Owning a Second Home in Spain as a Non-Resident: Tax, Usage Rules and the 90/180 Constraint (2026)

A second home in Spain is a holiday base, not a residency permit. Here is what non-resident owners actually owe in tax, how long they can stay, and the community-vote rule that now governs short letting.

A second home in Spain lets non-residents enjoy the Costa del Sol on their own schedule, but it does not grant the right to live there. Non-EU owners face a 90-day stay limit inside any rolling 180-day window under the Schengen short-stay rule, an annual Modelo 210 tax filing on imputed income even when the property is empty, and a reformed community-consent requirement for any short-let plan. This guide ties together the stay rules, the tax obligations, the wealth-tax position in Andalusia, and the 3/5 community vote that now governs tourist lets, so a buyer can see the full ownership picture before committing.

How long can a non-resident stay in a Spanish second home?

The 90/180 Schengen rule is the first constraint. The European Commission’s short-stay calculator confirms that visitors to the Schengen Area are usually allowed a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period. You count back 180 days from each day of your stay and ensure the total does not exceed 90. The rule is a rolling window, not a fixed calendar half-year, so the timing of each visit matters. The Schengen Area comprises 29 countries: 25 EU Member States plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, so the 90-day budget is shared across the whole zone, not just Spain.

EU and EEA nationals are not subject to the 90/180 rule, because their right to move and reside freely derives from EU free-movement law. The constraint bites on third-country nationals, which since 1 January 2021 includes British citizens. The only way for a non-EU second-home owner to exceed 90 days legally is to obtain a Spanish residency visa. The Non-Lucrative Visa permits year-round residence without working, and the Digital Nomad Visa permits remote work for companies outside Spain. Both remove the 90/180 constraint entirely because the holder becomes a legal resident, not a short-stay visitor.

The distinction between administrative residency (holding a residence permit) and tax residency matters here. Spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year makes you a Spanish tax resident on your worldwide income, regardless of which visa you hold. Our tax residency and the 183-day rule guide explains the test in detail. A second-home owner who stays within the 90/180 limit will not trigger tax residency, which is often the goal: keep the property as a holiday base, not a fiscal domicile.

What tax does a non-resident pay on an empty second home?

Spain taxes the ownership of a second home by assuming it provides a notional rental benefit, even if it is never let. The Agencia Tributaria sets this out under Article 13.1.h of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law (Real Decreto Legislativo 5/2004): non-resident natural persons who own urban property in Spain used for their own use or left vacant are subject to Non-Resident Income Tax on the imputed income from that property.

Element	Rule	Source
Tax base	Cadastral value x imputation percentage	Agencia Tributaria (IRNR)
Imputation percentage (revised values)	1.1% of cadastral value	AEAT, Article 24 IRNR Law
Imputation percentage (other properties)	2% of cadastral value	AEAT, Article 24 IRNR Law
Tax rate (EU/EEA residents)	19%	AEAT
Tax rate (non-EU residents)	24%	AEAT
Filing form	Modelo 210	AEAT
Deadline (imputed income)	31 December of the year following the tax year	AEAT

The 1.1% rate applies to properties in municipalities where cadastral values have been revised through a general collective valuation procedure that came into force in the current tax period or within the ten previous tax periods. The AEAT extended this to properties whose revised values came into force from 1 January 2012, for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025. The 2% rate applies to all other properties. The resulting amount is the tax base, and no expenses can be deducted from it. The tax is then applied at 19% for EU/EEA residents or 24% for others, producing the annual liability.

The return covers the full calendar year and is reduced proportionally if the property was not owned for the entire year or was rented for part of it. If the property has no cadastral value on 31 December, the base is 50% of the higher of the acquisition price or the value verified by the administration, at 1.1%. Our non-resident property holding taxes guide walks through the full annual holding cost, including IBI and the interaction with wealth tax.

Does a non-resident pay wealth tax on a Spanish second home?

