Buying property on the Costa del Sol: your questions answered.

The NIE, or Número de Identidad de Extranjero, is the identification number issued by the Spanish authorities to foreign nationals. It is required in order to buy a property, open a bank account, pay taxes and sign the title deed. Every buyer needs one, so a couple buying jointly will require two.

You may apply in person at a Spanish consulate in your own country, or you may authorise a representative in Spain to apply on your behalf, which avoids the need to attend an appointment. The three UK consulates publish their own usual times, from two weeks in Manchester to three or four weeks in Edinburgh, each with a note that the period may be extended. Applied for in Spain, the Policía Nacional says the procedure must be resolved within a maximum of five days.

Read the full guide to the NIE →

Official source:Policía Nacional: applying for an NIE

No. You may appoint a representative to sign on your behalf by granting a Power of Attorney.

A Power of Attorney is a legal document by which you authorise another person, normally your lawyer, to act for you in specified matters. It is signed before a notary in your own country, then certified with an apostille and translated into Spanish. An apostille is an official certificate which confirms that a document is genuine, so that it will be accepted by the authorities in another country.

Once this is in place, your lawyer may sign the title deed for you and the purchase can be completed without your travelling to Spain.

A deposit contract, known in Spain as a contrato de arras, is the agreement signed in advance of completion under which the buyer pays a deposit, commonly ten per cent of the purchase price. There are three types, and the differences between them are significant.

Arras penitenciales permit either party to withdraw from the sale. The contract sets out what each side pays if it does so, and those consequences differ from one contract to another, so read that clause before you sign.

Arras confirmatorias do not permit withdrawal. The agreement is binding, and if either party fails to complete, the other may apply to the court to enforce the sale or to claim compensation.

Arras penales set a fixed penalty payable by the party who fails to complete, but do not create a right to withdraw.

The Spanish Supreme Court has held that a deposit contract is not treated as arras penitenciales unless the contract states this clearly and expressly. Where the contract does not say so, the parties are bound to complete. You should establish which type you are signing before you pay the deposit.

Official source:BOE: Spanish Civil Code, article 1454

A notary is a public official who witnesses the signing of the title deed, known as the escritura, and submits it for registration. The notary verifies the identity of both parties, confirms that both have the legal capacity to sign and ensures the deed is correctly drafted. The notary also checks the mortgages and charges recorded at the Land Registry, the community of owners’ certificate of any unpaid fees, and how the price is paid.

The notary does not investigate whether the building holds the necessary licences, whether there are debts that are not registered, the condition of the home, or whether the price is reasonable. Those checks are the responsibility of your own lawyer. The notary does not pay the transfer tax for you either. You pay it, through your lawyer, within two months of signing.

For this reason you should appoint a lawyer who is independent of both the seller and the selling agent.

A purchase funded in cash normally takes six to twelve weeks from acceptance of an offer to the signing of the title deed.

A purchase involving a Spanish mortgage normally takes eight to sixteen weeks, because the lender must carry out a valuation and complete its own approval process.

Spanish law requires a developer to hold every instalment paid before completion in a separate bank account, and, from the date the building licence is granted, to secure each instalment with a bank guarantee or an insurance policy. The guarantee must name you and identify the specific property being purchased.

If the developer fails to deliver the property, you are entitled to recover the full amount paid together with interest. Since 2015 the bank holding the money is also liable if it accepts buyers’ instalments without a guarantee in place. Act promptly if a delivery date is missed: a bank guarantee lapses if you have not demanded cancellation and repayment within two years.

You should confirm that the guarantee has been issued before making any payment.

For a resale property in Andalucía, you should allow approximately ten to eleven per cent of the purchase price. This consists of Transfer Tax, known as ITP, charged at seven per cent, together with notary fees, Land Registry fees and legal fees.

For a newly built property, you should allow approximately twelve to fourteen per cent. This consists of Value Added Tax, known in Spain as IVA, charged at ten per cent, Stamp Duty, known as AJD, charged at 1.2 per cent, and the same professional fees.

These rates apply to every buyer, whatever their nationality.

Read the full breakdown of purchase costs →

Official source:Junta de Andalucía: transfer tax and stamp duty rates

Spain sets a minimum value on which purchase tax must be paid.

The Catastro, which is the Spanish property register used for tax purposes, publishes a reference value for almost every property. Transfer Tax is charged either on that reference value or on the price actually paid, whichever is the higher.

