Spain is one of the most popular destinations for visitors from around the world, with over 100 million people visiting the country in 2022. However, anyone visiting Spain must comply with the entry requirements and visa regulations Spain set for the maximum legal period that tourists can stay in the country – known as the 90 day rule or 90/180 day rule.
Visitors from certain European countries can travel freely due to relaxed borders between parts of Europe, but international visitors travelling to Spain from other places – with some exemptions – will need a specific visa.
Non-EU nationals who don’t benefit from agreements between European nations need to apply for a valid travel document before entering Spain, which will also grant freedom to roam within specified countries for a limited time. However, travelling or staying in Spain without a visa or after its expiry can have serious consequences.
To help you stay informed, ensuring you stay on the right side of international laws and keep your travel paperwork in order, this blog explains everything you need to know about why visitors can only stay in Spain for 90 days within every 180 days – and what you should do if you want to stay in Spain for longer than this 90 day period without getting in trouble.
What is the 90/180 day rule for the Schengen Area?
The Schengen Area covers 25 European Union countries that allow free movement between their mutual borders – one of which is Spain. The majority of EU countries are Schengen member states, with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus.
Nationals of these European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries can travel through and stay in the Schengen Area visa-free. If they are not from a Schengen member state, visitors from other countries will face much more complicated Spanish regulations, including the 90 day rule.
This means that non-EU nationals and non-EEA citizens wanting to stay in a Schengen country or travel through the zone must obtain a short-stay tourist visa. This short-term visa allows non-EU citizens to stay within the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days within a 180 day period, typically for tourism, studying, volunteering, or business trips.
Once the three months allowed by the Schengen visa has passed, you must leave the Schengen Area and cannot return to any countries within it on a new visa until 180 days have passed from the previous visa’s date of issue.
This is because there is a limit on Schengen visas that only allows non-EU/EEA nationals to spend a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen Area out of any 180 day period.
How does the 90 day rule work in Spain?
The 90 days on a Schengen visa don’t have to be consecutive – for example, you could spend a few weeks in Spain, a few weeks in France, and a few weeks in Italy within the 3 months allowed, with gaps in between each stay.
If you spend 90/180 days in the same Schengen country, like Spain, the 90/180 day rule still applies, meaning that after you leave Spain, you can’t visit any other Schengen country until the next 180 day period.
Once you have reached the 90/180 day limit, you must return to your country of origin. Of course, you’re free to travel to any non-Schengen countries as long as you comply with their laws, but you cannot return to Spain or the Schengen Area on the same type of visa within the same 180 day period.
If you want to keep travelling to Spain on short-term visas, the maximum number of days you can stay in the country in a single year is 180 days out of the whole year, split into 90 day periods within each six month period.
If you wanted to extend your stay in Spain, you would still need to return home in compliance with the 90 day rule. You can then follow the application process for an appropriate visa at your country’s Spanish embassy, which would allow you to legally come back to Spain and obtain a residence permit for a longer stay.
What happens if you overstay on a Schengen visa?
If you break the 90 day rule and don’t leave the Schengen Area completely when your 90 days are up – meaning the entire zone, not just moving from one Schengen country to another – then you are officially overstaying your Schengen visa. This means you’re breaking international law, and there will be legal consequences.
Some Schengen countries are more lenient than others and simply instruct overstayers to leave right away, but others may be stricter about enforcing the penalties for overstaying after your visa has expired. The possible consequences for staying in Spain or the Schengen Area for more than 90/180 days include:
- Fines – Depending on the country and how long you’ve overstayed, you could be made to pay a fine of anything from 500€ to 10,000€. This penalty may be combined with an entry ban.
- Deportation – EU countries can give you a limited number of days to leave, or they will officially deport you. This tends to only happen if you are working or claiming benefits without a valid visa.
- Entry ban – You can be banned from re-entering if you overstay for a significant length of time, especially if you commit a crime during this time. The ban can last for 3 years or longer.
- Prison – Overstaying on an expired visa can lead to a jail sentence of 6 months-1 year or more, which is more likely if you overstay in order to work and earn money without a work permit.
Authorities will know whether you’ve overstayed, because third-country nationals must get their passports scanned or stamped on entering or leaving any country. The EU Council is also enforcing a new Entry/Exit System (EES), which creates ‘smart’ border checks using pre-registration of the traveller’s information, including biometric data.
