# Spain Long-Term Residence — Keeping It Residency rule, Spain. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/residency-es-long-term-keep/ ## Summary Spanish long-term residence ends when you are outside the territory of the European Union for 12 months in a row. If you got EU long-term residence after holding an EU Blue Card, the limit is 24 months in a row, and the same applies to your family members with that status. Days in any EU country count as inside. The permit does not end by itself: the office that granted it opens a procedure, hears you and issues a decision. After a loss on this ground you can apply to get the permit back. - Limit: 12 months in a row outside the European Union - After an EU Blue Card: 24 months in a row, for EU long-term residence - Counted as: One unbroken absence from the territory of the EU - What happens: The long-term residence permit is ended by a decision - Law: Royal Decree 1155/2024, article 201, paragraph 1, letter c - Run by: The body that granted the permit, through the immigration office ## Who it applies to - Holders of Spanish long-term residence, national or EU, who move back to their home country for a time. - People who take a job outside the European Union for a year or more. - People who got EU long-term residence after an EU Blue Card and want to use the longer limit. - Family members who hold long-term residence and follow a relative abroad. - People who already lost the permit after a long absence and want it back. ## The rule Article 201 of the immigration regulation, Royal Decree 1155/2024, lists the cases in which a long-term residence permit ends. Paragraph 1, letter c is the absence rule: the permit ends when the holder is absent from the territory of the European Union for 12 months in a row. The rule covers both types of permit, national long-term residence (larga duración) and EU long-term residence (larga duración-UE). Article 32, paragraph 5 of Organic Law 4/2000 states the same 12 months and leaves the exceptions and the recovery procedure to the regulation. The same letter gives a longer period to one group. For people who got EU long-term residence after holding an EU Blue Card, and for their family members who were given EU long-term resident status, the 12 months become 24 months in a row. The absence is measured against the European Union, not against Spain. Time in France, Germany or any other member state is not an absence for this rule. Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are in the Schengen area but are not members of the European Union, so time there is outside. The permit does not end silently. Under article 202 the administration opens a procedure and must hear you for at least 10 days. It has 6 months to decide and notify you, and the decision must respect proportionality and take the facts of your case into account. You can appeal. Under article 203 the decision has effect from the moment it is issued. A loss on this ground is not final. Articles 186 to 189 set a procedure to recover long-term residence when it ended under article 201, paragraph 1, letter c. You can apply at the immigration office in Spain or through a Spanish consulate abroad. Why it exists: Long-term residence gives the right to live and work in Spain for an unlimited time, on the same terms as Spaniards. That right rests on a real link with Spain and the European Union. A full year outside the Union, with no visit, is taken as a sign that the link has ended. The longer period for people who came through the EU Blue Card belongs to the special rules for highly qualified workers. ## Counting the days You count one unbroken absence from the territory of the European Union, in calendar months from the day you leave the EU to the day you enter it again. 1. Write down the day you left the European Union. A flight from Madrid through Paris to Dakar leaves the EU on the day you leave Paris. 2. Add 12 calendar months, or 24 if you got EU long-term residence after an EU Blue Card. 3. Enter any EU member state before that date. It does not have to be Spain for this rule. 4. Keep proof of the entry: a passport stamp, a boarding pass, a hotel bill. 5. If you hold the EU type of permit, check the separate limit of 6 years away from Spain as well. How Countr counts it: Countr counts the full days of your current absence from the European Union for Spain Long-Term Residence — Keeping It. Days in any EU country count as inside. Days in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland count as outside. You choose the limit: 363 days for the 12-month rule, or 728 days for the 24-month rule after an EU Blue Card. Twelve calendar months are 365 or 366 days, and the days you leave and return do not count as days away, so the card warns early, never late. It warns you 60 days before. The card watches your current absence only. If a past absence already went over the limit, the permit may already have been lost although the card shows nothing, so check your History. If the app cannot see where you were on a day, the count starts over, so gaps make the number smaller, never bigger. ## Examples ### Eleven months in Argentina Diego holds national long-term residence. He flies from Madrid to Buenos Aires on 15 January 2026 and returns to Spain on 10 December 2026, just under 11 months later. The limit of 12 months would have been reached on 15 January 2027. His permit is not affected. A new count starts if he leaves the EU again. ### Two weeks too late Samira leaves the EU on 15 January 2026 and does not enter any EU country until 30 January 2027. That is 380 days. She passed 12 months in a row on 15 January 2027. The administration can open a procedure, hear her and declare that her permit has ended. She can then apply to recover long-term residence under the recovery procedure. ### Living in Portugal and a ski trip to Switzerland Wei holds EU long-term residence from Spain and has lived in Lisbon since 1 March 2026. On 1 March 2027 he has been away from Spain for 12 months, but he never left the European Union, so this limit is not reached. A week of skiing in Switzerland in February 2027 counts as 7 days outside the EU and then ends when he is back in Portugal. For him the limit to watch is the separate one of 6 years away from Spain. ## Exceptions - People who got EU long-term residence after an EU Blue Card, and their family members with EU long-term resident status, have 24 months in a row in place of 12. - The regulation says the absence ground does not apply to people employed by bodies that promote cooperation under the statute for cooperation workers, Royal Decree 708/2024. - After a loss on this ground you can apply to recover long-term residence under articles 186 to 189. For the EU type, the office can refuse recovery if it finds that you are a threat to public order, public security or public health. - The recovery procedure is for the person who held the permit. Family members who held it through family reunification do not use it; for the national permit there is an exception for family members who are minors. - EU long-term residence also ends when you get EU long-term residence in another member state, and after 6 years away from Spain. ## Common misconceptions - "I must come back to Spain every 12 months." This rule counts absence from the European Union. Entering any member state ends the absence. Only the EU type of permit has a second rule about Spain itself, 6 years away. - "Any Schengen country counts as inside." The rule says European Union. Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are Schengen members but not EU members, so time there is outside. - "My card is valid for 5 years, so I am safe until it expires." The date on the card is the date of the card. The permit can be declared ended after 12 months in a row outside the EU, whatever the card says. - "If I lose the permit, I must start again from zero." The regulation has a recovery procedure for permits that ended because of this absence. You apply at the immigration office or at a consulate. ## Questions and answers ### How long can I stay outside Spain with long-term residence? You can be outside the European Union for less than 12 months in a row. Time in other EU countries does not count for this rule. With the EU type of permit you must also not be away from Spain for 6 years. ### Does a short visit to the EU restart the 12 months? Yes. The rule asks for 12 months in a row, so a real entry into any EU member state ends the absence, and a new count starts when you leave again. Keep proof of the entry. ### Who gets 24 months in place of 12? People who got EU long-term residence after holding an EU Blue Card, and their family members who were given EU long-term resident status. It does not apply to the national long-term permit. ### Do Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania count as inside? Yes. The rule speaks of the territory of the European Union, and all four are member states. Being in Schengen or not does not matter here. ### Does the permit end automatically at 12 months? No. The administration must open a procedure, hear you for at least 10 days and issue a decision within 6 months, which you can appeal. But once you pass 12 months the ground for ending the permit exists. ### How do I get long-term residence back after losing it? You apply for recovery in person, on the official form, at the immigration office of the province where you will live or at the Spanish consulate where you live. If the consulate route is accepted, you receive a residence visa to enter Spain. ## Sources - [BOE - Real Decreto 1155/2024, Reglamento de Extranjería, artículos 186 a 189 y 201 a 203](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2024-24099) - [BOE - Ley Orgánica 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain, artículo 32](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2000-544) --- Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800