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An Andalusian-style villa lit up at dusk in Sotogrande

Real estate law

Property lawyers in Spain.

For buying, selling, inheriting or letting a home in Spain, with the paperwork and the tax checked before you sign, wherever you live.

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Where to start

What are you doing with the property?

Pick the one closest to your situation. The earlier you call, the more room there is to negotiate.

I have found a property and paid nothing yet

Pre-purchase checks

We pull the Land Registry extract and check charges, licences and community debts, then tell you what is safe to sign.

I live abroad and want to buy here

Buying from abroad

We arrange your NIE, help with a Spanish bank account and sign at the notary on your behalf with a power of attorney.

I am selling and live outside Spain

Non-resident sale

Your buyer sets aside 3% for the Spanish tax agency. We work out what you actually owe and claim back the surplus.

I have inherited a home in Spain

Inheritance

Acceptance before a notary, inheritance tax and plusvalía on time, and the property registered in the heirs’ names.

I am letting my flat to a tenant

Long-term lets

Lease, deposit and guarantees under the Spanish Urban Leases Act, and eviction proceedings if the rent stops.

I want to let it to holidaymakers

Holiday lets

Regional registration, the national number and the owners’ association’s approval, all checked before you buy.

I am buying off-plan or building

New builds

A guarantee for every payment to the developer, the building licence and the first-occupation declaration at the end.

Defects have appeared that nobody mentioned

Hidden defects

The Civil Code claim for hidden defects against the seller expires six months after handover. A surveyor puts the damage in writing.

Buying from abroad

If you are buying from another country.

Buyers based abroad usually complete without flying in and pay from a bank outside Spain. Both are sorted out before you make an offer.

Invest in SpainSource of funds guide
  • An NIE, the tax number for foreigners, which the notary will ask for and which you need to pay Spanish taxes.
  • A power of attorney signed before your local notary (with an apostille) or at the Spanish consulate, so we can sign in your name.
  • Paperwork showing where the money comes from: notaries, land registrars, banks and estate agents are bound to check it by Spain’s anti-money laundering act, Law 10/2010.
  • No large cash payments: the limit is €1,000 when a business is involved, or €10,000 if you are paying as a private person tax-resident abroad.
  • Owning property in Spain no longer earns you a residence permit. That route closed in April 2025, and our immigration team can look at the ones still open.

Step by step

Deadlines, documents and tax.

Rates in force in October 2026 in Andalusia and the Madrid region. Other Spanish regions set their own.

Buying

What you pay on top of the price depends on whether the home is new or resale.

  • Resale: transfer tax (ITP) of 7% in Andalusia and 6% in the Madrid region.
  • Brand-new home from the developer: VAT at 10%, plus AJD stamp duty of 1.2% in Andalusia or up to 0.75% in Madrid.
  • Before any deposit: a Land Registry extract (nota simple), the community’s statement of unpaid fees and the last IBI receipt.
  • With penalty deposits (arras penitenciales), a buyer who withdraws loses them and a seller who withdraws repays them doubled.
Guide to buying as a foreigner

Selling

If you live outside Spain, the tax agency takes its share before you are paid in full.

  • Whoever buys deducts 3% from the price and sends that sum to the AEAT, Spain’s tax agency, on form 211, within a month of the deed.
  • You report the gain on form 210 and pay 19%. You have three further months to file, and that is where any excess comes back to you.
  • Plusvalía is a tax on the seller; when that seller is a private individual living abroad, Spanish law makes the buyer pay it instead. If the land has not gained value, nothing is due.
  • The buyer must receive an energy performance certificate, and its rating has to appear in the listing.
Guide to selling as a non-resident

Inheriting

Even if the owner lived abroad, a Spanish home is taxed and registered in Spain.

  • Six months from the death to settle inheritance tax and municipal plusvalía, with an extension if you ask in time.
  • When children, grandchildren, a spouse or parents inherit, Andalusia and Madrid cut the inheritance tax bill by 99%.
  • Heirs living in any other country are entitled to the same regional rules.
  • Under the EU Succession Regulation, a foreign national can choose in their will that the law of their nationality governs the whole estate.

Letting

A let to someone who will live there as their main home falls under the Urban Leases Act (LAU).

  • Even on a one-year contract, the tenant may renew year by year up to five years, or seven where the landlord is a company.
  • A deposit of one month’s rent, plus up to two further months as an extra guarantee.
  • Under the Housing Act 12/2023, the landlord bears the agent’s fees and the contract costs.
  • Non-resident landlords pay tax on the rent: 19% of the profit after expenses if they live in the EU or EEA, 24% of the gross rent anywhere else, the UK included.

Investing

If the plan is holiday lets, three permissions need checking before you pay a deposit.

