Everything That Changes In Spain In January 2025

It’s a brand-new year and things aren’t slowing down for life in Spain. In fact, things are busier than ever!

The temperatures may have dropped, but those living in Spain can look forward to a month that brings the end of the golden visa, shopping in the winter sales, celebrating Three King’s Day and so much more!

To make sure that you don’t miss a thing, here’s everything that changes in Spain in January 2025:

Spain Ends VAT Reductions on Food

In a bit to ensure healthy eating amid the post-covid cost of living crisis, the Spanish Government introduced reduced VAY on certain food products. But this ends on January 1st 2025, meaning that you’ll notice the price of your weekly shop is much more expensive.

Many products will therefore return to their ‘normal’ pre inflation prices.  VAT will return to four percent for olive oil, bread, flour, milk, cheese, eggs, fruits, vegetables and cereals. Pasta and seed oils will return to 10 percent starting from 1st January.

Three King’s Day

Three King’s Day is almost as important as Christmas day in Spain. Held on January 5^th, it celebrates the night that the Three Kings arrive in Spain and they bring stacks of presents for Spanish children all over the country with them. Most cities in Spain hold Three Kings' parades on the night of the 5th, and there is a fun, party atmosphere.

Immediately following the arrival of the Three Kings, Monday January 6th, Epiphany Day or Día de Los Reyes is another public holiday in Spain. Like Christmas, this is a day for spending with family, opening gifts, and eating hearty meals.

Shop The January Sales

As is traditional in most countries, after Christmas the January sales begin. So it’s a great time to get a discount on those much needed (or wanted) items. In Spain the winter sales are called  las rebajas de invierno and they don’t start until 7th January, right after Three Kings Day.

As the sale period progresses, the bigger the discounts available will get. There are two sale periods in Spain: The winter sales and the summer sales.

The Introduction Of A New Low Emission Zone

In certain parts of the country, the Spanish government will introduce tougher regulations in Spain’s Low Emission Zones. These new regulations will come in force from January 2025.

According to the law, all cities in Spain with over 50,000 inhabitants must enforce a ZBE. But, as of the end of 2024, only 30 of the 149 municipalities have actually done it. This is all set to change though with many cities, introducing low emission zones this year.

To enter a low emission zone, a car will need to clearly display a low emission sticker. Many cities will be introducing them in 2025 including Palma de Mallorca, Zaragoza and Alicante. The first new city to introduce this is Palma de Mallorca with the rules in place from 1st January.

A Payrise For Spanish Pensioners

Spanish pensioners who receive the Spanish state pension will get a pay rise on 1^st January. The increase for 2025 will be 2.8%

The pension age will also rise this year. If you want to retire with 100% of your pension you’ll need to be 66 years and 8 months old. Don’t worry though, you can still retired at 5, but only if you have 38 years and 3 months of social security contributions.

Goodbye To The Golden Visa

We’ve written before about the Spanish Government’s decision to abolish the Golden Visa, and this is expected to be officially removed in January. The abolishment of this was approved by congress in later December.

Now all that's left is for the cancellation of the scheme to appear in Spain's Official State Bulletin (BOE) and from that day on no more golden visa applications will be accepted. We don’t officially know when the bulletin announcement will be made, but it’s expected to happen in January.

New Changes To Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa

The Spanish digital nomad visa is one of its most popular, and the financial requirements of this visa could change in January, although no date has been confirmed.

The financial requirement (the amount you need to earn) to secure the visa is set to increase. This financial requirement is linked to Spain's minimum wage, which is almost certainly going to rise in 2025.

So while this figure currently sits at €2,646 a month we can expect to see it going up for 2025.

A Wage Drop For Contract Workers

If you’re a contract worker in Spain then you can expect to see a net salary drop, and the higher your income the more noticeable that drop will be.

Why? Because the taxation rate for contract workers in the country is set to increase in two ways. Firstly through Spain’s Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI), and secondly because your company in Spain is obliged to withhold a certain percentage of your IRPF (income tax), which gets passed on to Spain's Hacienda tax agency. You’ll notice this in the amount you get to take home at the end of each month.

Changes For Self-Employed Workers

It’s not just contract workers that will see changes in 2024. Self-employed workers can also expect to see changes in 2025, many of which will be introduced in January. These include a new retirement age, changes to social security contributions and tax payments, and a new approach to invoicing.

If you’re self employed in Spain then it’s important to be aware of these changes and to make adjustments accordingly.

Cold January Weather

Finally, last January was the hottest January weather ever recorded in Spain. But this year you can expect a return to normal January weather – and that means the temperatures are pretty cold!

The only exception to this is that temperatures will be slightly higher than usual in Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia and the Canaries.

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