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🇪🇸  Retiring in Spain from the UK

What British citizens need to know: the visa, how your pensions are taxed, what to do before you leave and every year after.

By the retireacross editorial team · Last reviewed

Visa for British citizens

You can visit Spain without a visa for 90 days in any 180 days: enough for a trial stay before you apply. To live there you need a residence route:

  • Non-lucrative residence visa: income from 2,400 EUR a month. Official page

With an EU, EEA or Swiss passport (for example a second Irish passport) you need no visa: you register as a resident instead.

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: Spanish consulate: non-lucrative residence visa (2026 figures) (checked 2026-10-22) · Ministry of Inclusion: renewing non-lucrative residence (checked 2026-10-22) · Spanish government: abolition of the investor visa (checked 2026-10-22) · European Commission: Schengen visa policy (90 days in any 180) (checked 2026-10-22)

How your pensions are taxed

Spain taxes your UK pensions at its progressive rates; declare UK assets above €50,000 (Modelo 720). Your UK State Pension rises each year while you live there (EEA country or social security agreement). UK government-service pensions (civil service, armed forces, police, teachers, local government; NHS pensions are usually treated the same) generally stay taxable only in the UK, unless you are also a national of your new country.

  • Taxable only in Spain (pensions or other income article of the 2013 treaty).
  • Taxable only in Spain (Article 17). Most UK government pensions (such as civil service pensions) are taxed only in the UK.

Sources: GOV.UK: Spain tax treaties (checked 2026-10-22) · GOV.UK: countries where the State Pension is increased each year (checked 2026-10-22) · GOV.UK: tax on your UK income if you live abroad (State Pension, Personal Allowance, government pensions) (checked 2026-10-22) · HMRC International Manual INTM343190: pensions and annuities (State Pension under tax treaties) (checked 2026-10-22)

United Kingdom: Tell HMRC you are leaving (form P85). Your UK pensions may be taxed by the UK, your new country or both, depending on the tax treaty: you pay only once where there is one. UK government-service pensions (civil service, armed forces, police, teachers and local government; NHS pensions are usually treated the same) generally stay taxable only in the UK under the treaties, unless you are also a national of your new country. Official page

Spain's own rules: Residents are taxed on worldwide income: pensions at state plus regional progressive rates, savings income (interest, dividends, gains) on a separate scale. Spain also has a wealth tax and an inheritance and gift tax, both largely set by each region, and foreign assets over €50,000 must be declared each year (Modelo 720).

Before you leave the UK

  1. Check your National Insurance record (UK): Get your State Pension forecast and check for gaps. From 6 April 2026 you cannot pay voluntary Class 2 contributions for time abroad; you can pay Class 3 for time abroad only if you lived in the UK for 10 years in a row or have 10 qualifying years. Filling gaps can still raise a pension you will draw for decades. Official page (before State Pension or Social Security age)
  2. Apply for your S1 (UK State Pension holders): If you already receive the UK State Pension, apply online for an S1 up to 90 days before moving to an EU country: the UK then pays for your state healthcare there. Register the S1 with the health service when you arrive. Before State Pension age there is no S1: until then you rely on private insurance for the visa and on the local system as a resident where it is open to you. The S1 also covers a dependant spouse who does not get a State Pension. Official page (from age band 65-74)
  3. No UK S1 before State Pension age: The UK S1 comes only with the UK State Pension. If your spouse already gets it, their S1 covers you as a dependant. Otherwise, until then you need private health insurance for the residence application, and you use the local system as a resident where it is open to you; insurers usually exclude existing conditions. Official page (before State Pension or Social Security age)
  4. Tell HMRC you are leaving the UK (form P85): If you are leaving to live abroad permanently, tell HM Revenue and Customs: with form P85, or in the residence section (SA109) of your Self Assessment return if you file one. It lets HMRC refund tax, tax your UK pensions correctly and tell you if you may pay tax in two countries. Official page
  5. Set up your State Pension abroad: If you already get the State Pension, give the International Pension Centre your new address and bank (paid every 4 or 13 weeks, into a UK or a local account). If not, claim through them within 4 months of your State Pension age. Check whether your new country keeps it rising each year. Official page (from age band 65-74)
  6. Rent from a UK property: the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme: UK rent stays taxable in the UK when you live abroad. Under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme your letting agent (or tenant, above £100 a week) deducts basic-rate tax (20%) from the net rent, unless HMRC has confirmed in writing that you can receive it gross: contact HMRC about the scheme before you go, and declare the rent in your UK return. Official page

Every year, from abroad

  • Return the UK State Pension life certificate (when it arrives): The Department for Work and Pensions sends a life certificate from time to time to pensioners living abroad. Have it signed by a professional witness and post it back within 16 weeks, or payments may stop.

More for British citizens

Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.