An Argentine passport for 350,000 dollars: what it gives you and what to buy with it on the Costa Blanca

Where the question comes from

A few days ago a client sent me the news with a note: «350,000 dollars for a passport… everyone with money will start buying». On 2 October Argentina's economy minister Luis Caputo announced a citizenship by investment programme. On the main point the client is right: people with capital are already looking. So I will go through two things in turn: what this passport actually gives you and what people buy with it in our region.

Part one, the passport: what it costs

The main option is a non-refundable contribution of 350,000 dollars to the treasury. The second route is 800,000 dollars in Argentine government bonds: the money is not lost, but it stays lent to the country. A spouse and children aged 18 to 25 are added for 100,000 each, children under 18 for 25,000, so a couple with two children under 18 comes to 500,000 dollars. Buying property in Argentina does not count. You do not have to live in Argentina.

What it gives you

Banks. In my experience, a buyer with a Russian passport abroad today runs into the bank rather than the border: not every bank will open an account, and every large payment goes through extra checks. Another country's passport removes a good part of these questions, and people with capital buy it mainly for this.

Buying and selling property abroad. With a document the bank accepts calmly it is easier to buy a flat or a house in another country, let it and, just as important, later sell it and take the money out. It is freedom to manage your capital, not only to travel.

Travel. The Argentine passport opens 169 destinations visa-free or with a visa on arrival, including Schengen for up to 90 days and the United Kingdom with an electronic authorisation; over time it adds the right to live in the Mercosur countries. The United States still requires a visa.

What to check before you pay

The court. On 30 June 2026 Argentina's National Electoral Chamber declared invalid the decree on which the programme rests. The government has appealed to the Supreme Court, and there is no ruling yet. Applications are promised from the fourth quarter of 2026, but the dates have already moved, and a delay to 2027 is quite possible.

The contribution is not refunded. It is payment for a document, not an investment: if in five years you no longer need the passport, the money does not come back.

EU sanctions look at the first citizenship. In its guidance on Regulation 833/2014 the European Commission says it directly: the ban on EU banks accepting deposits above 100,000 euros from Russian nationals also applies when the person has a second passport from a non-EU country. The exception is citizenship of an EU country and residence in the EU. So for money that has to work inside the European Union, an Argentine passport does not cancel these rules, and the structure of the deal is worth putting together in advance with the bank and a lawyer.

The Spanish trap. Citizens of Latin American countries can get a Spanish passport after two years of living in Spain instead of ten, but article 22 of the Civil Code speaks of «nacionales de origen», that is, citizens by birth. As I read the law, this advantage does not extend to a purchased passport; if you are counting on this route, check it with a Spanish lawyer before you pay.

Part two: what to buy here with an Argentine passport

A foreigner buys property in Spain with any passport: you need an NIE, the foreigner's identity number. The purchase does not give the right to live here: the «golden visa», residence for property from 500,000 euros, has been abolished, and no new applications have been accepted since 3 April 2025. So a person with this kind of capital buys here for one of two purposes: rental income or a home to live in. For each I look at a different place. Below are examples from 500,000 euros. These are exactly the buyers I am looking for.

For income: Finestrat

If the purpose of the purchase is income, Calpe is not the best option; I look at Finestrat: here there are villas with their own pools, and you can take several houses in the same development. SaliSol Golf has 14 detached villas in one row: each with its own 7 by 3 metre pool, a 52.5 m² roof solarium, three bedrooms and four bathrooms. According to the October 2026 price list a villa costs from 605,000 to 780,000 euros, handover in 2027 and 2028. Five such villas come to three to four million euros, all in one development, and they are easy to look after together.

Next door, in SaliSol Hills, one villa is already finished: three bedrooms, 107 m² of living space, terraces of 46 and 40 m², a 352 m² plot and its own pool, 645,000 euros. You can see it today without waiting for construction.

A roomier villa, Las Bellas: three bedrooms on two floors, 155 m² of living space, a 68 m² solarium and its own pool; under the house there is a semi-basement where a fourth bedroom can be added for an extra charge. From 789,900 euros, handover 18-24 months after signing. For letting I pick houses where a licence is possible.

To live in: Calpe by the sea and finished villas

For living in yourself, Calpe works well: the finished buildings here are a few minutes' walk from the beach, beneath the Peñón de Ifach rock. Seaway Tower has 16 homes in one tower, and the three-bedroom flat takes up a whole floor: 90.6 m² and 36 m² of terraces, a kitchen with Balay appliances, Airzone air conditioning in every room. The building is handed over, the beach is about 300 m on foot, the price is from 645,000 euros; parking and storage are bought separately. Next to it, JADE: two finished towers with views of the Peñón, a three-bedroom, two-bathroom flat for 670,000 euros, about 550 m from the beach.

If you want a single rare flat, Isea Views has a penthouse on the 18th floor for sale: three bedrooms, 129 m², 33 m² of terraces and a 158 m² roof solarium, windows facing west. The beach is about 300 m away, the building is handed over by the end of 2026, the price is 1,650,000 euros. Which flats are available in these buildings today and what else is nearby, I will show you from the current price list for your request.

If you need a house to live in rather than a flat, the finished villa Rey Luis I 44 in Sea Hills looks out over a wide panorama of the sea, with the Puig Campana behind the house. Four bedrooms, its own pool, a 712 m² plot, 1,800,000 euros, and you can move in straight away.

A house a level up, the finished Villa Saona in the gated Altea Hills development: four bedrooms, 405 m², a 1000 m² plot, its own pool, sea views from the living room. Underfloor heating throughout, aerothermal heating and cooling and solar panels. 2,690,000 euros, the house is ready to move into.

The bottom line

The passport decides where you keep and move your money. Where it works is decided by property, and that is where I help you, here on the Costa Blanca.

What next

If you are looking at several villas to let or a home to live in by the sea, write to me how many and for what: I will put together options from the current price lists and work out the whole purchase. The commission for you is 0%: the developer pays it, and the price is the same as at the sales office. Why you are better off with me than without me.

This article is not financial or immigration advice: the programme terms are still changing, so the decision on citizenship is worth checking with a lawyer, and buying on the Costa Blanca, of course, with me, all the more so as my work is completely free for you.