Buying property in Spain.

The Spanish buying pipeline at a glance

Roughly 80,000 homes were sold to foreign buyers in Spain in 2024. The biggest cohorts were British, German, French, Dutch and American. The legal pipeline is the same wherever you buy. What changes by region is the purchase tax, the lender appetite, and how saturated the local market is.

If you're focused on the Costa del Sol, the UK buyers hub goes deeper on that region. Below: the foreigner ID, regional purchase taxes, the four-stage conveyancing flow, what non-resident mortgages actually look like in 2026, and where buyers lose money on FX.

NIE: your first task

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is the foreigner ID that Spanish notaries, banks, lawyers and the tax office all key off. Nothing happens without it. No completion, no bank account, no utility contracts.

Two routes to get it:

• In Spain at a National Police station or Foreigners' Office. Typically 1 to 3 weeks once you have an appointment. Appointment availability varies by province.
• Through a Spanish consulate in your home country. Usually 4 to 8 weeks, no need to travel.

Your property lawyer will almost always handle this for you by power of attorney (POA). Budget €150 to €300 for the lawyer's fee on top of the small government fee.

Purchase taxes, by region

Spain has no single national property purchase tax. ITP (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales) on resales is set by each autonomous region, and the variation matters. New-builds use a different tax: 10% IVA + 1.5% AJD nationwide, so regional differences only apply to resales.

Headline resale rates as of 2026:

• Andalucía: flat 7%, the lowest mainstream rate. The Junta de Andalucía cut from 8% in 2021 to attract international buyers and has kept it there.
• Madrid: 6%, the lowest in Spain. A regional discount targeted at attracting domestic and foreign buyers.
• Valencia / Costa Blanca: 10%, with a 1% surcharge above €1m.
• Catalonia: tiered 10% to 11% (10% to €1m, 11% above). Often the highest effective rate on premium purchases.
• Balearics (Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca): tiered 8% to 13%, climbing sharply above €1m.
• Canary Islands: 6.5%, no IVA. Replaced by IGIC at 7% on new-builds.

On a €500,000 resale, the regional spread alone is the difference between €30,000 (Madrid) and €55,000 (Balearics) in tax. Worth factoring before settling on a region.

The conveyancing pipeline

Spain runs a notary-driven property system, broadly similar to France or Italy and quite different from English-law conveyancing. Four stages:

1. Contrato de reserva: the reservation contract. Takes the property off the market for typically 14 to 30 days while your lawyer runs due diligence. Reservation deposit is usually €3,000 to €10,000, refundable if the lawyer finds problems.
2. Contrato privado de compraventa: the private purchase contract. Signed after due diligence completes. You commit to the purchase and pay 10% of the price as a deposit. If you walk away, you lose the 10%. If the seller walks away, they owe you 20%.
3. Escritura pública: the public deed, signed in front of a Spanish notary. Final balance and all taxes are paid here. The notary records the transfer.
4. Registro de la Propiedad: the property registry filing, lodged within days of the escritura. Your title is not fully secured until registry completion, typically 1 to 3 months.

A buyer's lawyer handles all four stages. Lawyer fees usually run 1% to 1.5% of the purchase price (minimum €1,200 to €1,500). Notary and registry fees together add 0.5% to 1%.

Non-resident mortgages

Spanish banks lend to non-residents, but the offer is materially worse than what residents receive. Headline parameters:

• LTV cap: typically 60% to 70% for non-residents (vs 80% to 90% for residents). Some lenders go to 70% only on properties they value at or above the purchase price. The bank's valuation, not yours, anchors the loan.
• Rates: usually a 0.4% to 0.8% premium over the resident rate for the same risk profile. Mixed fixed/variable is most common.
• Affordability: lenders cap monthly payment at 30% to 35% of net income, applied to the new mortgage plus any existing UK / US debt service.
• Documentation: 3 months payslips, 3 years tax returns, 6 months bank statements, employment letter. US buyers face additional FATCA paperwork.

Active non-resident lenders in 2026 include BBVA, Banco Sabadell, CaixaBank, ING Direct, Bankinter and Banco Santander. The market shifts month to month. A broker working the full panel weekly will get a better rate than going direct to one bank.

Currency for buyers

For a UK or US buyer, the FX rate on completion day is often the biggest variable in the total cost. A high-street bank charges 2% to 4% over the interbank rate. A dedicated FX broker charges 0.3% to 0.7%.

On a €500,000 transfer, that's the difference between paying ~£8,000 in FX margin and ~£25,000. Forward contracts let you lock the rate at the reservation stage so the price you agreed in euros doesn't drift against you while conveyancing runs.

Ongoing ownership costs

Once you own:

• IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles): the annual municipal property tax. Typically 0.4% to 1.1% of the cadastral value (not market value), so usually €400 to €2,000/year on a typical resale.
• Community fees: for properties in an urbanization or apartment block. Highly variable. A simple urbanization runs €600 to €1,500/year. A luxury complex with pools, gardens and security can reach €5,000 to €10,000.
• Non-resident income tax: if you don't rent the property out, Spain imputes a notional rental income (1.1% or 2% of cadastral value) and taxes it at 19% (EU/EEA residents) or 24% (UK and US residents). Usually €100 to €500/year.
• Wealth tax / Solidarity tax: applies to Spanish-situated assets above the regional threshold (€700,000 to €3m depending on region). Andalucía has effectively zero-rated wealth tax via a regional bonus, but the national Solidarity Tax (Impuesto de Solidaridad de las Grandes Fortunas) catches the highest brackets above €3m.

Selling: CGT and Plusvalía

When you sell:

• Capital gains: 19% to 28% on the gain, depending on size, for non-residents. The buyer is required to withhold 3% of the sale price as a CGT pre-payment for the seller, refundable if the actual CGT bill is lower.
• Plusvalía Municipal: the municipal land-value increase tax. Calculated on the cadastral land value increase over your ownership period. Modest on shorter holds, meaningful on long ones. Following the 2021 Constitutional Court ruling, you can elect the method that produces the lower bill.

Where international buyers actually buy

Headline volumes by foreign-buyer share, 2024:

• Costa del Sol (Málaga province): Marbella, Estepona, Sotogrande, Mijas, Benahavís. The single biggest international-buyer market in Spain. Year-round expat infrastructure.
• Costa Blanca (Alicante province): Denia, Jávea, Moraira, Altea, Calpe. Cheaper than the Costa del Sol on a per-square-metre basis. Heavily British and Northern European.
• Balearics: Mallorca (north and south-west), Ibiza, Menorca. Highest per-sqm prices in Spain. Lower volume, higher price points, German and British dominant.
• Madrid: mostly capital-market buyers and the work-relocation segment (Beckham Law eligible).
• Canary Islands: Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Mid-market, year-round climate.
• Barcelona: capped by short-term-rental restrictions. The buyer-investor angle is harder than five years ago.

Region-specific buyer hubs sit below. Costa del Sol live now.