Island life and local guides
Retiring on Gran Canaria: the route depends on your passport
Europeans retiring on Gran Canaria register for the green certificate with proof of income and health cover. Everyone else, British arrivals since Brexit included, needs the non-lucrative visa from a Spanish consulate first. From Playa del Inglés and Maspalomas to Arguineguín and Mogán, the south has its own police stations for the steps that follow.
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Europeans: register, with means and health cover
A Swede, a Dane, a Finn, a German or a Dutch pensioner is free to settle here. Beyond three months, registration on form EX-18 is expected. Since you will not be working, the file rests on two points: resources that cover your household, and health insurance.
Pensioners often prove public cover with an S1 from the state that pays them; others take out complete private insurance valid in Spain. Norwegians and Icelanders follow the same route, as EEA citizens.
In the south, EU registration appears only in the entry of the Comisaría de Santa Lucía de Tirajana, a unit set up for Santa Lucía, Agüimes and Ingenio; Maspalomas does not have it. Retirees in Maspalomas or Mogán should therefore plan on Plaza de la Feria 24 in the city, unless the booking system offers Santa Lucía.
When the winters get longer
If your home stays in Stockholm or Copenhagen and you only come for the winter, the line to watch is a stay of more than three months. Once Gran Canaria is where you really live, registration is expected. Spending more than half the year here also raises tax questions, which a tax adviser should answer.
From outside the EU: the non-lucrative visa first
Americans, Canadians, Argentines and other retirees from outside the EU mostly come through residencia no lucrativa, “non-profit” residence: you live on your pension or savings and do not work in Spain. The process opens at a Spanish consulate where you live now, never on the island.
After you arrive, the steps are local: the padrón, then the fingerprints for your TIE. The police directory places non-lucrative residence and the TIE at Plaza de la Feria 24; in the south, Maspalomas and Santa Lucía de Tirajana handle the TIE.
UK citizens since Brexit
Brexit changed the British position: in Spain, a UK passport is now a non-EU passport. People who were already living here before 2021 keep their rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, and their TIE shows it. Long-time residents with nothing but an old green certificate may swap it for the card.
A British retiree moving now follows the non-EU route, usually the non-lucrative visa. Without one, your time here is a visitor’s time, capped by the Schengen rule on short stays: 90 days within any 180.
Questions
My husband is Norwegian and I am Swedish. Do we follow the same route?
Yes. Norway belongs to the EEA, so both of you register with form EX-18, each with your own appointment.
Can I retire here on a UK pension without a visa?
Not for long stays. Since Brexit, a British retiree who wants to live here needs a visa, usually the non-lucrative one, unless already covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.
Does buying a home give me residence?
No. A property here is a home, not a permit. The golden visa that tied residence to investment was abolished in 2025.
Where do I register on the padrón in Mogán?
With the Ayuntamiento de Mogán, the town hall of that municipality. Every resident registers in the municipality where they live.
Where these facts come from
- policia.es: Policía Nacional units with foreigners’ procedures in the province of Las Palmas (Luis Doreste Silva, Plaza de la Feria, Maspalomas, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Telde)
- BOE: Orden INT/864/2012, which set up the Santa Lucía de Tirajana unit for Santa Lucía, Agüimes and Ingenio
- sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es: the official cita previa for foreigners’ procedures
These sources were last checked on .