or an invitation by a public or private organisation for unpaid activity. A temporary-to-permanent pathway therefore carries an indicative cumulative INM cost in the region of MXN 47,500 to 60,000 depending on the renewal sequence, before consular fees, translations and ancillary costs, rather than a single fixed amount. Naturalisation is generally available after 5 years of legal residence under the Ley de Nacionalidad, reduced to 2 years for nationals of Latin American countries or of the Iberian Peninsula, and for spouses of Mexican nationals who meet the residence and cohabitation conditions. Dual nationality should be treated with care. Mexican nationality by birth is strongly protected, but naturalised Mexicans are subject to specific renunciation and protestation requirements and to constitutional grounds for loss of Mexican nationality by naturalisation, so foreign nationals keeping another citizenship should confirm their position before naturalising.

• Spain

  What long-term residence options exist in Spain for internationally mobile individuals?

  Spain offers four particularly relevant long-term residence routes for internationally mobile non-EU nationals, following the abolition of the Golden Visa on 3 April 2025 by Ley Orgánica 1/2025 of 2 January 2025, which left Articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013 without content rather than formally repealing them. The Digital Nomad Visa (DNV), created by the Ley 28/2022 Startup Act in force since 23 December 2022 and codified in Chapter V bis of Ley 14/2013, is the canonical route for non-EU remote workers and freelancers serving foreign companies. It requires a 2026 minimum income of EUR 2,849 per month for the main applicant, equal to 200 percent of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI) on its annualized 12-payment basis of EUR 1,424.50 per month, the SMI itself being set at EUR 1,221 per month over 14 payments by Royal Decree 126/2026, with EUR 1,069 added for the first dependent and EUR 356 for each additional family member. Applicants must hold a degree from a recognized institution or document at least 3 years of relevant professional experience, and salaried applicants may work only for companies located outside Spain while self-employed applicants may bill Spanish clients for no more than 20 percent of their total professional activity. The DNV consular visa under Article 74 quater is valid for up to 1 year, and within 60 calendar days before its expiry the holder may apply in Spain through the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE) for the residence authorization under Article 74 quinquies, valid for up to 3 years and renewable in 2-year periods, with eligibility for long-term residence after 5 years of continuous legal residence. The Non-Lucrative Visa, now governed by Articles 61 to 64 of Royal Decree 1155/2024, the general immigration regulation in force since 20 May 2025 that replaced Royal Decree 557/2011, targets retirees and financially independent individuals with sufficient savings, assets or periodic income and no work permitted in Spain. It requires 400 percent of the Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples (IPREM), equal to EUR 28,800 per year, plus 100 percent of the IPREM, equal to EUR 7,200 per year, for each dependent. Initial validity is 1 year and renewals run in 2-year periods, with renewal conditioned since the 2025 reform on having resided in Spain for more than 183 days in the calendar year under Article 64.2.f of the regulation. The Highly Qualified Professional permit under Article 71 of Ley 14/2013, as amended by Ley 11/2023 transposing Directive (EU) 2021/1883, is the fast-track salaried route, processed by the UGE-CE within 20 working days with approval by positive administrative silence if no decision is issued, valid for 3 years and renewable for 2 years, the 2023 reform having removed the former employer size and turnover thresholds. The Entrepreneur Visa under Article 69 of Ley 14/2013 requires a favorable report from the Empresa Nacional de Innovación (ENISA) assessing the innovation, scalability and viability of the project. There is no fixed statutory minimum capital, the authorization is valid for 3 years and renewable for 2 years, and family members may apply jointly and obtain residence and work rights, with their status remaining linked to the principal holder. All four routes count toward long-term residence after 5 years of continuous legal residence and toward Spanish citizenship after 10 years, reduced to 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and Sephardic Jews of Spanish origin, provided the residence is legal, continuous and immediately prior to the application. Existing Golden Visa holders are unaffected by the abolition, since applications filed before 3 April 2025 continue under the prior rules and authorizations already granted retain their validity and may be renewed under the rules in force at the time of the original grant.

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