  • Since April 2025, in a block of flats the owners must approve it: three fifths in number and three fifths by share.
  • In Andalusia, a formal declaration (declaración responsable) to the regional government, which then enters the home in its tourism register.
  • Owning in your own name or through a company changes your yearly tax and the tax on a sale, so we work out both.

Building

Building or renovating needs council permission, and one more step before anyone can live there.

  • A building licence, or a declaration to the council for simple works on an existing building.
  • On completion, first occupation is notified with a declaration and the architect’s end-of-works certificate. In Madrid, utilities will not sign permanent supply contracts without it.
  • Off-plan, each payment to the developer must be backed by a bank guarantee or insurance and go into a separate account.
  • Structural defects can be claimed for ten years, habitability defects for three and finishing defects for one.
  • In Andalusia, a house built without a licence on rural land may have AFO status (asimilado a fuera de ordenación), which allows use with restrictions, so check before you buy.

Property law in

Madrid and the Costa del Sol.

Each city has its own page covering what is different there.

Residential building in the Salamanca district, Madrid
Property law in

Madrid

City flats, commercial premises and buy-to-let for investors based abroad.

 A Marbella development among palm trees, with the sierra behind
Property law in

Marbella

Villas, gated developments with licences to check, and holiday lets.
Property lawyers in MálagaProperty lawyers in FuengirolaLawyers for estate agents

Guides

Worth reading before the deposit.

Real estate

Buying a home in Spain as a foreigner, step by step

By Jimena Sastre

 Compliance and AML

Source of funds: what the bank will ask for before you buy in Spain

By Jimena Sastre

 Real estate

Selling property in Spain as a non-resident: the 3% and how to get it back

By Jimena Sastre

Client reviews

What our clients say.

★★★★★
Jimena Sastre ha sido una excelente abogada de inmigración que me ha guiado durante todo el proceso de solicitud de la nacionalidad española. Ha sido profesional, amable, siempre dispuesta a responder mis preguntas y me ha orientado correctamente. Su enfoque hizo que mi solicitud fuera mucho más sencilla y sin estrés, y la recomiendo a otros expatriados/inmigrantes que necesiten asesoramiento y asistencia legal para sus solicitudes de residencia o nacionalidad.
Işıl Top-MartinezOpinión en Google
★★★★★
El equipo de esta firma ,son sencillamente los mejores, muy profesionales, responsables, y de completa confianza. 200% recomendables!!
Helide MoralesOpinión en Google
★★★★★
Todos hemos visto alguna vez pelis de abogados, que hacen milagros en los juzgados, y hemos pensado, que en la vida real estas cosas no pasan… Pero los de SyC lo consiguen. Solo puedo decirles Gracias por estar a mi lado siempre! En hora buena por vuestro trabajo!
I MIOpinión en Google

FAQ

What buyers and sellers ask us first.

How much should I budget on top of the price?

For a resale property, transfer tax of 7% in Andalusia or 6% in the Madrid region; for a newly built one, VAT at 10% and AJD on the deed. Then there are notary and registration fees, plus a valuation if a bank lends. We tell you the total before you offer anything.

What do you check before I pay a deposit?

The nota simple (registered owner, mortgages and embargoes), the planning position and licences, anything owed to the community or in IBI, and whether the house on the ground is the one in the Registry and the Catastro.

Will I inherit the seller’s debts?

Unpaid community fees can follow the property: it is liable for the current year and the three calendar years before. To rule that out, the seller has to produce at the notary a statement from the community, signed by its secretary, of anything outstanding.

I am a non-resident seller. What is the 3% the buyer keeps?

An advance on your own tax, which the law makes the buyer pay over. You then file form 210: if the gain is smaller than the amount withheld, or you sold at a loss, the difference is refunded.

Do I have to come to Spain to sign?

No. Grant us a power of attorney before a local notary, apostilled, or at the Spanish consulate, and we complete in your name. Your NIE can be applied for at the consulate too.

Will buying a home give me residency?

No. Residence through property investment ended in April 2025. If you want to live in Spain, our immigration lawyers can tell you what fits, non-lucrative residence for instance.

I have inherited a flat in Spain and live abroad. What are the deadlines?

Six months from the death for inheritance tax and for municipal plusvalía. Both can be extended; for inheritance tax, the extension must be requested within the first five months.

Can I let my apartment to holidaymakers?

In a block, the owners’ association has to approve it. It also has to be entered in the regional tourism register, and the town plan has to allow it.

My tenant has stopped paying. What can I do?

Keep proof of what is owed and do not change the locks yourself, as that can backfire. We file for eviction and claim the unpaid rent in the same proceedings.

How do your fees work?

You receive a written quote as soon as we know what the transaction involves.

Also in English

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En español

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