If you Googled “Spain vs Portugal digital nomad visa” and one tab made Spain look cheap at €2,442 while another made Portugal look closed the week Law 62/2026 landed, you are mixing two files. Spain’s 2026 telework floor is still 200% of SMI — consulate-style math is €2,442 / mo; some blogs annualise 14 pays to ~€2,849. Portugal’s D8 is still a consular application: 2026 RMMG is €920, the remote-work rule is four times that, so the main-applicant floor is €3,680 / mo averaged over the last three months. This is the September 2026 side-by-side. It glues the two live income notes. It is a sourced summary, not legal advice and not a permit in your passport.
The pain: two multipliers, two moods
Nomad chats still paste an Iberian “which is easier” thread from 2025. Two of those screenshots will send you to the wrong appointment:
- “Portugal just closed digital-nomad visas.” It did not. As the Portugal D8 income note already covers: Law 62/2026 tightened more tourist-to-residence and in-country regularisation shortcuts. The D8 remote-work visa itself stays a consular file. Do not invent a repeal from a headline.
- “Spain is €2,442, full stop.” Plataforma ONE says 200% of SMI per month. Consulate-style math (Washington’s printout) is €2,442 = 200% × the monthly SMI of €1,221. Blogs that annualise the decree’s 14 pays first land near €2,849. That debate lives on the Spain telework income note. We are not picking a winner. The post that opens your file is.
Pack the income PDF against the page that will actually open your file. The monthly number is not last year’s. The country is not interchangeable with the other one because both sit in Schengen.
Income math, side by side (September 2026)
Read this as two calculators on two statutes, not as a ranking. Confirm the live consulate, UGE, MNE, or AIMA checklist before you book. Full sourced tables sit on the country notes; this page does not rebuild them.
| Check | Spain telework / digital nomad | Portugal D8 |
|---|---|---|
| Official multiplier | 200% of SMI per month (first family 75% SMI; each additional 25% SMI) | Average monthly remote-work income over the last three months of at least four RMMG |
| 2026 wage input | SMI €1,221 / month in 14 payments (decree’s own annual comparison floor €17,094) | RMMG €920 / month from 1 January 2026 |
| Consulate-style monthly | €2,442 / mo alone (200% × €1,221). Washington also prints +€916 first family and +€306 each additional | €3,680 / mo (4 × €920). We did not find a second official monthly D8 number |
| Common blog calculator | ~€2,849 / mo = €1,221 × 14 ÷ 12 × 2. Same 200% rule; they annualise the 14 pays first. Not a second official threshold we found on ONE or Washington | Some secondary blogs apply 50% of €3,680 for a spouse. The Portugal note did not find that stack on MNE or the Buenos Aires D8 page — MNE’s general table is 100% / 50% / 30% of the RMMG, not of the 4× floor |
| Who the money has to be | Remote work for companies outside Spain. Self-employed: Spanish clients only if that slice is ≤20% of total activity (ONE visa and residence pages) | Employee or independent, serving a person or company domiciled outside Portugal (art. 61.º-B). Foreign-source remote work — not a permit to take a Portuguese employer |
| Where you start | Consular visa (ONE visa page) or in-country UGE residence if you are already in a regular situation (ONE residence page) | Consulate / mission / VFS of your residence before you move. Law 62/2026 is part of closing leftover tourist-to-status stories; it is not a D8 repeal |
| Stay shape (as the country notes already write them) | ONE: one-year visa. UGE residence: up to three years (or shorter if the contract is shorter) | MNE: residence visa is two entries and four months, then AIMA. AIMA: temporary remote-work residence two years, renewable in three-year periods. Separate temporary-stay visa if you genuinely want less than a year |
| Qualification extra | ONE: graduate / postgraduate degree or three years of similar professional experience | The D8 documentary rule is the 4× / three-month pack plus the foreign-source employment or services link — not a “highly qualified” statute in the Portugal note |
| Full sourced file | Spain digital-nomad visa income (2026) | Portugal D8 digital-nomad visa income (2026) |
Even if your post annualises Spain, ~€2,849 is still below Portugal’s €3,680. That is arithmetic on the two live notes, not a finding that Spain is “easier.” Spain still wants the degree-or-three-years pack, a company that has been in real activity for a year, a three-month relationship, and insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain. Portugal still wants three months that actually average 4× and a consular appointment you cannot skip because a September headline sounded like a closed door.
Who might pick which (high level, not a recommendation)
We are describing the shape of the two files as the country notes already write them. We are not telling you that you qualify, and we are not ranking tax regimes.
- Spain may fit the file if the monthly documentary number is the binding constraint (consulate-style €2,442, or ~€2,849 if that post annualises); if you can already be in a regular situation in Spain and use the UGE door ONE describes; if you are freelance and might take a small Spanish-client slice without crossing ONE’s 20% line; if you can show the degree or three years’ similar experience ONE lists.
- Portugal may fit the file if you want one clean monthly number without a 14-pay argument — 4 × €920 = €3,680 — and you can show that average over the last three months; if you are applying from outside anyway (the Portugal note’s September mood: start at the consulate); if you want the residence-visa → AIMA two-year card path the MNE / AIMA pages describe, not a tourist stamp you hope to convert.
