Will Spain's 29 November Election Change the Digital Nomad Visa? Law vs Proposals (2026)

Spain holds a snap general election on Sunday, 29 November 2026, called by Real Decreto 806/2026, published in the BOE on 6 October. The short answer for Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) applicants is that the visa is written into a law, Ley 14/2013. A new government cannot remove it by announcement. It would have to pass a new law through the Cortes or approve a Real Decreto-ley that Congress then validates.

As of 5 November 2026, no party has published a proposal to abolish or change the DNV that we have been able to find.

What can move without any change of government is the income threshold, because it is tied to the minimum wage (SMI), which is set by decree every year.

Key takeaways

• The election is on 29 November 2026. The campaign runs from 13 to 27 November, and the new Cortes meet on 23 December.
• The DNV is regulated in Articles 74 bis to 74 quinquies of Ley 14/2013, added by Ley 28/2022 (the Startup Law).
• Removing or rewriting the DNV needs a law or a Real Decreto-ley. An election result on its own changes nothing.
• The income threshold (€2,849 a month in 2026) depends on the SMI, and the Ministry of Labour aims to approve the 2027 SMI before the election.
• When Spain abolished the golden visa in 2025, applications filed before the cut-off date were processed under the old rules.
• Vox's 15-year citizenship proposal dates from 2021. Congress rejected it, and it is not law.

When Spain's 2026 General Election Takes Place and Why Applicants Are Asking

The Government dissolved the Congress and the Senate on 5 October 2026 and called the election for 29 November, about eight months before the end of the legislature. Under the decree, the campaign starts at midnight on Friday 13 November and ends on Friday 27 November. Saturday 28 is the day of reflection.

The new chambers hold their first sitting on 23 December 2026. A new government can only be formed after that, through an investiture vote in Congress. In other words, even the earliest possible change of government would take office at the end of December at the soonest.

Since the decree was published, we have seen the same question come up again and again from applicants in the UK, the US and Latin America: will the visa still exist after the vote? This guide sticks to what is written in law and what parties have said in public, with a source for each claim.

Where the Digital Nomad Visa Lives in Spanish Law

The Digital Nomad Visa is the international teleworker residence route. It is set out in Articles 74 bis to 74 quinquies of Ley 14/2013, the Entrepreneurs' Law, and those articles were added by Ley 28/2022, the Startup Law.

The two laws were passed by governments of opposite colours. Ley 14/2013 was passed under a Partido Popular (PP) government, and it also created the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE), the unit that decides DNV applications filed from inside Spain. Ley 28/2022 was passed under a PSOE-led coalition government.

Because the route sits in a law, it can only be removed or rewritten by a rule of the same rank. There are two ways to do that:

An ordinary law, debated and passed by the Congress and the Senate. This usually takes months.

A Real Decreto-ley, which the Government can approve in urgent cases. It takes effect on publication, and Congress must validate it within 30 days (Article 86 of the Spanish Constitution).

So "it needs a law" does not mean "it can never change quickly". It means that any change would be a formal, published legal act with a date and an official text. A campaign speech is not one.

What Can Change by Decree: the Income Threshold and the SMI

The part of the DNV most likely to change in the coming months has nothing to do with the election result. The income requirement for the main applicant is 200% of the Salario Mínimo Interprofesional (SMI). With the 2026 SMI of €1,221 a month in 14 payments, set by Real Decreto 126/2026, the threshold is €2,849 a month (SMI × 14 ÷ 12 × 2).

The Government sets the SMI by Real Decreto every year. The Ministry of Labour has started the process for 2027 and has said it wants the new figure approved before 29 November. As of 5 November 2026, no official 2027 figure has been published.

If the SMI rises, the DNV threshold rises with it, whoever governs. We explain how that timing works, and how much of a buffer to build, in our guide to whether the DNV income requirement will rise in 2027.

If your income is close to €2,849, the threshold matters more to you than the election. You can get a free case evaluation to check how much margin you have under the current figure before you decide when to file.

Law vs Proposal: What Each Party Has Actually Said About the DNV

The table below sets apart what is law today and what each party has said in public. It covers only statements we could trace to a public source as of 5 November 2026. Party programmes for the election may be published during the campaign, and we will update this table if they mention the DNV.

