Spain vs Italy for Retirement
Retiring in Spain vs Italy
Same data, same definitions, side by side. Where they genuinely differ is at the bottom of this page.
| Spain | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable budget, couple | $3,100 | $3,100 |
| Comfortable budget, single | $2,400 | $2,400 |
| Cost index (U.S. = 100) | 58 | 60 |
| Lowest visa income bar | $2,616 / mo | $2,816 / mo |
| That route | Non-Lucrative Visa (visado de residencia no lucrativa) | Elective Residence Visa (visto per residenza elettiva) |
| Time to residency | 7 months | 10 months |
| Healthcare score | 9 / 10 | 8 / 10 |
| Safety score | 9 / 10 | 8 / 10 |
| Tax treatment score | 4 / 10 | 8 / 10 |
| Currency risk | Yes, EUR | Yes, EUR |
| Document route | Apostille | Apostille |
| Translation required | Yes | Yes |
| English usable day to day | ●●● | ●● |
Spain
Spain is the destination most American retirees fall in love with and the one most are surprised to find they do not qualify for. The lifestyle case is overwhelming: world-class public healthcare, an outdoor social culture that keeps people connected into their eighties, superb food, excellent trains, low crime and a climate that ranges from Atlantic green to near-desert. The obstacle is the non-lucrative visa income requirement, which is set at 400 percent of the IPREM benchmark and works out at 2,400 euros a month for a single applicant in 2026, plus 600 euros for each additional family member. That is roughly two and a half times what Portugal asks. Spain also closed its investor residence route in April 2025, so property purchase is no longer a shortcut. The non-lucrative visa additionally forbids all work, including remote work for a U.S. employer, which catches a lot of semi-retired applicants.
Italy
Italy offers something no other European country does: a 7 percent flat tax on all foreign-source income, including pensions, for retirees who move their tax residence to a town of fewer than 20,000 people in one of eight southern regions, available for nine tax years. For an American with a substantial pension that is a decisive financial advantage, and it exists precisely to repopulate the Mezzogiorno. The route in is the elective residence visa, which requires passive income of roughly 31,000 to 32,000 euros a year for a single applicant, a registered lease or property deed before you apply, and an absolute prohibition on work of any kind, including remote work. Italy is also the country where the largest number of Americans have a citizenship claim by descent, although that route was sharply narrowed in 2025. Set against all of this is Italian bureaucracy, which is slower and more variable than anywhere else in Western Europe, and a language barrier that is real outside the major cities.
The real difference
- Spain is substantially faster to residency: about 7 months against 10.
Spain or Italy: common questions
Is Spain or Italy cheaper to retire in?
Italy is cheaper. A couple living comfortably needs about $3,100 a month there, against $3,100 in the other, a difference of roughly 0 percent. That gap is small enough that your choice of city inside either country will matter more than the country itself.
Which has the lower income requirement?
Spain, at $2,616 a month on the Non-Lucrative Visa (visado de residencia no lucrativa), against $2,816 for the other. Remember that a visa threshold is what the government asks you to prove, not what you need to live on, and the two numbers are often very different.
Which is faster to get residency in?
Spain is typically faster: about 7 months for Spain and 10 months for Italy. In both cases the decision is rarely the slow part; appointment availability and document lead times are.
Do my documents need an apostille for both?
Yes. Both Spain and Italy are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille is the whole chain for each. Your FBI Identity History Summary still goes to the U.S. Department of State rather than a Secretary of State, because it is a federal record.
Which has better healthcare?
Spain scores higher, 9 against 8 out of 10. If you expect to need care, weight this above almost everything else on this page.
Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: www.inclusion.gob.es, www.exteriores.gob.es, sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es, vistoperitalia.esteri.it, www.agenziaentrate.gov.it, www.salute.gov.it
This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Immigration rules, income thresholds, fees and processing times change frequently and often without notice, and consulates apply them differently. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific consulate that has jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence before you act. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
