Some of these myths circulate in chats and forums, others in advertising. Each myth is worded the way it is usually put, and below it is what the rule says.
1. Do you need a degree?
The law gives two routes: a degree from a recognised university, vocational school or business school, or at least three years of professional experience. The experience must be in functions similar to the work you will do remotely, and it must be documented. If your profession is regulated, you also need to show that your qualification has been recognised under the rules of that profession.
2. Who can you work for?
The work must be done remotely and exclusively through computer, telematic and telecommunication means. An employee may work only for companies based outside Spain. A professional providing services may have a Spanish company as a client, but no more than 20% of their total professional activity. Anything else needs a different permit.
3. Which company qualifies?
The company or group must show real and continuous activity for at least one year. For employment, you need at least three months of an employment relationship before applying and a document showing that the company allows remote work. For a professional, you need a business relationship with one or more companies outside Spain for at least the last three months, and documents on the terms of the work. If your company is transferring you within the group, that is a different permit (intra-company transfer) and the remote work route does not apply.
4. Do you have to prove income?
You must show sufficient financial resources for yourself and your family. For the holder, 200% of the monthly minimum wage (SMI). For the family, the Joint Instruction sets 75% of the SMI for a household of two, counting the holder, and a further 25% for each additional member. Our conclusion: these amounts are added to the holder’s amount, they do not replace it. As a planning figure, our calculation starts from the 2026 annual SMI (17,094 euros, Royal Decree 126/2026): 200% is 34,188 euros a year, 2,849 euros a month on average, and 1,068 euros (75%) and 356 euros (25%) a month are added (our conclusion; some consulates quote a lower figure, 2,442, 916 and 305 euros, calculated on the monthly SMI of 1,221 euros). According to UGE materials, the income must come from work, and if it falls below the threshold, the difference can be covered with savings shown by bank certificates.
5. Visa and permit: are they the same thing?
They are two successive documents with different terms. The requirements are shared, but you apply for them in different situations.
| Visa | Residence permit | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Someone who is not a resident in Spain and is about to move | Someone who is in Spain lawfully or arrived with the visa |
| Duration | Up to one year. If the period of work is shorter, the visa lasts as long as that period | Up to three years. If you ask for less, you get less |
| What it allows | Living and working remotely in Spain while the visa is valid | The same, valid across the whole of Spain |
| Continuity | It is not renewed. In the 60 calendar days before it expires you can apply for the permit, if the conditions still hold | Renewed in periods of two years, if the conditions still hold |
6. Working on a non-lucrative permit
No. The temporary non-lucrative residence lets you live in Spain without carrying out employment or professional activity and does not authorise you to work. The official UGE FAQ is explicit: remote work done in that period cannot be claimed as a basis for the remote work permit. Working without authorisation is an offence under the immigration law.
7. Social Security: paying contributions at home
By default, registration (alta) is mandatory. For employees there is one exception: you can stay in your home system if Spain has a social security agreement with that country and the authority of your country has issued a document under that agreement that expressly states it covers your work from Spain. A mere application for that document is not accepted. If the agreement does not include healthcare, you need separate health insurance.
For the self-employed there is no exception: registration with RETA is mandatory and you cannot keep your home system under an agreement. If you do not register and this is found in a check, the permit is terminated, and both the holder and dependent family members lose the right to live and work in Spain.
If the exception does not apply, the company registers with Spanish Social Security as a company without work centres in Spain and registers you, and a freelancer registers with RETA. More detail: registering with Social Security after the nomad permit.
8. Checks after approval
You must keep the conditions that gave you the permit throughout its validity. Any change that affects those conditions must be reported to UGE within 30 days. The competent authorities may carry out any checks they consider appropriate to verify compliance with the legislation, and if it turns out the conditions are no longer met, they may terminate the permit by a reasoned decision after hearing you. Three years is the maximum validity of the permit, not the point after which it is checked: it can be checked at any time.
The law does not list what is examined. In practice you show the conditions with documents: Social Security registration and, for a professional, registration as self-employed, tax returns, and the contract or letter from the company. At renewal, authorities also check that the conditions that justified the grant still hold.
9. Taxes: a foreign employer
The card alone does not determine tax residence: days and centre of interests do. You are a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in the calendar year or if the core of your activities or economic interests is in Spain. But the permit is granted to someone who intends to live in Spain, so tax residence is in practice almost unavoidable, and a resident is taxed in Spain on income, including income received from a foreign company. A certificate of social security cover from another country settles the question of contributions, not of taxes.
More detail and calculations: tax residence in Spain and digital nomad taxes.
10. The 24% rate: does it apply by itself?
The special regime in art. 93 LIRPF does not apply automatically. The taxpayer chooses it by filing the option on form 149 on time, and entitlement depends on conditions: in particular, you must not have been a Spanish resident in the five tax periods before the move, and the reason for the move must be one the law names. The 24% rate applies to the part of income up to 600,000 euros; above that, 47% applies. If the option is not filed on time, the regime does not apply.
Conditions, deadline and calculation are in digital nomad taxes.
Where to start
Check the basis (degree or experience), the company (one year of activity, three months of relationship), your income against the threshold and your Social Security route. For taxes, count your days and work out whether the special regime suits you. Send a short question on WhatsApp and we will show the route for your documents, and prices are on the pricing page.