Spain’s wealth tax (Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio) applies to non-residents on their Spanish-sited assets, not their worldwide wealth. The general minimum exemption is EUR 700,000 per Article 28 of Ley 19/1991. A separate EUR 300,000 allowance exists for a habitual residence, but it is tied to Spanish tax residency under Article 68 of the IRPF, so a non-resident holiday-home owner cannot claim it. The home counts toward the general EUR 700,000 exemption.

In Andalusia, the position is more favourable. Decreto-ley 7/2022 introduced Article 25 bis into Ley 5/2021, establishing a 100% bonification on the regional wealth tax quota. The Junta de Andalucia confirms that taxpayers whose assets are valued under EUR 2,000,000 are not obliged to file, and above that threshold the bonification limits the regional bill to the difference between the wealth tax and the state Solidarity Tax. Nobody pays more than under the previous 100% bonification regime, regardless of which calculation option applies.

The state Temporary Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes (ITSGF), created by Ley 38/2022, taxes net wealth above EUR 3,000,000 and is filed separately on Modelo 718. This acts as a floor that the Andalusian bonification can no longer erode above the EUR 3M threshold. For a typical second-home owner with a single property under EUR 2,000,000, the practical wealth tax bill in Andalusia is zero, but the obligation to understand the threshold remains. Our wealth tax guide covers the calculation, the ITSGF interaction and the Beckham Law exemption in depth.

Can you short-let a second home to holiday tenants?

The short-let landscape changed materially in 2025. Two reforms now govern whether a non-resident owner can let a second home to tourists, and both must be satisfied.

The first is the national reform of the Horizontal Property Law. The Disposicion Final Cuarta of Ley Organica 1/2025 (BOE-A-2025-76), in force since 3 April 2025, gave new wording to Article 17.12 of Ley 49/1960. The reformed article requires the favourable vote of three-fifths of the total owners who, in turn, represent three-fifths of the participation shares, to approve, limit, condition or prohibit the tourist-letting activity. A new Article 7.3 imposes a prior authorisation requirement: the owner must obtain the community’s express approval before starting the activity. The agreement is not retroactive, so owners already letting under prior tourist regulations before 3 April 2025 are grandfathered under a transitional regime.

The second is the Andalusian planning layer. Decreto-ley 1/2025, de 24 de febrero, published in BOJA number 41 on 3 March 2025, integrated tourist housing (viviendas de uso turistico) into urban planning. Article 6 allows municipalities to suspend new tourist housing declarations for up to three years. Before registering with the Andalusian Tourism Register, the owner must obtain a municipal licence or submit a responsible declaration for change of use from the local town hall. The decree also permits municipalities to refuse new VFT registrations in saturated zones.

The practical sequence for a non-resident who wants to short-let is: confirm the community has a 3/5 favourable vote under the reformed LPH, obtain the municipal authorisation under Decreto-ley 1/2025, register with the Andalusian Tourism Register, and then file rental income tax quarterly via Modelo 210. Our Costa del Sol short-let rules guide covers the VFT registration, the sanction scale and the 3/5 community veto in full. The community fees guide explains how the comunidad de propietarios works, including the reserve fund and the cuota de participacion that determines each owner’s voting weight.

How does second-home ownership compare to relocation or rental investment?

A second home is one of three ownership models, each with a different tax and visa profile.

Dimension	Second home (holiday use)	Relocation (183-day residency)	Rental investment
Stay limit	90/180 Schengen rule (non-EU)	No limit (residency visa)	No limit (residency visa) or 90/180 if non-resident
Tax residency	No (under 183 days)	Yes (worldwide income via IRPF)	Depends on owner’s presence
Modelo 210	Imputed income (1.1% or 2% of cadastral value)	N/A (resident files IRPF)	Rental income quarterly, 19% EU or 24% non-EU
Wealth tax	Andalusia bonified under EUR 2M; ITSGF above EUR 3M	Spanish-sited assets only if Beckham Law; otherwise worldwide	Same as second home for non-resident
Short-let	Community 3/5 vote + municipal licence + VFT registration	Same rules apply	Same rules apply; rental income taxed on actual receipts
Visa needed	No (Schengen short-stay)	Yes (NLV, DNV or other)	No if non-resident landlord

The table shows why the second-home model suits a buyer who wants a holiday base without committing to tax residency. The cost is the Modelo 210 imputed income tax, IBI, community fees, and the 90/180 stay ceiling. The benefit is simplicity: no visa application, no worldwide income declaration, and no obligation to spend 183 days in Spain. A buyer who plans to let the property commercially faces the same community-vote and registration rules regardless of model, but the tax treatment diverges: actual rental income is taxed on receipts at 19% or 24%, while imputed income is a fixed percentage of the cadastral value.

