Spain’s proposed 100% tax on residential purchases by foreign buyers is a bill, not law. Announced in January 2025, it remained a proposición de ley in parliament at 1 August 2026. As drafted it targets non-EU, non-resident buyers only. EU and EEA citizens — Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Icelandic — fall outside its scope.
What was actually proposed
In January 2025 the Spanish government announced a proposal to apply a tax of up to 100% on residential property purchases by buyers who are both non-EU nationals and non-resident in Spain. It was reported worldwide within hours.
What happened after the announcement matters more than the announcement itself. The measure was introduced as a proposición de ley — a parliamentary bill. As of 1 August 2026, that is still what it is. It has not been enacted, it has no commencement date I can point to, and there is no verified published text I am willing to link to and describe as final. A bill can be amended substantially before a vote, withdrawn, or left to sit, and I am not going to guess at which applies here.
The practical consequence is narrow and worth stating flatly: nothing about the taxes payable on a Spanish property purchase changed as a result of this proposal. A buyer completing today pays what buyers completing before January 2025 paid.
Who the proposal would and would not affect
The table below sets out the position by buyer category. It describes the proposal as drafted, not the law. Nothing in it is in force at 1 August 2026, and the categories reflect the measure as announced in January 2025 and as it stood in parliament when this article was checked on 1 August 2026. If the bill is amended, the categories can change.
| Buyer category | Position under the proposal as drafted (not law) |
|---|---|
| EU citizen, not resident in Spain — e.g. Danish, Swedish, Finnish, German, Dutch, French | Outside scope. The proposal is directed at non-EU nationals |
| EEA citizen, not resident in Spain — Norwegian, Icelandic, Liechtenstein | Outside scope. EEA states are treated with EU states for these purposes in the proposal as described |
| EU or EEA citizen, legally resident in Spain | Outside scope on both limbs — neither non-EU nor non-resident |
| Non-EU citizen, not resident in Spain — principally British, American, Swiss, Middle Eastern and other third-country buyers | The intended target of the measure |
| Non-EU citizen, legally resident in Spain | Outside scope as drafted, because the measure is framed around non-residents. The definition of residence that would apply has not been confirmed in a text I have verified |
| Spanish national, resident or non-resident | Outside scope |
| Purchases through a company or other legal entity | Not stated. I have not seen a verified provision dealing with corporate purchasers and will not characterise one |
For this site’s readership the row that matters is the first one. A Danish, Swedish or Finnish buyer is an EU citizen. A Norwegian or Icelandic buyer is an EEA citizen. On the proposal as drafted, none of them is within its scope, resident in Spain or not. That is not a favourable reading — it is what the measure says it applies to.
The legal objections
Published legal analysis has argued that the proposal, if enacted in the form announced, would conflict both with the Spanish Constitution and with EU law. Two broad families of objection are made.
The constitutional objection concerns the principles governing how Spain may tax. Spanish constitutional doctrine constrains the tax system by reference to equality and to the requirement that a levy be proportionate rather than effectively confiscatory. A charge of up to 100% of the value of the transaction invites the argument that it is not a tax on a purchase at all but a prohibition dressed as one — and a prohibition is a different legal instrument, subject to different tests.
The EU law objection concerns free movement of capital, which is the freedom that governs cross-border property investment. Its distinguishing feature is that it is not confined to movements between member states, which is precisely why a measure aimed at third-country nationals does not automatically escape EU scrutiny by pointing at the nationality of the people it burdens.
I set out both objections as arguments that have been made, not as conclusions. They have not been tested, because there is no enacted text to test them against, and a court would in any case be ruling on a final statute rather than on a January 2025 press announcement. Anyone who tells you confidently that the measure is unlawful is describing an expectation, not a judgment.
This is not the Golden Visa, and the two are constantly confused
Spain abolished the Golden Visa — residency by property investment of €500,000 — in April 2025, three months after the 100% tax was announced. The proximity of the two events has fused them in a great deal of commentary. They are entirely separate measures, and the distinction is not academic.
The Golden Visa was a residency route, not a purchase right. Its abolition removed a mechanism by which a non-EU national could obtain Spanish residency on the strength of a €500,000 property investment. It did not restrict anyone’s right to buy Spanish property, and it did not change what any buyer pays. A non-EU buyer who has no interest in Spanish residency was unaffected by it in every practical sense.
