Guide

Buying property in Spain: the file behind the viewing trips

By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026

Spain is open to foreign buyers, but the file has a fixed skeleton: an NIE (the foreigner identification number every tax event requires), the notarised escritura, registration at the Registro de la Propiedad — and on resale homes the transfer tax (ITP), whose management is ceded to the autonomous communities and self-assessed on Modelo 600, which the tax agency notes can be filed anywhere in Spain. Rates are regional, so the same house is taxed differently by address.

The skeleton: NIE, notary, registry

Everything starts with the NIE — the identification number Spain attaches to any foreigner's tax events, property purchase chief among them. The transaction itself runs Spanish-classical: private contract and deposit (the arras regime), then the escritura pública before a notary, then inscription at the Registro de la Propiedad — the registry system run by the Colegio de Registradores. Foreign buyers add bank-account and funds-provenance practicalities, but no ownership restriction.

What the file does not confer: residence. Since the golden visa's abolition — legislated away effective April 2025 — property purchase carries no residence route at all; living in the house beyond 90/180 runs the non-lucrative visa or its siblings, insurance rules included.

ITP: the resale tax, regionally managed

On resale homes the buyer's tax is the Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales (ITP), and the Agencia Tributaria's own page states the structure: management and revenue are ceded to the autonomous communities of the common regime — the national office (ONGT) handles only non-ceded cases such as non-resident-specific supuestos — and the tax is self-assessed on Modelo 600, which can be completed and filed from anywhere in Spain, paid through collaborating banks. The practical consequence: rates are set regionally, so identical houses in different communities carry different tax bills, and the community where the property sits is the authority to price against.

New-build purchases run VAT-plus-AJD instead of ITP — a different lane with its own arithmetic. Either way, budget the tax as a percentage of price on top of everything the listing shows.

Source: Agencia Tributaria, ITPAJD — cuestiones generales (no residentes), read 5 September 2026.

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The move behind the purchase

Spanish property and Spanish residence are separate projects sharing one calendar: the empadronamiento hangs off the address, the residence permit hangs off the visa route, and the Spain hub carries the insurance wording the route demands. Buyers planning actual relocation should run both files in parallel — the arras clock and the consulate clock are indifferent to each other:

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Common questions

Can foreigners buy property in Spain?

Yes, without ownership restrictions — but the file requires an NIE, runs through a notary to the property registry, and on resale homes carries ITP, whose rates are set by the autonomous community where the property sits.

What is ITP and who manages it?

The transfer tax on resale purchases from private sellers. Per the Agencia Tributaria, its management and revenue are ceded to the autonomous communities (the national ONGT handles only non-ceded cases), and it is self-assessed on Modelo 600, payable through collaborating banks from anywhere in Spain.

Does buying Spanish property grant residency?

No — the golden visa was abolished with effect from April 2025, so property confers no residence route. Staying beyond 90/180 days requires a visa route such as the non-lucrative, with its own insurance requirements.