The legal process for foreign buyers

Before you look at a single property

Two pieces of administration should start early, because both take time and neither depends on having found a property.

The first is the NIE(Número de Identidad de Extranjero) — a foreigner's identification number. You cannot complete a property purchase, open the right kind of bank account, or pay Spanish taxes without one. You can apply at a Spanish consulate in your home country or at a national police station in Spain, in person or through a representative with power of attorney. Processing times vary from days to several weeks depending on where you apply, which is exactly why it should not be left until you have an offer accepted and a seller waiting.

The second is a Spanish bank account. Strictly speaking you can complete a purchase without one, but in practice almost everything — utility contracts, community fees, IBI tax — is collected by direct debit from a Spanish account, and completing through one simplifies the money trail your notary and bank will want to see. Banks will ask for proof of income and origin of funds; gather those documents once and reuse them everywhere.

If you need financing, this is also the moment to get a mortgage pre-approval. Spanish banks lend to non-residents, typically up to 60–70 % of the purchase price (residents get more), and a written pre-approval tells you your real budget before you fall in love with something outside it.

The lawyer comes before the paperwork, not after

The single most important decision in the whole process: appoint an independent lawyer (abogado) before you sign anything or pay anyone anything. Not the seller's lawyer, not a lawyer suggested by the selling agent — your own, answering only to you.

Your lawyer's core job on a purchase:

• Pull the nota simple from the land registry — the document that shows who actually owns the property, its exact registered description, and any mortgages, charges, or embargoes attached to it.
• Verify the property is legally built: licences, first-occupancy certificate, and that what stands on the plot matches what is registered. On this coast, unregistered extensions and pools are common and become the buyer's problem at resale.
• Check for debts that travel with the property: community fees, IBI arrears — in Spain some debts attach to the property, not the person.
• Draft or review every contract before you sign it, and attend completion with you (or for you, under power of attorney).

A typical fee for this is around 1 % of the purchase price. It is the best-spent money in the entire transaction.

Reservation: taking the property off the market

When your offer is accepted, the usual first document is a reservation contract (documento de reserva) with a deposit commonly between €3,000 and €10,000. It takes the property off the market for a short period — typically two to four weeks — while your lawyer does the checks above.

The wording matters. A well-drafted reservation makes the deposit refundable if the legal checks reveal problems or, if you are financing, if the mortgage falls through. A badly drafted one simply forfeits your deposit when anything goes wrong. This is why the lawyer is appointed before the reservation, not after.

The arras contract: the point of real commitment

The private purchase contract — almost always structured as a contrato de arras— is where both sides commit. The buyer typically pays 10 % of the price (minus the reservation deposit), and the completion date is fixed.

Under the standard arras penitenciales form, the exit rules are symmetrical and brutal in their clarity: if the buyer walks away, the deposit is lost; if the seller walks away, they must return it doubled. From this point the deal usually completes — which is why every question should have been answered before this signature, not after it.

Completion at the notary

Spanish property transfers complete before a notary (notario) — a public official who verifies identities, checks the registry again on the day, reads the deed aloud, and witnesses the signing of the escritura pública de compraventa, the public deed of sale. Payment normally changes hands at the same table, usually as banker's drafts or verified transfers, and you leave with the keys.

The notary is neutral — they check legality, but they do not protect your commercial interests. That remains your lawyer's job, and if you cannot attend in person, your lawyer can sign for you under a power of attorney arranged in advance.

After completion: registration and the boring essentials

• Your lawyer settles the transfer taxes and files the deed at the land registry. Registration takes a few weeks and is what makes your ownership fully effective against third parties.
• Utilities and community: meters and contracts moved to your name, direct debits set up, the community of owners notified.
• Non-resident owners file a small annual tax return (more on this in our taxes guide) — a five-minute task for a gestor, a fine if forgotten.

How long does all this take?

For a resale with no financing: commonly six to ten weeks from accepted offer to keys. With a non-resident mortgage: closer to eight to twelve, because the bank's valuation and approval sit in the middle of the timeline. New-build off-plan purchases follow the same legal logic but stretch over the construction period, with staged payments that must — by law — be secured by bank guarantees.

None of this is exotic. It is a sequence, and sequences reward preparation: NIE early, lawyer first, and no signature before its checks are done.