Spain vs Portugal.
Two countries' verified rules for an early retiree, side by side. There is no winner here — a lower cost, a wealth tax and an exit tax pull in different directions, and which ones matter is yours to weigh.
At a glance.
Price it in your money
Tell me where you live now and what you spend a month, and every cost here becomes your number — the same life, priced country by country, in your own currency.
A guide, not a quote. I move your monthly spend by each country’s official price level (Eurostat and the World Bank, whole-economy, EU-27 = 100) — no exchange rates, so it stays in your own currency. But averages hide rent and the city you pick, and changing country is rarely a straight swap. Read these as the right ballpark, then price the real thing.
| Measure | Spain | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | 92 | 87 |
| A €2,500-a-month life | €2,290/mo | €2,170/mo |
| The ×30 number it implies | €824,000 | €781,000 |
| Housing — to buy | €3,739/m² | €5,049/m² |
| Housing — to rent | €27.1/m² · Madrid | €18.1/m² · Lisbon |
| Housing vs the EU | −3% | −20% |
| Getting in | ||
| The route in | The non-lucrative visa | The D7 visa |
| Golden visa | Closed | Open |
| Years to a passport | 10 yrs | 10 yrs |
| The patterns each carries | ||
| Lower tax if you hold | no | yes |
| Yearly tax on holdings | yes | no |
| Taxes unsold gains | no | no |
| Exit tax | yes | no |
| Deals for new residents | no | no |
| No wealth tax | no | yes |
A “yes” is not a point scored: “no wealth tax” and “exit tax on leaving” pull opposite ways. Read the column against your own plan, not as a score.
The rules that matter, in full.
Spain
Cheap to live — but it taxes having.
Spain taxes wealth every year — the patrimonio — plus a separate state levy on large fortunes. A wealth tax is charged whether your portfolio went up, down or nowhere: in effect a permanent extra withdrawal happening before you've spent a cent, which raises the rate your plan must sustain, and so raises your number.
How hard it bites varies by region, and regional politics move it yearly. The state levy on large fortunes was extended indefinitely.
Spain has an exit tax for big portfolios — broadly €4 million, or a 25%+ company stake worth €1 million or more.
The regional politics are the moving part — what your region charges this year is a fact to re-check, not remember.
Portugal
The exit's favourite doorstep — the old tax deal is gone.
Gains on shares and ETFs are taxed at a flat 28% — with a discount that grows the longer you've held: 10% of the gain excluded after two years, 20% after five, 30% after eight. Patience is literally priced in.
Sell inside a year while your income sits in the top bracket, and the gain is forced into progressive rates instead of the flat 28%.
None. Portugal has no net wealth tax on financial assets.
The NHR deal that drew a wave of FIRE expats closed to new applicants in 2024; its successor is much narrower. Treat any special regime as weather, not climate — confirm it in writing, close to the move.
The holding-period discounts are recent — verify their current shape before you count on them.
None of this is tax or investment advice — it's education, kept deliberately at the level that survives fact-checking. Rules shift with every budget round; the specifics of your situation belong with a licensed adviser in your country. I'm happily not one.
Spain verified 8 July 2026 · Portugal verified 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Bring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600 — the Exit Audit included.