Buying a home in Spain as a foreigner

Yes: any foreigner can buy a home in Spain, resident or not, EU citizen or not, and the process is the same for a British, Swedish, Swiss or American buyer as for a Spaniard, with three extra pieces of paperwork: a tax number (the NIE), a Spanish bank account and, almost always, a power of attorney so that your lawyer can act while you are at home. A resale purchase on the Costa del Sol or in Madrid takes six to ten weeks from reservation to keys when the paperwork is ready.

Figures are those in force in October 2026; your lawyer should confirm them for your case.

Can any foreigner buy a property in Spain?

Yes. Spain places no restriction on foreigners owning residential property, and you need no residence, visa or Spanish company. The taxes are the same for everyone: transfer tax at 7% on a resale home in Andalucía, or 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty on a new build, plus notary, registry and lawyer. Budget 10 to 13% on top of the price; the breakdown is in the costs of buying a home in Andalucía.

You will have read about a 100% tax on buyers from outside the EU. The Prime Minister announced it in January 2025 and a bill reached Congress that summer, but as of October 2026 it has never been debated or voted on: it was left out of the government's own housing package in January 2026 and Reuters reported in March 2026 that it had stalled for lack of parliamentary support. It is not law, and a non-EU buyer today pays exactly what an EU buyer pays.

What is the NIE and how do you get it?

The NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) is your personal tax number in Spain. You need it to sign the deed, pay the purchase taxes and open a bank account; it never expires and gives no right to live in Spain. Three ways to get it:

• In Spain, at a National Police foreigners' office: form EX-15, your passport, a document showing why you need it (a reservation or arras contract) and a small fee paid on form 790, code 012. The law gives the police five days.
• At the Spanish consulate in your country, with the same form. Simple but slow: lawyers on the coast quote two to eight weeks depending on the consulate.
• Through your lawyer, under a power of attorney, while you stay at home. The usual route, and the fastest.

It is the step that most often holds up a purchase, so start it the day you decide to buy.

Do you need a Spanish bank account?

In practice, yes. The price, the taxes and later the IBI, community fees and utilities are all paid from a Spanish account. A non-resident account is opened with your passport, your NIE, a certificate of non-residence (issued with the NIE; the bank wants it under two months old) and proof of where your money comes from, since the bank is bound by the same anti-money-laundering rules as the notary. Open it as soon as you have the NIE and move the funds in early.

Why an independent lawyer, and what does he or she check?

Because the notary does not represent you: a Spanish notary checks identity, capacity, the deed and the means of payment, and is neutral between the parties. An independent lawyer (not the seller's or the developer's) typically charges 1 to 1.5% of the price plus VAT and will:

• Pull the nota simple from the Land Registry (around 9 euros online): who owns the property and what charges sit on it, from mortgages to rights of way.
• Check that the built size and the plot match the registry and the cadastre, and that any extension, pool or closed terrace has a licence.
• Confirm the first occupation licence, the IBI receipts, utility bills and energy certificate and, on a new build, the developer's licence and guarantees.
• Obtain the community of owners' certificate that fees are paid up, because debts travel with the flat.

Under a power of attorney the same lawyer applies for your NIE, opens the account, signs the arras and the deed, pays the taxes and registers the title. A power signed before a Spanish notary or at a Spanish consulate works as it is; one signed before a notary in your own country needs a Hague apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish.

Reservation and arras: what do you sign before the notary?

The reservation takes the property off the market for two to four weeks while your lawyer does the checks, against a small deposit set by agreement; it should be refundable if the checks turn up a problem.

The arras contract (contrato de arras) is the real commitment: you pay 10% of the price and the deal is done unless one side pulls out. Under article 1454 of the Código Civil (the Spanish Civil Code), with penitential arras the buyer who walks away loses the deposit and the seller who walks away returns it twice over. Two cautions from the case law: the contract must say expressly that the arras are penitential, and the 10% is custom, not law, so it can be negotiated. If you need a mortgage, make the arras conditional on it.

