Can EU citizens live in Spain for longer than 6 months?

@expatboyz

EU citizens enjoy "Freedom of Movement" which means they can live and work (or study, retire, or hang out at the beach) in any EU country they wish. Lucky you! :-)

You should do the "EU Citizen Registration" process at your local immigration office, and there are some advantages to doing so. But many don't bother, and I don't think there are any penalties for failing to do so.

Registering (if you're an EU citizen) or getting a residence permit (if you're non-EU) makes you a "legal" Spanish resident. This is entirely separate from becoming a Spanish "tax resident".

There are several tests for tax residence in Spain, but the most typical is the "substantial presence" test, which means more than 183 days in a year. You can divide your days here however you want, it's across the whole year. There are many folks who are legal residents of Spain (so they can stay as long as they like), but they choose to keep their days in Spain below 182 days in order to avoid the complications of Spanish tax residence.

It's not an issue if you own a home in Spain, the key criterion is your physical presence. (With the proviso, that if you put your life savings into a fancy villa on a Marbella beach, you might be considered a tax resident because all/most of your wealth is here.)

Personally, we have a lovely holiday apartment in Elche, near Alicante. I did the registration step back in 2019, and I'll probably get a permanent residence card in 2024 (even having permanent resident status is, as far as I know, still independent of tax residence). I spend very few days in Spain (maybe 30-45, say) and so I'm not a Spanish tax resident. I didn't bother to register in the Spanish social security / healthcare system, as I have an EHIC issued in another EU country.

You should note that staying more days does not make you tax "eligible". You can enroll at the tax office and pay tax from Day 1 if you want to. The issue is that, at a certain point (and/or under certain conditions), you can be "deemed" a Spanish tax resident. You should keep track of your own situation, and start declaring when you should do so. However, some ignore their potential obligations under their 2nd tax residence country, including many Americans who must file USA tax returns every year, regardless of where they live. But the issue is that the Spanish tax authorities might track you down and demand taxes (and penalties), especially if you're Shakira or Ronaldo (or someone similarly rich/high profile). :-)