Spain vs Greece Property Investment Investor Guide

Quick answer: Since 3 April 2025 these two countries answer different questions. Greece still sells residency through property; Spain does not. If residency is your objective, the comparison is effectively decided before you look at a single apartment. If it is not, Spain’s transaction depth and resale liquidity are the stronger case, and Greece’s residency thresholds become an irrelevant constraint you would be paying for.

The fork: what each country is actually offering

Spain closed the real-estate route to its Golden Visa on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025. Buying property in Spain, at any price, confers no residency right. Existing holders retain rights under the prior programme, and residency now runs through separate channels: the Digital Nomad Visa, the Non-Lucrative Visa, or EU free movement where it applies.

Greece continues to grant renewable residence permits for qualifying property investment, but the thresholds moved sharply under Law 5100/2024 and the qualifying conditions tightened with them.

	Spain	Greece
Residency via property	Closed since 3 April 2025	Available, at raised thresholds
Threshold	Not applicable	€800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and larger islands; €400,000 elsewhere; €250,000 only for change-of-use or listed-building restoration
Minimum property size	Not applicable	A single unit of at least 120 sq m
Letting the qualifying property	Not applicable	Short-term letting of visa stock is prohibited
Market depth	714,237 transactions in 2025	Materially thinner
Foreign-buyer participation	13.82% nationally, 43.29% in Alicante	Concentrated in a few island and Athens markets

The prohibition in that fifth row deserves emphasis. Greek visa-qualifying property cannot be short-let. A buyer purchasing at €400,000 or €800,000 for residency is therefore holding a capital asset that cannot be monetised the way most Mediterranean second homes are, which changes the return profile fundamentally and is frequently omitted from comparisons.

If residency is the objective

Then Greece is the country that offers it and Spain is not, and no feature of a Spanish property changes that. What deserves scrutiny is the cost of the route rather than its existence.

At €400,000 outside the premium zones, or €800,000 within them, you are committing capital to an asset chosen for its threshold rather than its investment merit, in a market with thinner resale depth, with a prohibition on short letting, and with a 120 square metre minimum that rules out the compact units that usually let best. The residency has a price and that price is the difference between what you would otherwise have bought and what you must buy.

The alternative worth weighing is Spain’s non-investment routes. The Digital Nomad Visa grants residency on remote income rather than on capital, with no property purchase required at all, and the Non-Lucrative Visa on passive income. Both leave you free to buy whatever property makes sense, or none. For a buyer with qualifying income, that is a materially cheaper route to Spanish residency than €400,000 of constrained Greek capital.

If residency is not the objective

Then the Greek thresholds are a constraint you would be accepting for nothing, and the comparison turns on market fundamentals, where the gap is wide.

Spain recorded 714,237 residential transactions in 2025 on the INE series. Foreign buyers took 13.82% of the market on the Registradores series, roughly 97,480 purchases, and provincial concentration runs far higher: Alicante at 43.29% across 53,385 transactions, Málaga at 32.80% across 36,117. That is a deep, liquid, internationally traded market with constantly refreshed comparable evidence.

Greek residential activity is thinner and more concentrated. That produces two consequences for an owner: valuation is harder because comparable evidence is sparser, and exit is slower because the buyer pool for any given property is smaller.

• Resale speed favours Spain substantially, and that advantage compounds if you ever need to sell at a time not of your choosing.
• Professional infrastructure is deeper in Spain: English-speaking lawyers, surveyors, letting agents and administrators are routine on the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol.
• Letting freedom favours Spain, where a licensed property can be short-let, subject to regional registration and municipal compatibility.
• Entry price can favour Greece outside the premium zones, and that is the genuine argument on its side.

What does a Spanish purchase actually cost?

Spanish acquisition costs run 10% to 13% over the price once transfer tax or IVA, notary, land registry and independent legal work are included. On a €400,000 purchase that is €40,000 to €52,000, due at completion in one movement and financeable by no Spanish mortgage. The transfer tax inside that range is regional rather than national: 7% in Andalucía, 9% under €1,000,000 in the Valencian Community since June 2026, and progressively from 8% to 13% in the Balearics, while a new build carries 10% IVA plus AJD of roughly 1% to 1.5% everywhere. None of it buys residency any more, because the property route closed on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025, so a Spanish purchase now has to justify itself on the property alone.

