Buy the view. Not someone else’s debt.
An independent Spanish property lawyer on your side — not the agent’s, not the seller’s. We run the legal checks before you sign, handle your NIE and, if you’d rather not fly over for every signature, a power of attorney so we can complete for you. In plain English, from first viewing to the keys.
The agent gets paid when you sign. The notary confirms you signed. Only one person in the room is paid to check what you’re signing — and it isn’t either of them.
Due diligence, done before the money moves
Four things decide whether a Spanish purchase is a home or a headache. We check all four while you can still walk away.
Title & true ownership
We pull the Nota Simple from the Land Registry to confirm who really owns it, exactly what’s being sold, and that the seller can actually sell it. Boundaries and build description are checked against reality, not the sales brochure.
Debts & charges
In Spain, debts run with the property, not the seller — a mortgage, an unpaid community fee or an outstanding IBI tax can become yours the day you sign. We find them first and make sure they’re cleared at completion.
Licences & planning
First-occupation licence, that the pool or extension is legal, no urbanistic infractions and no protected-land surprises. A beautiful villa with an illegal extension is a beautiful problem.
Community, taxes & utilities
Community statutes and fee status, IBI and rubbish tax up to date, utilities transferable. The small print that decides whether year one is a terrace or a tribunal.
Charges that attach to the property and the taxes due on transfer are set by current Spanish law and verified for your specific purchase.
From first viewing to the keys
NIE & power of attorney
You need an NIE to buy, and we advise you on getting one. If you’d rather not fly over for every signature, we draft a notarised power of attorney authorising us to sign and pay on your instructions.
Reservation & due diligence
Before any real money moves, we run the full legal checks — registry, debts, licences, community — and tell you plainly whether to proceed, renegotiate or walk.
Deposit contract (arras)
We draft or vet the arras (deposit) contract so the price, completion date, fixtures and penalties protect you — not just the seller and the agent.
Completion & registration
Signing of the escritura at the notary, payment run cleanly, transfer tax settled, and the property registered in your name. Not done until it’s in the register.
The questions we get first
Do I need a lawyer to buy property in Spain?
Legally you can complete a purchase without one — and it’s the single most expensive corner people cut. The estate agent works for the sale, and the notary confirms the signing but does not run independent checks in your interest. An independent property lawyer verifies title, debts, licences and planning before your money is committed, which is exactly where the avoidable disasters hide. For a cross-border buyer who isn’t on the ground, it isn’t a luxury.
What checks do you actually carry out?
We confirm ownership and description via the Land Registry (Nota Simple), check for mortgages, embargoes and unpaid community or IBI debts, verify the first-occupation licence and that any pool, extension or reform is legal, review the community statutes and fee position, and confirm the property isn’t affected by urbanistic or coastal-law issues. If something’s wrong, you hear it before you sign, not after.
In Spain, do the seller’s debts become mine?
This is the trap that catches foreign buyers. Certain debts attach to the property itself — outstanding community fees, IBI (council tax) and, of course, any mortgage — so they can follow the property to the new owner regardless of who ran them up. Our job is to surface every charge in advance and ensure they’re paid off or retained from the price at completion, so you take the keys clean.
What is the “arras” contract?
The contrato de arras is the deposit contract that locks in the deal before completion — typically you pay around 10% and both sides commit to a price and a date. The default legal type lets the buyer walk by losing the deposit and the seller walk by paying double, but the wording matters enormously. We make sure it protects your completion date, your conditions and your deposit rather than quietly favouring the other side.
Do I need an NIE to buy?
Yes — you can’t pay the taxes or register the property without an NIE (your Spanish foreigner’s identification number), so it’s the first thing to deal with. We advise you on how to apply and, if you grant us a power of attorney, we can act for you from the UK, so it’s in hand well before completion rather than becoming a last-minute scramble. The NIE is issued by the Spanish authorities, not by us.
Can you handle the purchase if I can’t be in Spain to sign?
Yes. With a notarised power of attorney (poder), we can carry out the whole purchase on your instructions — sign the deposit contract, complete at the notary, pay the taxes and register the property — without you flying over for each step. It’s the normal, secure way cross-border buyers complete, and we set it up so you keep full control of the decisions while we handle the signatures.
Reviewed by a lawyer
Reviewed by Alberto García López
Immigration lawyer · ICA Málaga, reg. no. 11.441
We check every page against current Spanish law. This is general information, not advice on your individual case.
Globalium is an independent law firm, not a government agency, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any public administration. Visas, permits and identification numbers are granted solely by the Spanish authorities, and you are free to apply to them directly yourself. Our fees pay for legal advice and representation, and are separate from any official fee or tax.
Send us the property. We’ll tell you what’s underneath.
A straight read on the title, the debts and the licences — and a clear quote for handling the whole purchase — before you commit a euro.
+34 667 77 02 19 · infoglobalextranjeria@gmail.com
P.S. — the deposit is the easiest money you’ll ever send and the hardest to get back. The checks that make it safe cost a fraction of it. Do them in that order.