Your search results

How to Buy a Property in Torrevieja as a Foreigner: Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Posted by Joan Gascón on 13/11/2026

0 Comments

Updated on 13 November 2026. Every figure and requirement below links to the official source we checked that day. Taxes and fees change: check them again before you sign.

Buying a home in Torrevieja as a foreigner follows the same steps as for a Spanish buyer, plus a tax identification number for foreigners. Here are the steps in order, what each one costs, and the law behind it.

The steps at a glance

Get your NIE (foreigner identification number).
Arrange how you will pay: a Spanish bank account and, if you need it, a mortgage.
Choose the property and check it: Land Registry, debts, certificates.
Reserve it and sign the private contract with a deposit (arras).
Sign the deed at the notary.
Pay the purchase taxes.
Register the property in your name at the Land Registry.
After you buy: yearly taxes as an owner.

1. Get your NIE

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is the personal number every foreigner needs to deal with Spain for economic, professional or social reasons, including buying a property and paying its taxes (Royal Decree 1155/2024, art. 205).

Where: in Spain, in person at an immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) or a police station; from abroad, at a Spanish consulate. The decision is due within 5 days.
What to bring: form EX-15, proof that you paid the fee, and the reason you need the number (for example, buying a property).
Fee: €9.84 with form 790 code 012 (Policía Nacional).

2. Arrange how you will pay

When a property is sold, the notary must write in the deed how the price was paid: by transfer, cheque or cash, with the amounts and dates (Notaries Act, art. 24). If the seller is a business, such as a developer, you cannot pay €1,000 or more in cash, or €10,000 or more if you are a private buyer without tax residence in Spain (Law 7/2012, art. 7). In practice the price is paid by bank transfer, and a Spanish account is the simple way to pay it and, later, the property’s bills and taxes. As a non-resident, the bank may ask for a non-resident certificate, which the police issue with the same EX-15 form and is valid for 3 months (Policía Nacional).

If you need a mortgage: at least 10 calendar days before signing, the bank must give you the binding offer (FEIN) and the standard warnings (FiAE). You must also see a notary of your choice, at the latest the day before signing, who explains the loan to you; that session is free (Law 5/2019, arts. 14 and 15). More in our article on buying real estate with a mortgage.

3. Choose the property and check it

Land Registry extract (nota simple): shows who owns the property and whether it has a mortgage or other charges. It costs €9.02 plus VAT online, arrives in under 2 hours on average and can be requested with an English translation (Registradores de España).
Owners’ community debts: the seller must give a certificate of what they owe to the community of owners, unless you expressly waive it. If there are debts, the property answers for those of the current year and the three previous years (Horizontal Property Act, art. 9.1.e).
Council tax (IBI): unpaid IBI stays attached to the property after the sale, and the notary has to warn you about it (Local Finances Act, art. 64). Ask for the last receipt.
Energy certificate: a registered copy and its label must be attached to the sale contract, and adverts must show the rating (Royal Decree 390/2021, art. 17).
Occupancy (Comunitat Valenciana): what used to be the cédula de habitabilidad is now a responsible declaration of occupation (declaración responsable), and it has to be renewed at each resale, after 10 years, or for a new water, gas or electricity contract (Decree 12/2021, art. 6).

4. Reserve it and sign the deposit contract (arras)

A reservation is a short agreement to take the property off the market for a few days; no law sets how much it is or how it works, so read what you sign. It is usually followed by the private contract with a deposit, the contrato de arras. With the most common type (arras penitenciales), either side can walk away: if you withdraw, you lose the deposit; if the seller withdraws, they return it doubled (Civil Code, art. 1454). A deposit of around 10% of the price is common, but that is custom, not law.

5. Sign the deed at the notary

The sale is completed by a public deed (escritura) signed before a Spanish notary, who checks identities, the Land Registry and how the price is paid. When you buy from a developer, you choose the notary (Notarial Regulation, art. 126).

Notary fees follow an official scale (Royal Decree 1426/1989). Applied to a €200,000 deed, the scale gives about €340, before copies, extra pages and VAT (our calculation from the scale). Unless agreed otherwise, the seller pays for the original deed and the buyer for the first copy (Civil Code, art. 1455).