The rates are regional rather than national, which is why a single Spanish figure is misleading. Andalucía charges a flat 7% ITP on resale and 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD on new build. The Comunitat Valenciana charges 9% ITP below €1 million and 11% above, with new build at 10% IVA plus 1.4% AJD from 1 June 2026. Choosing a region is therefore also choosing a tax rate, which has no equivalent in the Greek decision.

Rental taxation is where non-EU buyers should look hardest. A non-resident letting Spanish property pays 19% on net income if resident in the EU or EEA, and 24% on gross with no deductions otherwise. On the same property producing the same rent, that difference commonly exceeds one to two percentage points of net yield, and it is decided by nationality rather than by anything about the asset.

What does the Greek route cost beyond the threshold itself?

The €400,000 or €800,000 is the visible price of the residence permit. Three further conditions attach to it, and together they cost more than the headline suggests because each one narrows what you are allowed to buy.

The 120 square metre minimum. A qualifying property must be a single unit of at least that size. On most Mediterranean coasts the units that let best and resell fastest are considerably smaller, one and two-bedroom apartments with low running costs and a wide buyer pool. The minimum pushes a visa buyer up into larger stock with higher community charges, higher heating and cooling costs, and a narrower resale market.

The prohibition on short letting. Visa-qualifying property cannot be short-let. That removes the income strategy most second-home owners on a Mediterranean coast actually use, and it removes it for as long as the property is supporting the permit. The asset produces either a long tenancy at whatever the local market pays, or nothing.

The single-unit requirement. You cannot assemble the threshold from two smaller properties, which forecloses the diversification a buyer would otherwise use to spread vacancy and resale risk across two assets.

Put those together and the true cost of the route is not the purchase price. It is the difference between the property you would have bought on its merits and the property the rules require: larger than optimal, unlettable in the way you would have let it, and concentrated in one asset.

	What an investor would choose	What the visa route requires
Unit size	Whatever lets and resells best	At least 120 sq m
Number of properties	Two smaller assets if it spreads risk	One single unit
Letting model	Short let where permitted, long let otherwise	Long let only
Location	Wherever the return is	Wherever the threshold band allows
Purchase price	Whatever the analysis supports	At or above €400,000, or €800,000

How do the running costs and rental taxes compare?

Beyond acquisition, the two countries tax ownership and income on different structures, and the difference is large enough to change a hold decision.

Annual property tax. Greece levies ENFIA, a national property tax assessed on the characteristics and location of the holding. Spain levies IBI, set and collected municipally on cadastral value. Both are real annual costs; the Spanish one varies more between municipalities and the Greek one is more centrally determined.

Rental income. Greece taxes an individual’s property income on a progressive scale that begins at 15% on the lowest band and rises in steps, reaching 45% on higher amounts, and it applies to residents and non-residents alike. Spain charges non-residents 19% on net income where they are resident in the EU or EEA, and 24% on gross with no deductions otherwise.

The comparison therefore depends entirely on who you are and how much the property earns:

• A modest income and an EU-resident owner is taxed lightly in both, with Spain’s deductibility of costs the advantage.
• A larger income in Greece climbs the scale quickly, and the top band is well above anything Spain charges a non-resident landlord.
• A non-EU owner in Spain pays 24% of gross, which on a property with high running costs can exceed what the same income would cost under Greece’s lower bands.
• Neither country’s headline rate is the number to compare. The basis, net versus gross, resident versus non-resident, banded versus flat, moves the outcome more than the rate does.

For a visa-qualifying Greek property the rental question is largely academic, since short letting is prohibited and the long-let income on an oversized unit is unlikely to be substantial. That is itself the point: the route’s economics are about capital and permit, not income.

Insider tip: compare the two countries on the tax you pay every year rather than on the one you pay once. In Spain a non-resident owner files Modelo 210 annually, paying 19% of net rental income if resident in the EU or EEA and 24% of gross otherwise, and an imputed income charge applies even in years with no tenant at all. Ask any adviser quoting a Greek yield how the equivalent annual obligations there compare before you weigh a residency permit against them.

What does selling look like in each?

Exit is where thin markets charge for themselves, and it is the part of a residency-driven purchase that gets the least attention at the time of buying.

