Digital nomad visa or non-lucrative residence: which authorisation suits your move to Spain?

If you are moving to Spain without a local employment contract, the first decision is not paperwork but substance: will you keep working during your stay, or will you live off rental income, a pension or savings without carrying out any activity here? The answer determines whether you need the international telework visa — commonly known as the digital nomad visa, regulated by Law 14/2013 — or the temporary non-lucrative residence authorisation under Royal Decree 1155/2024. Neither authorisation is "better" in the abstract: it depends on whether you want, or are able, to keep working.

What does each authorisation require, and which one lets you work?

The digital nomad can work; the non-lucrative resident cannot. That is the core of the choice. Article 74 bis.1 of Law 14/2013 defines international telework as remote salaried or professional work for companies based outside Spain: an employee may only work for that foreign company, and a self-employed professional may also bill Spanish clients as long as that work does not exceed 20% of their total professional activity.

Non-lucrative residence is the opposite. Article 61.1 of Royal Decree 1155/2024 defines this status as that of a foreign national authorised to reside in Spain "without carrying out salaried or professional activities." It is not a looser authorisation: it is one that bars work, billing fees or actively running a business on Spanish territory, regardless of where the payer is based.

Non-lucrative residence: what financial means must you prove?

You must show, for yourself, 400% of the monthly IPREM, plus an additional 100% for each dependent family member. This is set by article 62.1 of Royal Decree 1155/2024, which requires "an amount representing, on a monthly basis in euros, 400% of the IPREM" for the main applicant, and 100% of the IPREM per family member, calculated over the period for which the authorisation is requested.

The monthly IPREM for 2023 was fixed at 600 euros by the ninetieth additional provision of Law 31/2022, the 2023 General State Budget Act, and it remains the figure in force in 2026: since no later budget has been approved, article 134.4 of the Spanish Constitution automatically extends the last approved budget. The main applicant must therefore show 2,400 euros a month, plus 600 euros more for each accompanying family member.

Article 62.3 allows these means to be proven through any evidence of solvency: real estate, bank certificates, credit cards with their certified available credit, or foreign account statements showing the previous year's balances. The initial authorisation lasts one year (article 61.4) and also requires health insurance and a clean criminal record (article 61.2).

Digital nomad visa: how does it differ from the telework regime we have already covered?

If you end up choosing to keep working, the income threshold is different and, in 2026, slightly higher for the main applicant: 200% of the minimum interprofessional wage per month, which with the minimum wage of 1,221 euros set by Royal Decree 126/2026 comes to 2,442 euros, compared with 2,400 euros (400% of the IPREM) for non-lucrative residence. We have already explained in detail the requirements, the evidence required from a founder who teleworks for their own company, and the taxation of the digital nomad visa in our guide for founders; we do not repeat it here. The deeper difference from non-lucrative residence is not just the figure: the digital nomad proves a live employment or professional relationship with a foreign company (article 74 ter), while the non-lucrative resident proves no activity at all, only financial solvency.

Does your tax position change depending on which authorisation you choose?

No. Taxation depends on how many days you spend in Spain, not on the type of visa. Article 9.1 of Law 35/2006, the Personal Income Tax Act, treats as a taxpayer anyone who spends more than 183 days of the calendar year in Spanish territory, or whose main centre of economic interests is here, regardless of whether they reside under a telework visa or a non-lucrative authorisation.

The difference does appear, however, when assessing the special regime for inbound workers (the so-called "Beckham regime") under article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act, which we cover in our analysis of that regime after the Startups Act. Article 93.1.b).1º expressly opens it to employees holding an international telework visa. A non-lucrative resident, not relocating for any of the grounds listed in article 93.1.b) — no employment contract, no directorship, no entrepreneurial activity, no highly qualified role — generally has no route into that regime.

What if you later want to work for a Spanish company or set up a business?

Neither authorisation turns, on its own, into a permit to run a business in Spain. If your real purpose is to start, develop or manage an economic activity on Spanish territory, the route provided is the entrepreneur residence authorisation under article 69 of Law 14/2013, which requires a favourable ENISA report under article 70 and lasts three years, renewable for two. Someone already residing under a telework visa can move to this other authorisation if they meet those requirements; someone residing as a non-lucrative resident should consider from the outset whether that is, in fact, their real situation, because non-lucrative residence is not designed for someone who will be working here, even for their own company.

Frequently asked questions

Can I hold non-lucrative residence and still telework remotely for a foreign company?

No. Article 61.1 of Royal Decree 1155/2024 requires that you carry out no salaried or professional activity, without distinguishing whether the payer is in Spain or abroad. If you intend to telework, the authorisation that applies to you is the international telework one, not the non-lucrative one.

Can I switch from non-lucrative residence to the digital nomad visa without leaving Spain?

The law does not prohibit it, but it requires you to then prove the requirements of article 74 ter of Law 14/2013 — a live employment or professional relationship with a foreign company that has been active for at least a year — which you did not have to prove as a non-lucrative resident. It is not an automatic change: it is a new application that must meet its own requirements.

How we help with your residence in Spain at RCM Legal

Some clients choose the wrong authorisation by focusing only on the income threshold rather than on whether, in practice, they will keep working during their stay: a non-lucrative resident who keeps billing clients from their home country breaches the terms of their own authorisation, and a digital nomad who stops teleworking loses the basis for theirs. The right choice depends on your actual working situation, your assets and the tax regime you are aiming for in the medium term, not only on which income figure is easiest to reach.

At RCM Legal, our employment and immigration lawyers in Murcia review your situation, determine whether the digital nomad visa, non-lucrative residence or entrepreneur residence applies to you, and prepare the application and the evidence of financial means before the consular office or the Unit for Large Companies and Strategic Groups. Tell us about your situation and we will point you to the right route.