Can a non-resident get a Spanish mortgage?

Yes. Banks lend to non-residents at 60 to 70% of the lower of the price and their valuation, so you need 30 to 40% of the price plus the costs in cash. They ask for passport and NIE, three years of tax returns, six months of bank statements, payslips or accounts, and a credit report from your country. Pre-approval takes five to fifteen working days and full approval four to eight weeks, so start before the arras.

Ley 5/2019 (the mortgage credit law) protects you whatever your residence: the binding offer (FEIN) at least ten calendar days before signing, advice from the notary beforehand at no cost, and the bank paying the notary, registry and gestoría of the mortgage deed while you pay the valuation. The bank may require buildings insurance. The full picture is in mortgages in Spain for non-residents.

What happens at the notary?

Completion is a single appointment at a notary's office, chosen by the buyer. Seller and buyer, or their attorneys, sign the escritura pública (the public deed of sale), the price is paid, the keys change hands and the notary sends the deed electronically to the Land Registry the same day. A mortgage is signed at the same table, in a second deed.

• Language. The deed is in Spanish; if you sign in person and do not speak it, the notary requires an interpreter.
• If you cannot come. Your lawyer signs under the power of attorney; the notary is used to it.
• Payment. By transfer from your Spanish account or by banker's draft handed over at the table; in practice none of the price is paid in cash (the legal cap is 10,000 euros for a non-resident individual, 1,000 where a business is involved). Article 24 of the Ley del Notariado (the Notaries Act) obliges the notary to record every means of payment, amount, date and account, and to report any refusal to the tax office.
• Origin of funds. Banks, agents, notaries and registrars are all obliged subjects under Ley 10/2010 (the anti-money-laundering law), so expect to be asked where the money comes from: a sale at home, savings, an inheritance. A bank letter, the deed of the home you sold or a recent statement is usually enough; have it ready before the funds move.

In the month after completion your lawyer pays the transfer tax or stamp duty on form 600 with the Andalusian tax agency (thirty working days from the deed; VAT on a new build goes to the developer with the price), has the deed registered (fifteen working days by law, three to five weeks in practice; you own from the deed, but registration is what protects you against third parties) and puts electricity, water and gas in your name with the deed, your NIE and a Spanish IBAN.

How long does it all take?

With a mortgage and the NIE still to come, allow eight to sixteen weeks instead of six to ten. On a new build you sign a private contract now, pay in stages during construction (each payment covered by a bank guarantee or insurance under Ley 20/2015 (the insurance supervision law), refundable with interest if the developer is late) and complete only once the first occupation licence is granted: without it there are no permanent utilities and no mortgage.

What do you pay every year once you own it?

• IBI, the local property tax, set by each town hall on the cadastral value.
• Community fees, monthly or quarterly, for the building or urbanisation.
• Non-resident income tax, even if you never rent the property out. The tax office imputes an income of 2% of the cadastral value (1.1% where the value was revised in the last ten years) and taxes it at 19% for EU and EEA residents, 24% for everyone else, the UK included. It is filed on form 210 once a year (for 2026 income, from 1 April to 31 December 2027); unpaid years surface the day you sell, so set it up with a gestor the year you buy.
• Home insurance: not compulsory without a mortgage, but sensible, and the bank will require buildings cover if it lends.
• Tourist rental, if you plan to let short term: only with registration in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía, the community's authorisation and whatever your town hall allows, and the rules change often.

Does buying give you the right to live in Spain?

No. The residence permit for property investment (the golden visa) ended on 3 April 2025 under Ley Orgánica 1/2025 (a 2025 justice reform law). A non-EU citizen can still spend 90 days in any 180 in Spain as a visitor; for longer stays the routes that remain are the non-lucrative visa (living on your own means) and the digital nomad visa (working remotely for employers abroad), whose income thresholds change yearly, so take advice before you plan around them.