If you buy for less than the reference value, the tax authority may issue a further demand for the difference, together with interest. The reference value is published and can be checked before an offer is made.

Official source:Catastro: check a property’s reference value

Yes. Spanish banks lend to buyers who are not resident in Spain, although on more restrictive terms than they offer to residents.

A non-resident buyer may typically borrow between sixty and seventy per cent of the property’s value. You should therefore expect to provide a deposit of between thirty and forty per cent of the purchase price.

Lenders require two years of income documentation and assess affordability against your total borrowing, including any mortgage or loans held in your own country. The process normally takes four to eight weeks.

The purchase price is set in euros, and two to three months usually pass between agreeing the price and completing the purchase. If your funds are held in another currency, such as pounds sterling, the exchange rate may move during that period and change the amount you need.

A specialist currency provider can agree a rate now for payment at a later date, which fixes your cost in your own currency and removes the uncertainty. Banks generally offer less favourable rates than specialist providers.

Yes. Spanish banks and notaries are required by anti-money-laundering law to establish the source of the funds used in a purchase. This applies to every buyer and is not a reflection on you.

You should be prepared to provide documentary evidence, such as the completion statement from the sale of another property, pension documentation, bank statements showing accumulated savings, or evidence of a gift. Assembling these documents early prevents delay later in the process.

Yes. This obligation is frequently overlooked by owners who live abroad.

Spain treats a second property that is not let as producing a notional income, and taxes that notional income each year. The amount is calculated as either 1.1 or 2 per cent of the property’s rateable value, depending on when that value was last reviewed. The rateable value, known as the valor catastral, is the value assigned to the property by the Spanish authorities for tax purposes, and it is normally well below the market value. The tax is declared on a form called Modelo 210.

The rate depends on where you are resident. Owners resident in the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein are charged 19 per cent. Owners resident elsewhere, including the United Kingdom since it left the European Union, are charged 24 per cent. No expenses are deducted from this notional income.

Official source:Agencia Tributaria: non-resident income tax

The principal costs are as follows.

IBI is the local property tax, charged annually by the town hall. A separate charge is made for refuse collection. Community fees are payable where the property forms part of a block or a managed development, and cover shared costs such as gardens, swimming pools, lifts, security and maintenance. Buildings and contents insurance is payable, as are standing charges on water and electricity, which apply whether or not the property is occupied.

Before committing to a purchase you should ask to see the community’s accounts and any record of major works that have been approved or proposed, since these can result in substantial additional charges.

Andalucía rebates the wealth tax in full, so most owners pay nothing.

A separate national tax applies above €3.7 million of net Spanish assets per person. Since 2021 owners who live outside the European Union have had the same right to Andalucía’s rules as EU residents, which matters for purchases at the upper end of the market.

If the value of your Spanish assets may approach that level, take advice from a Spanish tax adviser.

You become resident in Spain for tax purposes if you spend more than 183 days in Spain during a calendar year.

From that point Spain taxes your worldwide income rather than only the income arising in Spain. Spain has double taxation treaties with the United Kingdom and most other countries, which prevent the same income being taxed twice, but the two countries involved will treat pensions, investments and property differently, and the overall result may be higher or lower than it would be at home.

Advice should be taken before the 183-day threshold is reached rather than afterwards.

In respect of unpaid community fees, yes, in part.

Under Spanish law these debts attach to the property itself rather than to the person who incurred them. A new owner is liable for the unpaid fees of the current year together with the three preceding calendar years.

Before completion your lawyer should obtain a certificate from the community, signed by its administrator, confirming that the account is clear. Unpaid local property tax can be recovered against the property in a similar way.

Official source:BOE: Horizontal Property Law, article 9

Yes, provided the property is registered.

In Andalucía a property let to tourists must be entered on the Andalusian Tourism Register as a Vivienda con Fines Turísticos, which means a dwelling used for tourist purposes. Where the town’s planning rules require it, a municipal licence for tourist use or a formal declaration filed with the town hall is also needed. Since March 2025 this must be in place before registration. The property must also meet minimum standards, which include air conditioning, heating and a first-aid kit.

The registration number issued to you must appear in every advertisement, and it is the number the booking platforms ask for. A separate national register was required from July 2025 until the Supreme Court annulled it in May 2026.