6. Pay the purchase taxes

Resale homes: Property Transfer Tax (ITP) of the Comunitat Valenciana, 9% of the price since 1 June 2026 (it was 10%), and 11% on the whole price if it is over €1 million. Lower rates (8%, 6%, 4% or 3%) exist for some buyers, such as under-35s or large families, but only when the home is going to be their main residence (Valencian Law 13/1997, art. 13).

New-build homes: 10% VAT (VAT Act, art. 91) plus stamp duty (AJD) of 1.4% since 1 June 2026, or 0.1% if it is going to be your main residence (Valencian Law 13/1997, art. 14).

If the seller is not resident in Spain: you must keep back 3% of the price and pay it to the Tax Agency with form 211 within one month; it counts towards the seller’s tax (Agencia Tributaria).

The municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía municipal) is paid by the seller, not by you, with one exception that matters on the Costa Blanca: if the seller is an individual who is not resident in Spain, the law makes you pay it on the seller’s behalf (Local Finances Act, art. 106). In that case, agree in the contract that the amount is kept back from the price.

7. Register the property in your name

After signing, the deed is filed at the Land Registry, which records you as the owner. Registry fees also follow an official scale (Royal Decree 1427/1989): about €177 for a €200,000 property, before VAT (our calculation from the scale).

What it adds up to: two examples at €200,000

Resale home: ITP 9% = €18,000; notary about €340 and Land Registry about €177, both before copies and VAT.
New-build home, not your main residence: VAT 10% = €20,000; AJD 1.4% = €2,800; plus notary and Land Registry as above.

Add any lawyer’s fees and, if you take one, the mortgage costs.

8. After you buy: yearly taxes

IBI, the yearly council tax, set by the town council.
Non-resident income tax: if you do not live in Spain and do not rent the home out, you are taxed on a notional income: 2% of the property’s cadastral value, or 1.1% if the town’s revised cadastral values came into force in 2012 or later. The tax is 19% of that figure for residents of the EU or EEA, and 24% for others (Non-Residents Income Tax Act, arts. 24 and 25; Income Tax Act, art. 85). From 1 January 2027 a sliding scale applies to the total cadastral value of the homes you own in Spain other than your main residence: 1.1% on the first €100,000, 1.5% on the part from €100,000 to €500,000, 2% from €500,000 to €1 million and 3% above that (Royal Decree-law 29/2026, validated by Congress on 12 November 2026).
Holiday rentals: from 1 December 2026, stays of 30 nights or fewer pay 10% VAT (Royal Decree-law 29/2026; more in our article on VAT on holiday lets in Spain), and the Comunitat Valenciana has its own rules for tourist homes: see our guide to the tourist housing regulations in Valencia.

What changed for foreign buyers in 2025 and 2026

The “golden visa” is gone. Residence permits for buying property (and the other investor visas) were abolished from 3 April 2025 (Organic Law 1/2025). Buying a home no longer gives you residence.
There is no 100% tax for non-EU buyers. It was proposed in a bill in May 2025, but the bill lapsed when Parliament was dissolved on 6 October 2026 and never became law (bill text, Congreso de los Diputados).
Lower purchase taxes in the Comunitat Valenciana: ITP from 10% to 9% and AJD from 1.5% to 1.4% on 1 June 2026, and AJD of 0.1% on a main residence since August 2026.

What Geres Homes does at each step

This is what Geres Homes offers on this website; anything else is agreed with you case by case.

Choosing the area and the property: we help you choose the location and the property, and arrange viewings. Write to us and we answer within 24 hours on business days.
Paperwork: we handle all the necessary paperwork for your purchase.
Mortgage: if you need a loan, we can help you get financing of up to 70% from a Spanish bank.
New build: you pay the developer’s official price, with no buyer’s fees, and the payments follow the progress of the building works.
After you buy: if you decide to rent the property out, we can manage that too.

Geres Homes is registered in the Register of Real Estate Agents of the Comunitat Valenciana (RAICV no. 4323). Our office is at C. San Juan 2, 03187 Los Montesinos (Alicante), and you can call or WhatsApp us on +34 687 666 262.

Where to buy around Torrevieja

Looking for a new home rather than a resale? See all new-build properties or resale properties. If you will leave the home empty part of the year, read what to do about squatters in Spain.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your own purchase, speak to a lawyer or tax adviser in Spain.