A party statement can tell you about direction. Only a text published in the BOE tells you what the rule is.

The Vox 15-Year Citizenship Bill: What It Was and Why It Is Not Law

Since the election was called, many applicants have read that Vox wants to raise the residence period for Spanish citizenship from 10 to 15 years. That proposal is real, but it is not new, and it is not law.

Vox registered a bill to reform the nationality rules in the Código Civil in late 2021. It would have raised the general residence period to 15 years. Congress debated it in the plenary session in February 2022, and every other group voted against it. It never came into force.

The bill also kept the reduced two-year period for nationals of Ibero-American countries, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal and Andorra. Today, Article 22 of the Código Civil still sets 10 years as the general rule and 2 years for those nationalities.

If you are on the two-year path, we explain how DNV residence counts towards it in our guide to Spanish citizenship in 2 years on the Digital Nomad Visa.

What Happened to Pending Applications When Spain Abolished the Golden Visa

Spain already has a recent example of an immigration route being abolished, and it sat in the same law as the DNV. Ley Orgánica 1/2025, published on 3 January 2025, left Articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013, the investor visa or "golden visa", without content from 3 April 2025.

Three things stand out for anyone worried about the DNV:

There was a cut-off date. The change was announced, passed and published with a three-month gap before it took effect.

Applications filed before the cut-off were protected. Investors and their family members who had applied before 3 April 2025 could receive their visa or authorisation under the rules in force on the day they filed.

Existing permits kept their validity. Visas and authorisations valid on 3 April 2025 stayed valid for the period they were issued for.

This is one precedent, not a guarantee. A future law could set different transitional rules. But it shows how Spain has handled this situation in practice. There was a published law, a date and protection for applications already filed.

UK Applicants: Beckham Law and the Citizenship Timeline

UK applicants tend to ask about two more things.

The first is the Beckham Law, the special tax regime for people who move to Spain, set out in Article 93 of the Ley del IRPF. Like the DNV, it lives in a law, so changing it would also need a legal reform. As of 5 November 2026, we have not found any party proposal to change or abolish it. You can read how it applies to DNV holders in our Beckham Law guide for digital nomads.

If the Beckham Law is a key part of your plan, it is worth having your timing checked by a specialist.

The second is the citizenship timeline. UK nationals follow the general 10-year rule, and the only proposal to extend it is the Vox bill that Congress rejected in 2022.

Beyond these two points, we have not found any UK-specific legal difference linked to the election. For everything else that applies to UK applicants, see our complete guide for UK citizens.

Should You File Before the Election or Wait?

The reasons to file sooner are about the calendar, not about political risk.

The UGE has a 20-business-day deadline. For applications filed from inside Spain, if the UGE does not reply in time, the application is approved by positive administrative silence. We explain how that works in our guide to the 20-day deadline and administrative silence.

The threshold may rise in January. If the 2027 SMI is approved and your income is close to the current €2,849, filing earlier may leave you more margin.

Rules apply from the filing date. The golden visa precedent shows that applications filed before a change have been processed under the old rules.

Take Emma, a UK graphic designer in Valencia on her 90 Schengen days. She earns about €3,000 a month and wondered whether to wait until after the vote. Her income passes the 2026 threshold with little margin. If the 2027 SMI raises it, she could fall short. In her case, filing in November under the current figure is the safer choice, and the election plays no part in that decision. (Emma is an invented example.)

Filing from inside Spain also gives you up to 3 years of residence in one application, as explained in our guide to applying from within Spain.

Waiting makes sense only if your file is not ready. Incomplete documents are a much bigger risk than the election.

Update Log

We will update this page when there is verified news.

• 5 November 2026: first published. Election date confirmed by Real Decreto 806/2026. No party proposal to change the DNV found. No official 2027 SMI figure yet.

Get Your Case Checked Before You Decide

The Digital Nomad Visa is set by law, and for now the rules that apply to your file are the ones in force on the day you submit it. The most useful thing you can do is make sure your income, documents and timing work under those rules.

At Hoply, our immigration lawyers review, prepare and file every case. Book a free case evaluation and we will tell you whether your profile qualifies and when it makes sense to file.