How long can you stay in Spain if you own a property there?
You don’t need to be a Spanish resident to buy and own property in Spain – Spanish property rights aren’t dependent on residency status. Anyone from any country can buy Spanish property.
To complete a property transaction, you don’t need a residency visa. You just need an identification number – an NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjeros) or TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero).
That said, your nationality and immigration status do affect the time you can spend in the country staying in your Spanish property. If you use a Schengen short-stay visa to visit your holiday home in Spain, the 90 day rule still applies, so you must bear this in mind when planning your trips for a hassle-free experience.
Remember that any time you spend in any Schengen country within the given 180 day period counts towards your 90 day limit. For example, tourists often travel from the UK through France to get to Spain by car or public transport, but this time spent travelling through to Spain would be included.
Similarly, if you have properties in other Schengen countries, the 90 day rule applies to all of them, so you would have to split your time between them carefully to ensure your total stay doesn’t exceed 90 days.
If you wanted to stay in Spain for longer than 90 days at a time, you would have to apply for a different visa from the Spanish consulate in your home country and travel to Spain to get a residence permit, though changes to Spanish immigration processes could introduce completely digital applications soon.
The type of visa you would require depends on your planned activity – e.g. tourism, studying, working, family reunification, etc.
How long can you stay in Spain without becoming a resident?
The short-stay visa only allows you to reside in Spain for up to 90 days at a time out of every 180 days, or a maximum of around 180 days a year. This is fine if your trips will be no longer than three months at a time, no more than twice a year.
However, if you want to spend more than six months a year in Spain, you can’t do so on a Schengen visa, so you’ll need to apply for a long-stay visa before visiting the country. You can spend up to 183 days a year in Spain, consecutive or not, without becoming a long-term resident or tax resident.
To spend this amount of days or more in Spain legally, you’ll need a temporary residence visa, which will allow you to say in Spain for up to 1 year. This residence permit will be renewable every 2 years for up to 5 years under certain conditions, depending on whether you will be financially self-sufficient or not.
Even if you get a temporary residence visa that allows you to visit Spain for as long as you like, whenever you like, you should also consider tax residency. If you stay in Spain for more than 183 days a year, the authorities will consider you a resident for tax purposes, which would make you liable for a range of taxes in Spain.
People with temporary residency permits who only stay in Spain for less than 183 days a year will be classed as non-tax residents. This doesn’t mean you won’t be eligible for any taxes at all, though – especially if you own a property in Spain.
You’ll still have to pay an annual municipal tax on the property (known as IBI) and file an income tax return in Spain, as the authorities will consider the property a taxable benefit.
Which visa do you need to stay in Spain more than 90 days?
To get around the 90/180 rule and live in Spain for longer and more frequent periods, you’ll need to look into potential immigration routes. Even if you don’t intend to live in Spain full-time, year-round, you can still benefit from greater freedom of movement with a temporary residence permit. There is a range of Spanish visas available for different purposes, including:
- Employment Visa – for non-EU/EEA citizens who want to work and earn money in Spain.
- Golden Visa – for non-EU/EEA investors who can make significant approved investments in Spain (including real estate, businesses, innovative research, and government debt).
- Digital Nomad Visa – a new option for non-EU/EEA citizens to live in Spain temporarily while earning income from working remotely for foreign employers or clients.
The right long-term visa for you depends on your situation and what you want to do while staying in Spain. It’s also important to not confuse temporary residency with Spanish citizenship rights, and to understand the tax implications of living in Spain – even if it’s only part-time.
Get help applying for a Spanish visa
Should you need legal guidance on such matters, Manzanares Lawyers can assist with a range of legal worries, from visa applications to Spanish real estate and non-resident tax in Spain.
Give our office a call on +34 952 82 41 12 (Marbella) or +34 952 59 50 42 (Alhaurín) to speak to our team. Beyond the Costa del Sol, we also have an office in the Balearic Islands, where you can call us on +34 971 30 31 32 (Ibiza).
Alternatively, you can email your enquiry to us at clientservices@manzanareslawyers.com, and we will respond as soon as we can to explain what you need to know about Spanish visas and how our services can help you achieve seamless travel or permanent residence in Spain.
After reading through the information in this blog and the FAQs below, you should have a clearer idea of what you can and can’t do when travelling to Spain as a tourist and the limitations imposed by the 90 day rule.