A Spanish coastal apartment sells into a market that recorded 714,237 residential transactions in 2025, where comparable evidence refreshes weekly, where valuers can price a unit from recent completions rather than by adjustment, and where an English-speaking professional infrastructure of lawyers, agents and administrators handles cross-border sales as routine work.

A Greek visa-qualifying property sells into a narrower market, and it has an additional constraint the Spanish one does not: a meaningful part of its buyer pool consists of other people seeking the same permit, which ties your resale to the future of an immigration programme rather than to the property market. If the thresholds rise again: they have already moved once, sharply, under Law 5100/2024: the pool of buyers for whom your property is the right size and price changes with them.

That is the concentration risk in the route, stated plainly. You are holding an asset whose value depends partly on a policy that has demonstrated it will change.

Exit costs belong in the comparison as firmly as entry costs do. A non-resident selling Spanish property has 3% of the price withheld by the buyer against the capital gains liability, remitted to the tax office and reclaimed later if the actual liability is lower, so a seller does not receive the full price at completion. Spanish capital gains for non-residents is charged on the gain at the applicable rate, and the plusvalía municipal on the land value is payable separately. Set that against acquisition costs of 10% to 13% at the start, and a Spanish purchase needs a holding period long enough to absorb both ends rather than a quick trade. On a €300,000 property those acquisition costs alone are €30,000 to €39,000.

What would change this answer?

Three developments would alter the argument above, and a reader should check them rather than take this page’s word:

1. If Spain reopened a property route to residency. It closed on 3 April 2025 and nothing suggests a reversal, but the entire fork in this comparison rests on that closure.
2. If Greece raised or restructured its thresholds again. Law 5100/2024 moved them substantially, and further movement would change both the cost of entry and the resale pool.
3. If you qualify for a Spanish income-based visa. The Digital Nomad and Non-Lucrative routes grant residency on income rather than on capital, without requiring a purchase at all. For anyone who qualifies, they make the entire Greek threshold discussion unnecessary, and that is the first thing to establish rather than the last.

Which market suits which buyer?

Greece suits a buyer whose primary objective is a renewable EU residence permit obtained through property, who can commit €400,000 or €800,000 depending on location, and who accepts a 120 square metre minimum, a short-letting prohibition on the qualifying asset and thinner resale depth.

Spain suits a buyer who wants transaction depth, fast resale, mature professional infrastructure and the freedom to let a licensed property; anyone whose residency plan runs through income rather than capital; and an investor who would rather choose a property on its merits than on a threshold.

Neither suits a buyer who has not separated the two questions. Residency planning and property investment answer to different criteria, and combining them is how people end up owning an asset that serves neither purpose well.

Can you have both the Spanish property and an EU permit?

For a large share of the people who read a comparison like this one, the answer is yes, and it does not run through property at all, which makes it the most useful thing on the page for them.

Spain grants residence on income through two routes that a property buyer would recognise. The Digital Nomad Visa is for people working remotely for employers or clients outside Spain, granting residence on the strength of that income rather than on capital. The Non-Lucrative Visa is for people who can support themselves from passive income without working in Spain. Neither requires a purchase, neither sets a minimum property value, and neither constrains what you may then buy or how you may let it.

Compare that with what the Greek route asks. To obtain a permit through property you commit €400,000 or €800,000 to a single unit of at least 120 square metres that you may not short-let. To obtain Spanish residence through income you commit nothing to property at all, and remain free to buy a €200,000 apartment, a €2 million villa, or nothing.

	Greek property route	Spanish income routes
Capital required	€400,000 or €800,000, in property	None
Property constraints	Single unit, 120 sq m minimum, no short letting	None
What you must prove	The purchase	Qualifying remote or passive income
Freedom to choose the property	Constrained by the threshold	Complete
What happens if you sell	The permit depends on holding the asset	Unaffected

That last row deserves attention. A permit tied to a property is a permit tied to an asset you cannot freely sell, which converts an investment decision into an immigration one every time you want to rebalance. A permit tied to income leaves the property free to be bought, held or sold on its own merits.

So the sequence matters more than the comparison. Establish first whether you qualify for a Spanish income-based route. If you do, the Greek threshold is a cost you would be paying for something you could have had without it. If you do not, then the Greek route is a genuine option and the rest of this page prices it honestly.

Who should you instruct, and where?

