Relocating to Marbella: What You Need to Know

Relocating to Marbella takes more than a decision. It takes a plan, and the order of the steps matters: the paperwork you do first shapes how smooth everything after it feels.

This guide walks through that order, from your Spanish identification number to residency, tax, healthcare, schools and finding the right place to live. It is written for people moving from the UK, the rest of Europe, North America and beyond, and it flags where the rules depend on your passport. We are based in Nueva Andalucía, so where the guide gets local, it is written from Marbella.

In short

• Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland do not need a visa to live in Spain. Everyone else needs permission.
• The NIE is an identification number. It does not give you the right to live in Spain.
• Spain ended its golden visa on 3 April 2025, so buying a home no longer gives non-EU buyers residency by itself.
• You are generally a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain, or if your main economic interests are here.
• Registering on the padrón at the town hall is free, and many other steps depend on it.

Start with your passport: EU or non-EU

Your nationality sets your route. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland do not need a visa to live in Spain, but they have their own registration steps. Everyone else needs permission to live in Spain, and the options have narrowed in the last two years.

Settle this first. It decides your timeline, and it decides whether you can work once you arrive.

Get your NIE

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is a personal, permanent identification number for foreigners with economic, professional or social ties to Spain. You will need it for most of what follows, including renting or buying a home. It identifies you, but it does not give you the right to live in Spain. The Spanish consulate in Melbourne explains the NIE on its website.

You can apply in Spain or through a Spanish consulate. The application uses form EX-15, a fee payment and a valid passport. Consulates pass applications on to the Ministry of the Interior, so allow at least four weeks if you apply from abroad.

If you apply in Spain, you book an appointment (cita previa) on the national online appointment system, choosing Málaga as the province and then the office. Local guides report that slots can be hard to find, which is one reason many buyers give a lawyer or gestor a power of attorney or ask them to prepare the paperwork and book the slot.

Residency options after the golden visa

Spain ended its golden visa on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025. Buying a property no longer gives non-EU buyers the right to residency by itself, so plan your visa route separately from your purchase. KPMG’s alert on the law sets out the change.

The two routes most newcomers look at first:

Official details are on the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion’s non-lucrative visa page and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ telework visa page. Work-based permits, family reunification and other routes also exist. Requirements change, so ask a licensed immigration lawyer which one fits your case before you apply.

Tax residency, in plain words

Immigration residency and tax residency are separate questions. Under Spanish income tax law you are generally a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, or if the main base of your economic activities or interests is in Spain. If your spouse and dependent minor children live in Spain, the tax authority presumes you are resident unless you can show otherwise.

Tax residents are taxed in Spain on their worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed on income from Spanish sources.

Some people who move to Spain for work may qualify for the special regime for inbound workers, often called the Beckham Law. You must not have been a Spanish tax resident in the previous five years, and you must move for a qualifying reason, such as an employment contract. The regime applies in the year you move and the five years after, and employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 a year from the same employer. You opt in by filing Form 149, so speak to a tax adviser about the deadline before you arrive.

Choose where to live, and consider renting first

Marbella is a group of distinct areas rather than a single town. A quick orientation:

• Marbella centre and Old Town: close to the seafront and easy to explore on foot. The town hall is on Plaza de los Naranjos, in the Old Town.
• Golden Mile: the coastal stretch between Marbella and Puerto Banús, known for its beaches and large villas.
• Nueva Andalucía and Puerto Banús: the golf valley and the marina, with restaurants and shops close by. Our office is in Nueva Andalucía.
• East of Marbella (Elviria, Cabopino): residential neighbourhoods close to the beaches.
• San Pedro de Alcántara and Estepona: a quieter, more residential character along the western coast.

Think about the journeys too. From Málaga airport, Marbella is around 40 minutes by motorway when the road is clear. You can take the toll AP-7 or the free N-340 coast road, which has many exits but is slow and busy in the morning peak.

If you are not sure yet, renting for a few months before you buy is a sensible way to test areas, journey times and schools. We cover that approach in [Renting Before Buying in Marbella: link once published]. Our rentals team can match you with long-term homes to rent.

When you are ready to buy, our sales team can show you current homes for sale and new developments across the coast.

Healthcare and schools

Many international residents arrange private health insurance from the day they arrive, and the non-lucrative visa requires cover from an insurer authorised in Spain. Marbella has several private hospitals, including Quirónsalud Marbella, HC Marbella International Hospital and Recoletas Hospital Marbella. We explain insurers, clinics and hospitals step by step in our Costa del Sol healthcare guide.

