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A lot of people think about moving to Spain or Portugal. Both have a similar climate, they have shared histories, and are located right next to each other, so it’s understandable why so many people lump the two together. 

Regardless of which country you choose to live in, you’ll be right next to the other one and so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to travel around both. But travel is one thing and living somewhere is very different, so it’s important to choose the country that’s best for you to live in. Both have their pros and cons for living, which this article will explore. 

If you aren’t the lucky owner of an EU passport, you’ll most likely need a residency visa in order to move to either Spain or Portugal. 

Both Portugal and Spain offer visas aimed at attracting retirees, but Spain requires an annual income (typically from a pension) of €33,893 for a couple [source]. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/expats-britons-should-look-to-portugal-instead-of-spain-for-post-brexit-relocations/ar-BB1fWmd9?ocid=spartandhp

In comparison, Portugal’s D7 visa requires the main applicant to have at least the equivalent of the Portuguese minimum wage (around €870 per month as of 2025) and another 50% for the partner. This is much less than what Spain requires.

As of 2025, both Spain and Portugal have digital nomad visas as well, which are aimed at remote workers and freelancers. There are pros and cons to both, and this article looks at two benefits of each in a little more detail.

Another popular visa that Portugal offers is the D2 or entrepreneur visa, which offers residency in return for starting a business in Portugal. Entrepreneur visas are common across Europe, but the Portuguese entrepreneur visa is appealing but it requires a lower amount of seed capital than many other countries.

Then there’s the golden visa, which offers residency in return for investing in Portugal, including buying a property here. It’s something that both Spain and Portugal offer, but there are a few pros to the Portuguese version. Firstly, a citizenship application can be made after five in Portugal rather than 10 years in Spain.

As of 2025, the most popular investment route for most people interested in Portugal’s golden visa is likely to be investing in funds.

Winner: Portugal

Both Spain and Portugal allow you to apply for citizenship (and that coveted “EU passport”) after a period of living there, a process known as naturalisation. In Portugal, that period is five years [source https://www.cscadvogada.com/citizenship/legal-residence-for-5-years] whereas in Spain it’s generally 10 years [source https://www.immigrationspain.es/en/citizenship-by-residency/] . Spain has a few exceptions and it’s faster if you’re a refugee (five years) or two years if you’re from Portugal, the Philippines, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, or any Latin-American country [source https://www.immigrationspain.es/en/citizenship-by-residency/].

Both Spain and Portugal offer citizenship via marriage. In Portugal, you have to have been married for three years or in a long-term relationship or “stable union,” but don’t have to have lived in Portugal. In Spain, you can apply for citizenship through marriage after one year of being married and living in Spain [source https://www.immigrationspain.es/en/citizenship-by-marriage-in-spain/].

Portugal allows dual citizenship. Spain does, but only with specific countries and in limited circumstances. This fact alone could make Portugal the winner as most people will want to hold onto their other passport.

Winner: Portugal

Deciding which country is better when it comes to language is a difficult question to answer, but Spanish is definitely more practical for travel as it’s spoken throughout most of Latin America. Portuguese is spoken in other countries besides Portugal, but most people are more likely to visit Mexico or Chile rather than Guinea-Bissau or Angola. The difference between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese is also much greater than the difference between European Spanish and Latin American Spanish. 

It’s debatable whether one language is harder than the other, but most people will say Spanish is easier, especially when compared to “European Portuguese” (as opposed to “Brazilian Portuguese”). Spoken Portuguese is very hard to understand and there are many more TV shows and films to learn from in Spanish. 

English tends to be more spoken in Portugal, but that’s not always a good thing and it can make it very easy to be lazy and just try to get by in English. In Spain, you can hold a conversation in broken Spanish whereas many Portuguese, frustrated at the slow speed and the way you’re butchering their language, will quickly switch to English. 

Winner: Spain

If you’re planning to move to a country with low taxes, neither Spain nor Portugal should really be considerations. There are many places with much lower taxes. 

According to Tax Foundation, Portugal is worse than Spain when it comes to taxes[source https://taxfoundation.org/personal-income-tax-rates-europe/]. However, this chart only compares “normal” rates of income tax and doesn’t take into account regimes like the new NHR tax regime, which is open to newcomers to Portugal. Although definitely not a “tax holiday” as it’s often marketed as, this can definitely soften the blow of Portuguese taxes and may even work out a better deal than what you’re currently getting. Another blow to Spain in this category is Spain’s wealth tax. According to Tax Foundation, “Spain’s net wealth tax is a progressive tax ranging from 0.2 percent to 3.75 percent on wealth stocks above €700,000 ($784,000; lower in some regions), with rates varying substantially across Spain’s autonomous regions (Madrid offers a 100 percent relief)” [source https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-taxes-in-europe-2020/].