- Law 62/2026 is not a third visa. Only what the Portugal page already covers: the gazette amendment is not a D8 repeal. It is another nail in “fly in as a tourist and convert later.” If that was the plan, it was already the wrong decade.
- Do not pick on a tax blog. ONE lists tax-regime talking points on the Spain pages; Portugal’s NHR successor is a different file. This page does not advise on IRNR, IRS, or whether you qualify for either.
Italy as the third Schengen income file
Italy is not Iberia, but it is the other 2026 income note in this set. The statutory formula is annual: three times the healthcare-exemption threshold. The Amb. Seoul September 2026 English PDF does the math as €8,500 × 3 = €25,500 / year (~€2,125 / mo of arithmetic). Some posts still show the older ~€24,789. Income has to come from the remote work, not passive streams. Highly qualified plus at least six months in the field is the rest of that bar. Full sourced note: Italy digital-nomad visa income (2026).
A lower monthly equivalent than Spain’s €2,442 does not make Italy the default. Registered housing and the highly-qualified pack are the things people skip when they only compare spreadsheet cells. Comparing other Schengen options this year? The Croatia vs Greece visa checklist is the sibling file (Croatia €3,622.50/mo; Greece Type D / Z.1 before travel after Law 5275/2026).
This week’s file (do this, then book)
- Pick the country for a reason that survives the appointment. Monthly documentary floor, in-country door versus consulate-first, employee versus freelance rules — not a beach photo.
- If Spain: ask the post whether they want €2,442 or the ~€2,849 annualised calculator, then follow the Spain income note and the live ONE page that matches your door (visa vs UGE).
- If Portugal: three months that average at least €3,680, foreign-source contract or services pack, consulate / VFS before the flight. Law 62/2026 is context, not a reason to skip the D8 folder. Follow the Portugal D8 income note.
- Insurance and housing artefacts in the shape that country actually asks for — Spain’s “authorised in Spain, not travel insurance” line is not Portugal’s MNE travel-cover sentence.
- Put the appointment in the calendar first; the cheap fare second. A Schengen entry stamp is not a substitute for either file.
Ready to stop collecting screenshots? Open the live ONE digital-nomad visa page or the MNE residence document page, dump the income pack into one PDF set, and book the channel that page names. If the remote-work base is still the problem — income first, then a visa — back up to How to Become a Digital Nomad (2026).
After you land: data is not the visa, but it is the job
A one-year telework visa or a two-year AIMA card does not include a working mobile pipe. Match the eSIM to the calendar — a consulate week is not a visa-run month — with the trip-length eSIM checklist, then compare exact-day vs fixed packs on eSIMEcho’s Holafly note (if that slug is still warming up, start from the eSIMEcho blog). Keep the home line off roam-as-default; the failure-mode version is when your home carrier bans roaming.
Sources
- Spain figures and visa-versus-UGE split: the live Spain digital-nomad visa income note (September 2026), which cites Real Decreto 126/2026 (SMI €1,221 / 14 pays), Plataforma ONE — Digital Nomad Visa (200% / 75% / 25% of SMI), and the Washington consulate telework page (€2,442 / mo).
- Portugal figures and Law 62/2026: the live Portugal D8 income note (September 2026), which cites Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025 (RMMG €920), Decreto Regulamentar n.º 84/2007 arts. 18.º-B and 31.º-A (four RMMG / three-month average), and Lei n.º 62/2026 as already covered there — not as a new claim on this page.
- Italy as the third file: the Italy digital-nomad visa income note, which cites the Amb. Seoul September 2026 EN PDF (€8,500 × 3 = €25,500) and consulate variance (~€24,789 on some posts).
Related reading
- Spain digital-nomad visa income (2026) — 200% of SMI, €2,442 vs ~€2,849, visa vs UGE.
- Portugal D8 digital-nomad visa income (2026) — 4× €920 = €3,680/mo; Law 62/2026 did not abolish D8.
- Italy digital-nomad visa income (2026) — Seoul €25,500 / year; some posts still ~€24,789.
- Croatia vs Greece digital-nomad visa checklist (2026) — Croatia €3,622.50/mo, Greece Type D / Z.1 first.
- How to Become a Digital Nomad (2026) — income first, then a visa file.
- Trip-length eSIM checklist — exact-day vs a week vs a month-plus once you have a landing date.
- eSIMEcho — destination connectivity notes after the stamp, not instead of it.
Disclaimer
Field note, September 2026 — a sourced comparison, not legal, immigration, or tax advice, and not a complete document list for every nationality or every consulate. Spain’s €2,442 figure is 200% × the monthly SMI as Washington prints it; ~€2,849 is the common 14-pay annualisation. Portugal’s €3,680 is 4 × the 2026 RMMG as the wage decree and the remote-work articles write them. Law 62/2026 is described only as the Portugal note already covers it. Confirm the live official page and, if your facts are messy, a qualified lawyer in the country you would actually file in before you pay a fee or board a plane. We are telling you to assemble a file. We are not telling you which country to pick, or that you qualify.