Read the full guide to the tourist licence in Andalucía →

Official source:Junta de Andalucía: tourist-use dwellings

Yes, and the law on this changed recently.

Since 3 April 2025, letting a property to tourists within a building or development governed by a community of owners requires the express approval of three fifths of the owners. Before that date such letting was permitted unless the community had voted to prohibit it. The position is now reversed: it is prohibited unless the community has voted to approve it.

Properties already registered for tourist letting before the change are not affected. If letting income forms part of your plans, the community’s position should be established before an offer is made.

Official source:BOE: Horizontal Property Law, article 17

Rental income is declared on the same Modelo 210 form rather than the notional income, and the tax agency’s note on the Modelo 210 deadlines sets out the current grouping and deadlines for rental returns.

Landlords resident in the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein are charged 19 per cent and may deduct expenses such as management fees, repairs, insurance and mortgage interest. Landlords resident elsewhere, including the United Kingdom, are charged 24 per cent and may deduct nothing.

If you fall into the second group, your calculations should be based on gross rental income rather than on income after costs.

Official sources:Agencia Tributaria: Modelo 210 · Agencia Tributaria: note on the Modelo 210 filing deadlines

Where the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer is required by law to withhold three per cent of the purchase price and pay it directly to the Spanish tax authority. This is an advance payment against the seller’s tax liability rather than an additional charge.

Capital gains are taxed at nineteen per cent, and this rate applies to every non-resident seller regardless of nationality. If the three per cent withheld exceeds the tax actually due, the difference is refundable, but only if a claim is submitted within the prescribed period.

The seller also customarily pays plusvalía municipal, which is a local tax charged by the town hall on the increase in the value of the land during the period of ownership.

Spanish inheritance tax is charged on each person who inherits, rather than on the estate as a whole. This differs from the way inheritance tax works in many other countries, where the estate is taxed before it is distributed.

In Andalucía each close relative, meaning a spouse, child, grandchild or parent, receives an allowance of €1 million, and a further reduction of ninety-nine per cent applies to any tax that remains. Most family inheritances therefore give rise to little or no tax.

The tax must be declared and paid within six months of the death, and this deadline applies even where no tax is ultimately payable.

Official source:Junta de Andalucía: inheritance and gift tax

In most cases, yes. A Spanish will dealing with your Spanish assets substantially shortens and simplifies the process for your family, and reduces the cost.

You may also include a declaration that the law of your own nationality is to govern your estate. This matters because Spanish law reserves fixed shares of an estate for certain relatives, whereas many other legal systems allow you to leave your property to whomever you choose. For British nationals the law of England and Wales may still be elected in this way, because Spain continues to apply the European succession rules regardless of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.

A Spanish will should be drawn up so that it does not revoke the will you hold at home, and the two should be prepared with each other in mind.

A property requires a Licence of First Occupation, known as a licencia de primera ocupación. This certifies that the building was constructed in accordance with the planning permission granted and is fit to be lived in. Without it, water and electricity supplies cannot lawfully be connected.

In rural and inland parts of Andalucía some properties were built without permission. Where enough time has passed that the authorities can no longer take enforcement action, such a property may be regularised under an Andalusian procedure known as AFO, which stands for asimilado fuera de ordenación, meaning treated as outside the planning rules. A property in that position can be connected to services but remains subject to restrictions.

Your lawyer can establish the position definitively before you commit.

Spanish law protects a strip of land measured inland from the shoreline. The strip is normally 100 metres wide, and is reduced to 20 metres in areas that were already developed before 1988.

Within this strip, new building is prohibited and the extension or alteration of existing buildings is restricted. Ownership is not affected and the property may continue to be used, but your ability to alter it may be limited.

A number of properties on the Costa del Sol fall within this zone. Where the authorities are reviewing the boundary of the protected strip, the position should be established before an offer is made.

Official source:BOE: Coastal Law 22/1988

The risk is considerably lower than press reports suggest.

Since April 2025 the criminal offences of unlawful entry and occupation have been tried under an accelerated court procedure, in which the trial must be held within fifteen days. A separate civil procedure has been open since 2018 to a private individual who owns or lawfully holds the home. It gives the occupiers five days to produce a document showing a lawful right to be there. If they cannot do so, the court orders them to leave.

The properties principally affected are those left empty and unsecured for long periods. A property that is occupied, let, or looked after under a management arrangement is at very low risk.