Many foreigners who see their retirement near plan their retirement in the Spanish coasts; for its climate, gastronomy and for the solvency that their pensions give them to live without problems in our country.
The Costa del Sol is one of them.
But, what conditions do they have to fulfill to settle down?
If the intention is not to spend periods longer than three months a year in our country, it will not be necessary to process any registration as a resident, as long as the origin is from a European country. If you are an EU citizen, you have the right to move freely throughout the Schengen area.
Otherwise, that is to say, if you intend to settle for long periods of time longer than three months, you must comply with a series of premises or requirements:
1.- To register as a resident
2.- To have a complete medical insurance in Spain.
3.- To have sufficient income to subsist in our country without receiving economic aid. In the case of foreign pensioners, they must have 40,000 euros in their name in a bank account.
This residence permit will allow the pensioner to live in our country but without any economic activity for one year. Once this period is over, it can be renewed for two more years until reaching five years, after which the PERMANENT NON-LUCRATIVE RESIDENCE can be obtained.
With this residence permit you cannot be hired by any company, at least during the first year. It only authorizes to reside legally in Spain.
Family members of a person with this type of residence permit can also obtain residence cards as family members of legal residents, which will allow them to live and go to school in case of minors.
This type of permit will be renewable as long as it can be demonstrated at the end of its duration that they continue to have sufficient means to live in Spain without working.
Regarding their taxation, they will have to pay tax on their income obtained in other countries in Spain as well as on their pension, which will be subject to the IRPF law since it is considered as income from work. Although it is necessary to take into account the Double Taxation Agreements to avoid being taxed twice for income obtained in different countries.
Countries such as Portugal, Italy or Greece, at the beginning of 2020, legislated incentives with the aim of attracting foreign pensioners to less populated and disadvantaged areas for their golden retirement.