EU and EEA citizens were never affected at all, for the straightforward reason that free movement already gave them the right to buy property in Spain and to live there. The Golden Visa was never a route they needed. A Danish or Norwegian buyer reading that Spain “closed the door to foreign buyers in 2025” is reading about a door they never used.
The two also differ in status. The Golden Visa abolition is done — it happened, in April 2025, and it is the law. The 100% tax has not happened. Treating them as one wave of restriction produces a picture of the Spanish market that is inaccurate in both directions.
What a non-EU buyer’s position actually is today
A non-EU, non-resident buyer can buy residential property in Spain today on the same legal basis as before January 2025. There is no citizenship restriction on ownership, no approval requirement tied to nationality, and no surcharge in force arising from the proposal. The purchase runs through the same process described in our guide to buying property on the Costa del Sol.
The taxes that apply are the ones that already applied: transfer tax on a resale, or VAT and stamp duty on a new-build, plus notary, registry and legal costs. I am not going to quote rates here. Transfer tax is set regionally, the applicable rate depends on the property, the buyer and the region, and I have not verified current rates to the standard this site holds itself to for the purposes of this article. The breakdown, with the caveats attached, sits in our article on the real cost of buying property in Marbella — use that rather than a number remembered from a headline.
For buyers who are relocating rather than investing, none of this touches the residency question in the way the coverage implies. The practical issues — schooling, timing, tax residence in the year of the move — are set out in our guide to moving to Marbella with a family, and they are the same issues they were two years ago.
Foreign demand in Spain has in fact been softening rather than surging. According to the Consejo General del Notariado, foreigners bought 66,629 homes in Spain in H2 2025, down 4.4% year on year, representing 18.4% of all home sales against 19.5% in H2 2024 and 20.9% in 2023. The Colegio de Registradores put the foreign-buyer share for Spain at 13.5% in Q4 2025 — a different measure on a different basis — with Málaga province at 31.1%, third in the country. Marbella is the outlier the coast is known for, and we look at why in our article on foreign buyers in Spain in 2026 and the Marbella exception.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. The position on any specific property, and on your own residence status, should be confirmed with a Spanish lawyer or asesor fiscal before you commit.
Common questions
Can foreigners still buy property in Spain in 2026?
Yes. There is no restriction on foreign ownership of Spanish residential property at 1 August 2026, for any nationality. The 100% tax proposal announced in January 2025 remains a bill and is not in force, and the Golden Visa abolition in April 2025 changed a residency route rather than the right to buy.
Does this affect Danish or Norwegian buyers?
No, not as the proposal is drafted. Denmark is an EU member state and Norway is an EEA state, and the measure is directed at non-EU, non-resident buyers. Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic buyers are in the same position. Since nothing is in force in any case, the question is currently hypothetical for every nationality.
Has the 100% tax been approved?
No. At 1 August 2026 it is a proposición de ley — a bill before the Spanish parliament — and has been since it was announced in January 2025. It has not been enacted and has no commencement date. I will not predict whether it passes, in what form, or when; there is no honest basis for doing so.
Is the Golden Visa still available?
No. Spain abolished residency by property investment of €500,000 in April 2025. That closed a residency route used by non-EU nationals. It never applied to EU or EEA citizens, who already hold the right to live and buy in Spain under free movement, and it never restricted anyone’s ability to purchase property.
Does the proposal apply to British or American buyers?
As drafted, a British or American buyer who is not resident in Spain would fall within the category the measure targets. That is a statement about a bill, not about a liability: nothing is payable, because nothing is in force. A British or American buyer completing a purchase today pays the taxes that applied before January 2025.
Sources
- Consejo General del Notariado, statistics centre — semi-annual report on property purchases by foreigners, published 9 April 2026, data for H2 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Colegio de Registradores — Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria, Q4 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Status of the proposal — the measure was announced in January 2025 and remained a proposición de ley before the Spanish parliament when checked on 1 August 2026. No verified published bill text is linked here, because I have not confirmed one; the status statement should be re-checked before it is relied on.
- Golden Visa abolition — residency by property investment of €500,000 abolished April 2025. Status checked 1 August 2026.
- Legal objections — summarised from published legal analysis arguing conflict with the Spanish Constitution and with EU law. Characterised generally; no individual analysis is reproduced or endorsed here.
If you want the position on a specific purchase rather than the position in general, get in touch.