The buyer's guide

Anyone can buy property in Spain, whatever their nationality and whether or not they live here. Owning a home is separate from the right to live here, though. The Golden Visa ended on 3 April 2025, so buying no longer brings residency, and visitors from outside the EU are generally limited to 90 days in any 180 unless they hold a visa.

Before you look at homes, work out your real budget. On top of the price, allow:

• 10% to 13% for a resale home
• 12% to 14% for a new build
• About 1% more if you take a mortgage

As a non-resident with a mortgage, plan to have roughly 40% to 50% of the price in cash, covering your deposit and these costs. Speak to a bank or broker before you start viewing, so you know what you can borrow.

Your most important appointment is an independent Spanish property lawyer, with no ties to the seller, the developer or the agency. Check that they are registered with the local Colegio de Abogados, the bar association, and ask for a written quote. Fees are typically 1% of the price plus IVA, often with a minimum of €1,200 to €1,500. We can put you in touch with lawyers as a starting point, but you choose and appoint your own.

On timing, a cash purchase usually takes 4 to 6 weeks from offer to keys and a mortgage purchase 8 to 12 weeks. Off-plan can take 1 to 3 years. Spring and autumn have the most homes on the market. Offices and notaries slow down from mid-July to the end of August, so leave extra time if your dates fall there.

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is your foreigner's tax identity number. You need it to sign a deed at the notary, take out a mortgage and pay Spanish taxes. It is not a residency permit: it only puts you in the tax system.

There are three usual ways to get one:

• In Spain: book an appointment (cita previa) at an Oficina de Extranjería or a police station that handles NIEs, submit form EX-15 and pay a fee of around €10 on Modelo 790.
• Abroad: apply at a Spanish consulate in your country of residence.
• Through a lawyer: give your lawyer a power of attorney and they apply for you. This is the most common route for overseas buyers and typically costs €100 to €250.

Allow 1 to 4 weeks. Appointments can be hard to find, so start early.

A power of attorney (poder notarial) is signed at a Spanish consulate, at a notary in Spain, or at a notary at home with an apostille and a sworn translation. Expect €80 to €200 plus any translation costs, and ask your lawyer to limit it to this purchase.

A Spanish bank account is not strictly required, but you will almost certainly want one for the deposit, direct debits and any mortgage. All the major banks offer non-resident accounts. Bring your passport, NIE and proof of your home address, and sometimes proof of income. Annual fees of €30 to €120 are typical.

The money for your purchase must arrive by traceable transfer, and the notary and bank will ask where it came from, so keep your statements or sale documents ready. If you are changing currency, compare a currency specialist with your bank, since bank rates can cost 2% to 4% more.

Start with how you will use the home. A base for most of the year needs shops, healthcare and neighbours in winter. A holiday home needs an easy flight and a building you can lock up and leave. If you hope to let it, the local rules matter more than the view.

The coasts most foreign buyers compare differ in clear ways:

• Costa Blanca North: rocky coast and mountains, villas and long-settled communities.
• Costa Blanca South: long beaches, very dry and sunny, with a large foreign community and plenty of homes to choose from.
• Costa Cálida: the Mar Menor lagoon, a more Spanish feel and lower prices than the Costa Blanca.
• Costa de Almería: quieter and the driest of all, with a smaller foreign market.
• Costa del Sol: the mildest winters, Málaga city and the broadest international mix.

Tax differs too, since each region sets its own resale tax. As a guide, ITP is 10% in the Valencia Community (Costa Blanca), 8% in Murcia and 7% in Andalusia (Almería and Málaga). Wealth tax, which only affects higher-value owners, is rebated in Andalusia but applies in Valencia and Murcia.

Then narrow it down to a town. Walk it on a weekday morning and again in the evening, check how far you are from a supermarket and a health centre, and ask what the street is like in January. Many urbanisations and rural areas need a car, so work out how you will get around.

Two local checks can change the decision. Within 100 metres of the sea, ask your lawyer about the Coastal Law (Ley de Costas). If you plan short-term letting, confirm that the town still issues tourist licences and that the community of owners has not banned it.

A resale home is one that has already been lived in. You can see exactly what you are buying and move in soon after completion, and the price is often negotiable: 3% to 10% below asking is common. The purchase tax is ITP. The risks lie in the home's past, so your lawyer checks the nota simple and licences, and a survey can be worth the cost on older homes where wiring or plumbing may be dated.

A new build comes straight from the developer and has never been occupied. You get modern insulation and systems and a 10-year structural guarantee, and the price is usually fixed. The tax is IVA plus stamp duty, which usually comes to a little more than ITP. New developments can be further from town centres and take some years to feel lived in.

