You run a successful company abroad, and Spain is about to become your European base. The Spanish subsidiary is planned, the international school is chosen, and someone has told you the digital nomad visa for company owners is “the easy route”. Before you build your move around that advice, it deserves a second look.
This week we advised a non-EU CEO in exactly this position. Both routes were viable on paper. Only one fitted the business plan.
Two Routes, Two Different Logics
Both permits are handled by Spain’s Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE, Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos), with a 20-day decision deadline under article 76 of Law 14/2013. That is where the similarity ends.
The key question is simple: where will your work actually happen, and for whom?
When the Digital Nomad Visa for Company Owners Works
The Digital Nomad Visa fits owners and directors whose day-to-day work is for the foreign company: managing it, selling for it, running it remotely from Spain. The main requirements:
- The foreign company shows real, continuous activity for at least one year.
- Your relationship with it has lasted at least three months when you apply.
- You hold a degree, or three years of relevant experience.
- Your income covers the 2026 threshold: €2,849 per month, plus €1,068 for the first family member and €356 for each additional one.
- As a professional, work for Spanish companies stays at or below 20% of your total activity (article 74 bis).
Applied from inside Spain, it gives a residence permit of up to three years, and your family members can live and work in Spain too. If this is your profile, start your Digital Nomad Visa application.
When the Highly Qualified Professional Permit Is the Better Fit
The picture changes when the Spanish subsidiary becomes the centre of your work. If you will sign its contracts, manage its team and build its European operations, that is no longer remote work for a foreign company.
In that scenario, we usually recommend exploring the Highly Qualified Professional permit (PAC, Profesional Altamente Cualificado, in Spanish). It is built for directors and key staff of companies operating in Spain, and the application is filed by the company, not by you personally.
Can a Newly Created Spanish Company Apply?
Yes. In our experience, a Highly Qualified Professional application with a newly incorporated Spanish company (SL, Sociedad Limitada) is possible. The company does not need to wait years to build a track record.
What it does need is to show that it is real and operating, not a company that exists only on paper. The UGE’s assessment is discretionary, so the outcome depends heavily on how the case is presented.
The order that works best for a company owner and their family:
- Choose the residence routeFor you and for each family member, based on where your work will really happen.
- Align your role in the companyYour directorship, your duties and the parent company’s stake should match the route you chose.
- Prove the company operatesA business plan with real figures, a funded bank account, premises or contracts, first clients or suppliers.
- File, ideally from SpainWhile you are legally in the country, so the family can move on the same timeline.
For a deeper look at how ownership is assessed under the DNV, see our guide for company owners and directors, part of our Spain Digital Nomad Visa guide.
Why This Process Is Harder Than It Looks
- Choosing the DNV and then running the Spanish company full time, which collides with the 20% rule.
- Assuming a new SL rules out the HQP permit, and choosing a weaker route because of it.
- Filing with a company that exists only on paper: no figures, no bank activity, no contracts behind the plan.
- Paying for a co-working “address” to file. You do not need one to apply; a real address only becomes necessary later, for registration and Social Security.
- Leaving the family’s timing to the end, when school dates and visa-free stays are already fixed.
Will You Become a Spanish Tax Resident?
Company owners moving to Spain often ask about the Beckham Law regime. Check your tax residency first, before you decide how to structure your income.
Take the Free Tax Residency Test →That “easy route” advice may still be right for you. The point is to know it before your move is built around it, not after the subsidiary is already running and the school year has started.
Talk to a Lawyer Before You Choose Your Route
If you are planning a Spanish company and a family move, a strategic consultation now can save you months later. At MigratioLex, we review your specific case, not a generic checklist, and coordinate with our corporate and tax partners. We respond within 24 hours, in English, French or Spanish.
Book Your Initial ConsultationThis article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Based on Law 14/2013 (articles 71, 74 bis and 76), Royal Decree 1155/2024 and Royal Decree 126/2026 (2026 minimum wage).
