Note
The 90 in 180 rule explained: how to count your days
Quick answer
For each day of your stay, look back over the previous 180-day window and count the days you spent in the Schengen area. The total must be 90 or fewer, and the check applies to every day. Count entry and exit days as the authorities do, and use the official calculator to confirm.
Applies toNon-EU owners planning several trips a year and wanting to know how many days they have left.
On this page: 9 sections
§ 1The principle
The European Commission describes the short-stay rule as allowing a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period. It is a rolling window: for any day of your stay you look back over the previous 180-day window and count the days spent in the Schengen area. The total must not exceed 90. The count works the same way for every owner, and the wider rules are in Schengen stay limits explained.
§ 2A method
List all your entry and exit dates for the last year. For the day you want to check, mark the 180-day window that ends on that day. Count the days of presence inside that window, across all Schengen countries. If the total is 90 or fewer, you pass for that day. Then repeat for every day of the planned stay, because you must pass on each one. A planned trip can fail on a later day even if it passes on the first.
§ 3Why it is rolling
Because the window moves, days leave the count as time passes. A long stay followed by a long absence restores your days, but not instantly. The window looks back half a year, so a stay of the full allowance uses the whole allowance until some of those days leave the window. Plan the gaps between stays with that in mind.
§ 4Common mistakes
The most frequent errors are counting per country instead of the whole area, counting calendar years instead of a rolling window, forgetting short trips to other Schengen countries, and assuming that a day of arrival or departure does not count. Another is relying on memory. Write your dates down at the time.
§ 5Use the official tool
The Commission publishes a short-stay calculator for the purpose. It applies the rule as the authorities do. Enter your past stays and your planned dates, and check the result. Save a copy of the result. The calculator is a guide, and the border officer decides, so keep a margin of safety.
§ 6What is outside the rule
The Commission states that EU residence permits and long-stay visas are not subject to the rule, and a short-stay visa may authorise a shorter stay, in which case the calculator is not used. If you hold such a permit, follow its terms instead. EU citizens are not subject to the rule.
§ 7A worked example
Imagine a visitor who stays for sixty days in spring, leaves, and returns for sixty days in autumn. On the first day of the autumn stay, the window looks back half a year, and the spring days are still inside it. Together the visits come to more than ninety days by the end of the autumn stay, so the visitor fails the test on some day before the end. The fix is a shorter autumn stay or a later return. The calculator does this arithmetic for you.
§ 8For owners
Owning a home does not change the count. If your plans need more days than the rule allows, look at the routes explained in the chapter on residency and property. The arrangement of part-time living is covered in more on part-time living.
§ 9More on this topic
More on overstaying explains the risk of exceeding the limit.
FAQRelated questions
Is it 90 days per year?
No. It is a rolling window. On any given day, you look back over the previous half-year and count your days in the area. The window moves every day, so you can regain days as old days drop out of the window.
Do entry and exit days count?
Ask the official calculator, which applies the authorities’ method. As a rule, days of presence in the area are counted, and a day of arrival or departure involves presence. Plan with a margin rather than relying on the last day.
Is there an official tool?
Yes. The European Commission publishes a short-stay calculator for this purpose. Use it with your actual dates before you book travel. Keep the results with your records.
Sources
- European Commission: Short-stay calculator (official source, opens in a new window), The 90/180 ruleLast checked 17 October 2026
Legal note. How the process works in general. It is not legal advice, and it never replaces an independent Spanish lawyer acting for you.