Off-plan means buying from plans before the home is finished, usually 12 to 36 months ahead. You can choose the unit and its orientation, and you pay in stages. Delays of 6 to 18 months are common, so do not plan your move around the first date you are given.

Whichever you choose, check these:

• Size: built area (superficie construida) is typically 15% to 25% larger than useful area (superficie útil), so compare homes on the same measure.
• Orientation: south-facing homes get sun all day, while west-facing homes get the hot afternoon sun.
• Community: ask for the fees, recent meeting minutes and any planned special charge (derrama).
• New builds: visit the actual unit or plot as well as the show home, and attach the specification (memoria de calidades) to your contract.
• Resale: ask whether there is a tenant, since a lease usually survives a sale.

When your offer is accepted you usually sign a reservation contract (contrato de reserva) and pay a deposit, typically €3,000 to €6,000 or sometimes 1% of the price. This takes the home off the market for 14 to 30 days while your lawyer checks it. The deposit should go to your lawyer's client account or a bonded third party, not into an estate agent's operating account, and the contract should say in writing when it is refundable.

During that period your lawyer reviews:

• Nota simple: the Land Registry extract showing the owner, mortgages and embargoes.
• Cadastre: that the size and plot match the registry.
• Licences: the licencia de primera ocupación or habitability certificate, confirming the home is legally fit to live in.
• Certificado de eficiencia energética: the energy certificate, required by law, rating the home A to G.
• Debts: community fees, IBI and utilities. Community debts can pass to the new owner with the home.

Next comes the private purchase contract, the contrato de arras. It is legally binding, and you normally pay 10% of the price at this stage. Under the most common type, arras penitenciales, you lose the 10% if you back out, and if the seller backs out they return your 10% plus another 10%.

The arras sets the completion date, usually 4 to 8 weeks later, along with any conditions such as mortgage approval and who pays what at the notary. Plusvalía, the municipal land value tax, is legally the seller's, so check that the contract leaves it there.

If you cannot be in Spain, your lawyer can sign by power of attorney. Off-plan purchases follow a similar path: a reservation, then a contract with the developer that sets out the stage payments.

When you buy off-plan, you pay in parts as the building goes up. A typical pattern is a reservation of around €6,000, then a private contract with the developer and stage payments that add up to somewhere between 20% and 50% of the price during construction. The balance is due at the notary when the home is finished.

Spanish law protects this money. Under Ley 38/1999, as amended by Ley 20/2015, every off-plan stage payment must be covered individually by a bank guarantee (aval bancario) or by insurance. In plain words, a bank or insurer stands behind each payment. If the developer goes bust or the home is not delivered, the bank or insurer refunds what you paid. The money should go into a special account (cuenta especial) at that bank, not the developer's ordinary account.

Before you send any money:

• Ask for the actual guarantee document, in writing. A verbal assurance is not enough.
• Have your lawyer check that the bank or insurer is genuine and that the document covers your home.
• Ask your lawyer to confirm that each stage is covered before you pay it.

This matters because tens of thousands of buyers were caught out in the 2008 to 2012 crisis, and many never recovered their money. If a developer says a formal guarantee is unnecessary because the company is well established, walk away.

The home can only be handed over once it has its licencia de primera ocupación, the first occupation licence. At handover, walk through with an architect or surveyor if you can, list every defect and have them fixed before you sign acceptance. Finishing defects are usually covered only for the first year, while the structure has a 10-year guarantee.

What you pay depends on who is selling: a developer or a private owner. The rates below are a guide, because regions revise them, so ask your lawyer to confirm the current figures.

Buying new from a developer, you pay IVA plus stamp duty (AJD):

• IVA: 10% of the price, including a garage or storage room bought with the home
• AJD in the Valencia Community (Costa Blanca): 1.5%
• AJD in Murcia (Costa Cálida): 1.5%
• AJD in Andalusia (Costa de Almería, Costa del Sol): 1.2%

Buying resale from a private owner, you pay ITP, the transfer tax set by each region:

• Valencia Community: 10%, with a reduced 8% for some first-time buyers, buyers under 35 and large families
• Murcia: 8%, with reductions available
• Andalusia: 7%

ITP is charged on the reference value (valor de referencia) published by the Cadastre, or on the declared price if that is higher. It is paid within 30 days of signing on Modelo 600, usually by your lawyer or gestor.

