Buying a house in Spain: there's no notary who arranges everything for you
In the Netherlands the notary handles the whole transfer: tax, land registry, done. In Spain the notario only signs the deed — the transfer tax, the municipal notification and the entry in the property register are afterwards *your* counters, each with its own deadline. Whoever knows that hires a gestor for it; whoever doesn't finds out when something goes wrong.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, as a Dutch citizen you can buy a house in Spain without restriction. The only condition for being able to sign is a NIE, your Spanish identification number.
What it costs differs per comunidad, the autonomous region:
- the transfer tax ITP is 6% in Madrid and higher elsewhere;
- on top come notary and registry costs;
- and the fee of a gestoría (administrative agency) or abogado (lawyer).
The real find is who does what. The notario only signs the deed. After that, these are your counters:
- the ITP, within 30 working days;
- the plusvalía notice at the municipality (the tax on the increase in the value of the land), also within 30 working days;
- the entry in the property register.
The deed makes you the buyer, only the registration makes you a protected owner. You organise the road in between.
In your first year you don't buy. You rent, you get to know the neighbourhood, and only then do you decide — why that order is fixed. This article is for the moment you are that far.
What do you check before signing?
The national government puts it first: before buying, request a nota simple from the Registro de la Propiedad, the property register. You can get it in English too. That extract shows you:
- who the owner is;
- the charges (mortgages, seizures);
- whether the owners' association and the IBI, the municipal property tax, have been paid;
- whether a prohibition or a protected regime rests on the home.
If you buy off-plan, you also check whether the land is in the developer's name, whether the building permit exists and whether your deposit goes into an earmarked construction account.
The seller remains liable for hidden defects, even if they didn't know of them. Developer and builder are liable for ten years for structural damage.
Who does what after the deed?
In the Netherlands the notary is the whole process; in Spain not. The notario executes the escritura pública, the official deed of sale. That usually happens together with the mortgage deed, with the bank present.
The government says it itself in so many words: the entry in the property register is a separate step. It's voluntary even, but strongly advised. Only with that entry are you protected against everyone as the one and true owner.
After the signature, three counters are therefore still waiting for you:
- The transfer tax (ITP), at your comunidad. With an existing home you as buyer pay the Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, with modelo 600, within 30 working days of the deed. New-build works differently: then you pay VAT to the developer.
- The plusvalía notice, at the municipality. The municipal capital gains tax is the seller's bill on a sale, within 30 working days. But if that seller isn't a resident of Spain, the law designates you as buyer as substitute taxpayer.
- The registration, at the Registro de la Propiedad. The registrars (who keep the register) describe it as three steps: deed at the notary, settle the taxes at the comunidad or the register's settlement office, submit everything at the register.
The register then has fifteen working days to examine and register, provided the documents are correct. The Ley Hipotecaria fixes that deadline and cuts the registry fee by 30% if the registrar exceeds it.
| Item | Amount or term |
|---|---|
| ITP existing home, Comunidad de Madrid | 6% of the purchase price (modelo 600) |
| ITP: discount main home up to € 250,000, Madrid | 10% of the tax |
| Filing the ITP | within 30 working days of the deed |
| Plusvalía filing at the municipality | within 30 working days of the transfer |
| Entry in the Registro de la Propiedad | within 15 working days of submission |
| IBI, annually, urban property | 0.4% to 1.1% of the cadastral value |
| Builder's liability for structural defects | 10 years (3 years habitability, 1 year finishing) |
Whom do I hire for what?
You don't have to walk that road yourself. Spain has a regulated profession for it: the gestor administrativo, who according to his professional body handles all procedures with public authorities that don't require legal work, from the modelo 600 to the registration of your car.
Two limits to know:
- A gestor does trámites (administrative procedures), not legal work. Assessing the purchase contract, the charges or a building permit substantively is the terrain of an abogado, a lawyer.
- The notario belongs to the deed: impartial, not your advocate as buyer.
In Spain you choose and pay those three roles separately. And don't forget the first step: without a NIE you sign nothing at all in Spain.
What does buying a house in Spain cost on top of the price?
On top of the purchase price count:
- the ITP of your comunidad, the biggest block: 6% in Madrid, with a 10% discount on the tax for a main home up to € 250,000; higher elsewhere;
- the notary and registry costs;
- the fee of your gestoría or abogado.
We deliberately don't name a national total percentage: the difference between comunidades is too big.
What do I pay every year after that?
Being an owner in Spain comes with a fixed annual charge tenants never see: the IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles), the municipal property tax. The law sets the limits: for urban property between 0.4% and 1.1% of the cadastral value (the valor catastral, which is lower than the market value). Your municipality chooses the rate within them. The nota simple already tells you whether it's been paid. It belongs in your monthly budget from day one.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but on your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Spain.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Punto de Acceso General — notaries and registers when buying property — administracion.gob.es
- Registradores de España — how a purchase is registered, in three steps — registradores.org
- BOE — Ley Hipotecaria, article 18, the fifteen-day deadline for registration — boe.es
- Comunidad de Madrid — the ITP (modelo 600), deadline and rate — comunidad.madrid
- BOE — Ley de Haciendas Locales, article 72 (the IBI rate) and 106-110 (the plusvalía) — boe.es
- Consejo General de Colegios de Gestores Administrativos — what a gestor does — consejogestores.org
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