What does a second home actually cost per year in Andalusia?

The annual running cost of a non-resident second home combines four layers: the Modelo 210 imputed income tax, IBI (the municipal property tax), community fees, and utilities and maintenance. The cost of living guide for Marbella sets out the broader household budget; here the focus is the property-specific carry.

For a EUR 1,000,000 apartment in Marbella with a cadastral value of EUR 400,000 (typical ratio of 35 to 45% of market value), the Modelo 210 imputed income at 1.1% is EUR 4,400, taxed at 24% for a non-EU owner, producing an annual bill of EUR 1,056. IBI on the same property might run EUR 800 to EUR 1,200 depending on the municipal rate. Community fees vary widely: a simple apartment block might charge EUR 100 to EUR 200 a month, while a gated urbanisation with pools, gardens and security can reach EUR 400 to EUR 800 a month. Utilities, insurance and periodic maintenance add a further EUR 2,000 to EUR 5,000 a year. The total carry for a non-resident second home in the EUR 1M bracket typically lands between EUR 6,000 and EUR 15,000 a year before any letting income.

Wealth tax is unlikely to add to this for most Andalusian owners, given the 100% bonification under EUR 2,000,000. The state Solidarity Tax only bites above EUR 3,000,000 of net Spanish wealth, so it affects a narrow cohort of prime-property owners. The buying cost guide explains the one-off acquisition costs, which add roughly 12 to 15% on top of the purchase price, and are separate from the annual carry described here.

Do UK buyers face any additional constraints on a second home?

UK citizens are the largest non-EU second-home cohort on the Costa del Sol, and the post-Brexit position adds two specific layers. First, the 90/180 Schengen rule applies in full: UK citizens are third-country nationals since 1 January 2021, and the rolling 180-day window is the binding constraint on holiday use. Second, the non-resident tax rate on imputed income and rental income is 24%, not the 19% that EU/EEA residents pay, because the UK is no longer an EU member state. The underlying calculation is identical, but the rate is higher.

The UK buyers post-Brexit guide covers the visa routes, the tax position and the practical steps for British owners. The key decision for a UK buyer is whether to remain a pure second-home owner within the 90/180 limit, or to apply for a residency visa (NLV or DNV) that removes the stay ceiling but introduces tax residency. The choice is not reversible cheaply: once you spend 183 days in Spain, you are a tax resident on your worldwide income, and undoing that requires leaving Spain for a sufficient period and proving tax residency elsewhere.

What should a buyer check before purchasing a second home?

The due diligence for a second home is the same as for any Spanish property purchase, but with two extra questions specific to the non-resident ownership model. First, check the community statutes and the minutes of the last general meeting for any existing 3/5 vote on tourist lets under the reformed Article 17.12 LPH. If the community has already voted to prohibit tourist lets, the short-let option is closed before you buy. Second, confirm the cadastral value on the IBI receipt, because it drives the Modelo 210 imputed income tax and is the figure the AEAT uses. A property with a disproportionately high cadastral value relative to its market price carries a higher annual tax burden.

The standard checks remain: the nota simple from the Land Registry, the cedula de habitabilidad, the occupation licence, any outstanding community debts, and the IBI receipts. Our guide to the full buying process walks through each step. The Golden Visa is no longer a route: it was terminated on 3 April 2025 under Disposicion Final 21 of Ley Organica 1/2025, voiding Articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013. Property purchase no longer confers any residency right, so the visa decision is independent of the buying decision.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ. Verify current requirements with an independent lawyer (abogado) or tax advisor (gestor/asesor fiscal) before acting.