Fees are similar on both routes:

• Notary: about 0.1% to 0.5% of the price, on a state tariff
• Land Registry: roughly half the notary fee, typically 0.1% to 0.4%
• Lawyer: typically 1% plus IVA, often with a minimum of €1,200 to €1,500
• Gestor, if you use one: around €300 to €600

Added together, the total commonly comes to 10% to 13% of the price on a resale and 12% to 14% on a new build. A mortgage adds about 1% for the valuation and any opening fee. Allow for currency costs too if you are changing money.

Non-residents can borrow in Spain, usually 60% to 70% of the value. Banks lend on the lower of the price or their own valuation (tasación), so if the valuation comes in low you cover the gap in cash. With costs included, plan on 40% to 50% of the price in cash. Most banks cap all your debt payments at about 35% of net monthly income, and non-resident terms usually run to 20 or 25 years, repaid by about age 70 or 75.

Rates move monthly, so treat these as an early 2026 guide for non-residents:

• Fixed: around 2.8% to 3.5%
• Variable: 12-month Euribor plus 1.0% to 1.5%
• Mixed: fixed for the first 3 to 10 years, then variable

Have these ready:

• Passport and NIE
• Last 2 to 3 years' tax returns
• Last 3 to 6 months' bank statements
• Last 3 months' payslips, or 2 to 3 years' accounts if self-employed
• A credit report from your home country and statements for existing debts

Documents usually need a sworn translation, plus an apostille for non-EU applicants.

Start before you choose a home, because pre-approval can take 2 to 4 weeks. The bank then orders a valuation and issues the FEIN, its binding offer. By law you wait at least 10 calendar days between receiving the FEIN and signing, and you visit the notary first to confirm you understand the terms. The bank covers the mortgage notary, registry and stamp duty costs. You cover the valuation (about €300 to €600), any opening fee (0.5% to 1.5% of the loan) and home insurance.

We can put you in touch with a mortgage broker, who can approach several banks for you. Ask upfront how they are paid. If you earn in another currency, test your budget against a 20% fall in its value.

Completion happens at a notary's office, where the escritura pública, the public deed, is signed. The notary is a neutral public official who checks identities, reads through the deed, witnesses payment and signatures, and sends the deed to the Land Registry. They do not act for you or judge whether the deal is a good one. That is your lawyer's job. By custom, the buyer chooses the notary.

The people present are you or your lawyer under a power of attorney, the seller, and the bank's representative if there is a mortgage. Before the day, your lawyer should confirm:

• Your NIE and passport are in order.
• The funds have arrived and their source is documented.
• The seller has a certificate showing community fees are paid up, and IBI is up to date.
• The energy certificate is ready to attach to the deed.
• The 10 days have passed if you have a mortgage.
• If the seller is non-resident, 3% of the price is withheld and paid to the tax authority on Modelo 211.

Late funds and failed money-laundering checks are the most common reason signings slip. Payment must be traceable, usually a bank draft or confirmed transfer. The deed must state the true price. If anyone suggests declaring less and paying the rest in cash, walk away: it is tax evasion, and it raises your capital gains tax when you sell.

If you do not speak Spanish, ask in advance. Many coastal notaries have staff who can help in English, but a sworn translator may be needed, at around €300 to €600 for the signing.

You get the keys at the notary. Your lawyer or gestor then pays the purchase tax within 30 days and handles registration, which takes 1 to 3 months and is what protects you as owner against third parties.

Start with a short first-day list:

• Change the locks, since you cannot know who holds copies.
• Read the electricity, water and gas meters, and photograph them with the date.
• Photograph the condition of the home.
• Arrange home insurance, and read what it says about floods and burst pipes.

Next, put the utilities in your name. On a resale this is a change of holder (cambio de titular), which needs your NIE, passport, deed, bank details and the CUPS supply code from an old bill. A new build needs a new contract (alta), which can take 2 to 4 weeks for electricity. Allow 5 to 15 business days for internet, and set up direct debits so that nothing is missed.

Yearly costs to budget for:

• IBI, the council tax: typically €300 to €800 for a coastal apartment
• Rubbish collection (basura): €80 to €200
• Community fees: €30 to €600 a month, depending on the amenities
• Utility standing charges: €50 to €120 a month, even when the home is empty
• Home insurance: €150 to €500

If you live abroad, you must file Modelo 210 every year even if you never let the home, because Spain taxes a notional income from owning it. The rate is 19% for EU and EEA residents and 24% for others, and the bill is typically €100 to €500 a year. A gestor can file it for around €100 to €250 a year.

Letting brings its own rules. Most regions require a tourist licence for short lets, and rental income is taxed at 19% of net income for EU and EEA residents and 24% of gross income for others.

If you are moving here, register at the town hall (padrón) and speak to a tax adviser before you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain, because that makes you tax resident.