Last Updated on March 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi
Question
What’s the least amount of days you can spend in Spain to not lose your Spanish residence? Asking in regards to claiming Spanish citizenship as a iberoamericana person after 2 years.
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
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Start the Moving to Spain Hub →“I’m in the same boat and my lawyer said you can’t be out more than 90 days in the two years before you apply for citizenship.”
“I would argue that the way Spain checks this is through your passport stamps (which is why you have to submit a photocopy of your entire passport as part of this process), so I’m hoping it’s technically no more than 90 days in the last two years outside the EU.”
“90 days over the course of those two years total or 90 days each year? Asking in advance for my Colombian husband haha.”
“As far as I’ve ever heard, there is not a published limit for how long you can be out of Spain and have it not affect your application for citizenship. But I’d be interested to hear some opinions of other law professionals in this group. 90 days in two years sounds really low.”
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See Vetted Lawyers →“I spoke to an immigration attorney about this for an article I wrote last May. She said that in the case of Iberoamerican citizenship, it’s decided by a judge, which is why there’s no hard and fast published rule. But it’s safest to be absent from Spain for no more than 2 months for each year of temporary residency. Which fits right in with Josh’s lawyer’s recommendation of no more than 90 days’ absence over two years.”
“I’d have to dig in my old emails but I feel like for my wife, who did her Spanish nationality that way, it was pretty short- just a month or two allowed out per year. 90 days max out over two years sounds about right.Bear in mind that they have some discretion; if you have a job that requires you to leave a lot (say you’re a flight attendant or pilot) but your home base is Spain, they’ll allow more.In any case, the amount of time is considerably different than what you need to renew residency.”
“Check out this article on Spainguru: https://spainguru.es/2022/01/24/how-long-can-i-be-outside-of-spain-without-losing-my-residency/ “
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