Both purchases require independent local counsel, and the sourcing question is not the same in the two countries.

In Spain, the market for English-speaking property lawyers on the coast is deep and competitive, which is an advantage and a hazard: the depth means you can find good counsel easily, and the competition means many firms have referral relationships with agents and developers. Ask directly whether the firm receives any payment or referral from the seller’s side, and instruct before the reservation rather than after, when the terms are still open.

In Greece, the pool of counsel accustomed to cross-border residency-linked purchases is smaller and concentrated around the markets where such purchases happen. Ask specifically about experience with the current thresholds under Law 5100/2024 and with the short-letting prohibition on qualifying stock, because those are recent and a firm’s general conveyancing experience does not cover them.

In both countries the instruction should come before any money moves. A lawyer engaged after a reservation is being asked to review a decision rather than to shape it, and the fee is the same either way.

One further point applies only to the Greek side. Where a purchase is intended to support a residence permit, the property advice and the immigration advice are separate pieces of work and should not be assumed to come from the same source. A conveyancer confirming clean title has not confirmed that the unit satisfies the size, price and use conditions the permit requires, and those are the conditions on which the entire purpose of the purchase turns.

Which buyer scenarios does each suit?

Greece suits the buyer for whom residency is the objective, since it still grants renewable permits through property at the thresholds set by Law 5100/2024. If the permit is the reason for the purchase, this is the only one of the two that delivers it.

Spain suits the buyer for whom residency is not the objective, or who intends to obtain it another way. The property route closed on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025, so a Spanish purchase should be underwritten on the property alone. That is a cleaner basis for a decision than it sounds, because it removes a variable that distorts pricing.

Neither suits a buyer who has not separated the two questions. The most common error here is paying a residency premium in a market that no longer offers residency, or choosing a property that would not be bought on its own merits because a permit is attached to it. Decide which of the two you are actually buying before you compare anything else.

What to verify before committing to either

1. Establish whether you actually need residency, and whether an income-based Spanish route would grant it without tying up capital.
2. If Greece, verify the current threshold for the specific location, because Law 5100/2024 set different figures by region and they are periodically revisited.
3. If Greece, confirm the 120 square metre minimum and the short-letting prohibition apply to the exact property, in writing.
4. If Spain, choose the region before the property, because ITP and AJD are set regionally and differ materially.
5. In either country, model resale rather than only entry: ask how many comparable units sold in the last two quarters.
6. Apply the correct non-resident tax treatment for your nationality before comparing net yields: the Spanish position is set out in the non-resident rental income tax guide.
7. Instruct a lawyer in the relevant country with no fee relationship to the seller or agent.

Our Greek coverage exists only as this comparison; we work on Spain. For the Spanish residency position see the Golden Visa closure guide and residency without the Golden Visa. For purchase mechanics start with buying property in Spain as a foreigner. The Portuguese comparison, which turns on tax residency rather than on a visa threshold, is Spain against Portugal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still get residency by buying property in Spain? +

No. Spain closed the real-estate route on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025, and it applies at any purchase price. Existing holders keep rights under the prior programme. Residency now runs through the Digital Nomad Visa, the Non-Lucrative Visa or EU free movement, none of which requires a purchase.

What does Greece's Golden Visa cost now? +

Law 5100/2024 raised it to €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and the larger islands, and €400,000 elsewhere, with €250,000 available only for change-of-use conversions and listed-building restorations. The qualifying property must be a single unit of at least 120 square metres.

Can I rent out a Greek Golden Visa property? +

Not on a short-term basis. Short-term letting of visa-qualifying stock is prohibited, which means the asset cannot be monetised the way most Mediterranean second homes are. That constraint is central to the return profile and is frequently left out of comparisons.

Which market is easier to sell in? +

Spain, by a wide margin. It recorded 714,237 residential transactions in 2025 with 13.82% foreign participation nationally and 43.29% in Alicante province, so comparable evidence refreshes constantly and the buyer pool is deep. Greek activity is thinner and more geographically concentrated.

What do Spanish purchase costs come to? +

Roughly 10% to 13% over the price, including transfer tax or IVA, notary, land registry and independent legal fees. The tax element is regional: Andalucía charges a flat 7% ITP on resale, the Comunitat Valenciana 9% below €1 million and 11% above.