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Schengen 90/180 Rule in Spain: How to Count Your Days

If you are a non-EU visitor who needs no visa, you can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in Spain and the rest of Schengen. To check your days, count back 180 days from each day of your stay and make sure the total does not exceed 90.

Work it out for your datesSchengen 90/180 day calculatorDays used in any 180-day window, days left, and the earliest re-entry date, counted the way the Schengen Borders Code counts them.
On this page
  1. Does the rule apply to you?
  2. How do you count the days?
  3. What happens if you overstay?
  4. How do you stay longer than 90 days?
  5. Common questions

Visiting Valencia on a passport that needs no visa? You can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across Spain and the rest of Schengen together. The 180 days is a window that moves with you: on every day of your stay, you count back 180 days.

The quickest check is the Schengen calculator on this site. Enter your past trips and your planned arrival, and it shows how many days you have left.

Does the rule apply to you?

It applies if you are in Spain for a short stay and EU law does not require you to hold a visa. If you do need a visa, a short-stay visa gives you the same ceiling, counted from your first entry into Schengen.

It stops applying once you hold an EU residence permit or a long-stay visa, because those documents allow stays longer than 90 days.

How do you count the days?

Picture a ruler you slide forward one day at a time. For each day you are in Spain, you look at the 180 days before it, and the Schengen days inside that stretch must not exceed 90. Old days drop out at the back while new ones are added at the front.

You can return once enough old days have dropped out of the last 180 for the total not to exceed 90.

Count every trip, including a weekend in another Schengen country, because they all sit in the same count. How the entry and exit days are counted is not confirmed on the official pages, so check it with the border officer.

What happens if you overstay?

Being irregularly in Spain, including without an extension of stay, is a grave infraction under the Foreigners Act.

BOE text of the Foreigners Act article on grave infractions, first item: being irregularly in Spanish territory without an extension of stay.
The first grave infraction in the Foreigners Act is being in Spain irregularly, including without an extension of stay, as published by the BOE. Source: BOE, Ley Organica 4/2000, art. 53 (opens in a new tab), captured 24 October 2026

The fine is EUR 501 to 10,000. The authorities may apply expulsion instead of the fine, after an administrative file and a reasoned decision. The two can never be imposed together.

Expulsion carries a ban on entering Spain of up to five years, depending on the case. If you realise you are over your days, talk to a lawyer before you decide how to leave, because the authority does not impose the ban in some cases where you left while the file was open.

How do you stay longer than 90 days?

You need a long-stay visa or a residence authorisation, not a longer tourist stay. A residence visa lets you ask for entry at the border to live in Spain for more than 90 days. Pick by what you do here:

Not sure between the first two? The non-lucrative vs nomad visa guide compares them. If you are arriving first and deciding later, plan your first month with the short-stay and coworking guide.

Schengen days are not tax days: the tax residency guide covers that separate test.

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Not confirmed: How the day of entry and the day of exit are counted is not stated on the official pages checked, so confirm it with the calculator and the border officer.

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Common questions

Does the 90/180 rule apply to Spain alone or to all of Schengen?

To all of it: the intended stays in Spain and any other Member State count together. A trip to Portugal does not reset anything, so add every Schengen day to your count.

Do the 90 days have to be in a row?

No. You can split your days into several trips, as long as the total in the 180 days before each day of stay does not exceed 90.

Does a residence permit or long-stay visa fall under the rule?

No. Holders of an EU residence permit or a long-stay visa are not subject to the 90/180-day rule, because those documents allow stays longer than 90 days. A short-stay visa is different: its days count towards the same ceiling.

What is the penalty for overstaying in Spain?

Being irregularly in Spain is a grave infraction, with a fine of EUR 501 to 10,000. Expulsion may be applied instead, never together with the fine, and it carries an entry ban of up to five years.

Do days from last year still count?

Only those inside the 180 days before the day you are checking. Older days drop out as the window moves forward.

Sources and reader comments

Official legal texts (BOE, DOGV, government portals):

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