Property in Spain

Yes. Spain places no restrictions on foreign property ownership, and non-EU buyers have the same purchase rights as EU citizens. You only need a Spanish tax number (NIE), which takes a few days to obtain. A proposed 100% tax on non-EU non-resident buyers has been debated but is not in force as of 2026, so normal rules still apply.

No. Spain abolished its golden visa on 3 April 2025, so buying property no longer grants residency for new applicants. Existing holders can still renew. To live in Spain long-term, investors now use the Non-Lucrative Visa (passive income route) or the Digital Nomad Visa, both of which pair naturally with owning a home here.

Budget roughly 10-13% of the purchase price on top of the sale value. New-builds carry 10% VAT plus about 1.5% stamp duty, while resale homes pay a regional transfer tax (ITP) of 6-10%. Notary, land-registry and legal fees add the rest. These are the buyer's standard acquisition costs across Spain.

Spanish residential property yields around 6.1% gross, with the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and the Balearics outpacing the national average. Capital values are growing about 5-8% per year, driven by record tourism, foreign demand and tight new-build supply. Coastal and island markets have climbed sharply into 2026, combining strong income with capital upside.

Non-resident landlords pay 19% on net rental income if they are EU/EEA residents, or 24% on gross income (no deductions) if outside the EU. An imputed income tax of roughly 1.1-2% of the cadastral value applies even when the home sits empty. Capital gains on sale are taxed at 19-24%, with a 3% withholding retained at completion.

The Costa del Sol around Marbella and Malaga leads for international rental demand and price growth, followed by the Costa Blanca and the Balearic Islands. These coastal and island markets outperform the national average on both yield and appreciation, thanks to year-round sun, record tourism and limited new-build supply. Off-plan projects in these hotspots let investors secure below-market prices before completion.

Yes, with the correct regional licence — and the rules moved twice in the past year, so check what applies now. Spain's national rental registration number (the NRA, issued through the digital single window from 1 July 2025) was annulled by the Supreme Court on 22 May 2026, which held that the state had encroached on the autonomous communities' powers over tourism. What survives is the regional system that always did the real work: Andalusia's VFT, the Valencian Community's VT, Catalonia's HUT and their equivalents, each with its own registry, conditions and inspection regime, and each number must appear on every platform listing. The court left the digital single window and the platforms' data-sharing duties standing, so lettings remain visible to the tax authorities either way.

Yes, and this is the risk most buyers miss. Since Organic Law 1/2025 took effect on 3 April 2025, a Spanish community of owners can authorise, restrict, condition or outright prohibit tourist letting in the building on a three-fifths majority of owners representing three-fifths of the ownership quotas — and new tourist activity now needs the community's express prior approval rather than its silence. Activity already running before 3 April 2025 is generally grandfathered. If nightly income is part of your case for buying, read the community statutes and the minutes of the last two general meetings before you exchange, not after.

It was announced, but it has never been legislated. The Prime Minister proposed a state-level levy of up to 100% on purchases by non-EU buyers who are not resident in Spain in January 2025, and the governing party put it before parliament in May 2025, but it has not been voted through, no commencement date exists, and the government's own January 2026 housing package left it out. A minority parliament makes new taxes exceptionally hard to pass. Treat it as political risk to monitor rather than a cost to budget for — and note that every published version aimed only at non-EU buyers who are not Spanish residents.

Budget for four recurring items. IBI, the municipal property tax, runs roughly 0.4–1.1% of the cadastral value — and cadastral value normally sits well below market price, so the cash bill is usually much smaller than that percentage implies. Community fees track the scheme's facilities, from modest in a plain block to several hundred euros a month in a resort development with pools, gardens and security. The local waste charge (tasa de basura) is a small annual bill. And as a non-resident you file Modelo 210 each year: on actual rental income at the rates set out above for any period the property is let, and on imputed income calculated from the cadastral value for any period it is not.