For families, the coast has several international schools. Examples include Aloha College in Nueva Andalucía and Laude San Pedro International College in San Pedro de Alcántara, with British curricula and, at Aloha, the IB Diploma. One school-fee guide from October 2026 puts annual tuition at roughly €8,000 for early years up to €19,000 and more for sixth form. Fees vary by school, so confirm them directly.

Popular year groups fill early. Plan to apply nine to twelve months before the start date.

Your first weeks: a checklist

1. Confirm your route (EU registration or a visa) and start the application.
2. Apply for your NIE.
3. Arrange health insurance.
4. Secure a home. A rental contract or title deed is your proof of address. If you are arriving before your home is ready, our concierge team can arrange hotel stays, short-term serviced apartments, car rental and chauffeur transfers.
5. Register on the padrón at the town hall (the Ayuntamiento de Marbella). It is free, and you will need your passport, your NIE and proof of address. Health centres, state-school places and residency paperwork usually ask for the certificate. Local guides list the Marbella office on Plaza de los Naranjos in the Old Town, where you book an appointment and should check the current opening hours. The town hall has also been moving many procedures to its online office, so check what you can start online.
6. Apply for school places.
7. Speak to a tax adviser before you reach 183 days in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get residency by buying property in Marbella?

Not on its own. Spain’s golden visa ended on 3 April 2025, so a purchase no longer qualifies non-EU buyers for residency. You would need another route, such as the non-lucrative or telework visa, if you meet its requirements.

Do I need an NIE to buy a home?

Yes, you will need an NIE for the purchase. It is worth applying before you start viewing homes so that it does not slow you down later.

Can I work on the non-lucrative visa?

No. It covers residence without work. If you plan to work remotely for a company outside Spain, the telework visa is designed for that.

How long can I stay without becoming a tax resident?

The 183-day test is the first one, but it is not the only one. Your economic interests and your family’s location can also make you a tax resident, so take advice if your situation is mixed.

Should I rent before I buy?

Many people do. A few months of renting lets you test areas, commutes and schools before you commit to a purchase.

How far is Marbella from Málaga airport?

Around 40 minutes by motorway when the road is clear. You can take the toll AP-7 or the free N-340, which is slower and busy in the morning peak.

Is the padrón free?

Yes. Registering on the padrón and getting the certificate are both free. You will need your passport, your NIE and proof of address.

Talk to the team

Planning your move to Marbella? Tell us what you are looking for, and our team in Nueva Andalucía will help with homes to rent or buy and areas that suit your lifestyle. You can also call us on +34 951 781 352.

Speak to our team   ·   WhatsApp us

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so please confirm the details with a qualified adviser. Last checked 11 November 2026.

Internal links and calls to action

The article has ten Mila Homes links, two of them in the closing section, and one of them waits for article 2. Each sits inside a sentence where a reader would want it. All the links below were checked on 11 November 2026, apart from the article that is not yet published.

How leads from this article are identified. The WhatsApp message names the guide, so the team sees where the enquiry came from. For the contact form, I suggest a hidden field that records the article (relocating-to-marbella) and a GA4 event on each click of the button and the WhatsApp link. I have not added tracking codes to the internal links, because they can overwrite the visitor’s original source in GA4.

Two things to add later: the Spanish version should link to the matching Spanish pages, and a link to the new development landing pages once they are live.

Image plan

Please share approved photos. If none are available, these are the images to source. Name each file as shown, save as WebP and compress it. Adjust the alt text to match the final photo.

Publishing notes

• Format the article like the healthcare guide: H2 headings, the Mila tip callouts as the same 💡 box, bullet and numbered lists, and the two closing buttons.
• Desktop and phone: the residency table must scroll sideways on a phone and not squeeze, buttons need to be easy to tap, and images should load lazily apart from the featured image.
• In Rank Math: set the focus keyword, meta title, description, slug, category, tags and featured image from the SEO set-up table, and add the alt text from the image plan. Check the Rank Math score and the FAQ schema before publishing.
• Publish, then submit the live URL for indexing in Search Console (needs access) and add it to the record below.

Sources

Checked on 11 November 2026. Every figure and rule in the article comes from one of these pages. The two calculated figures are explained under the table.

Calculated figures: the telework income test of about €34,188 is 200% of the 2026 minimum wage (2 × €17,094). The non-lucrative figure of €2,400 is 400% of the €600 IPREM. Both match the 2026 figures in the Listyco guide.

Not taken from an official source: the area descriptions (general local knowledge, with no figures), the statement that an NIE is needed to buy a property (standard practice, to be confirmed with your lawyers), the Marbella padrón office and the NIE appointment details (commercial guides, to be confirmed with the town hall and the police), and the drive time from the airport (a motoring guide, given as «around 40 minutes» because sources vary).