From NIE to escritura — the actual sequence of acquiring property in Spain, with each step named, explained, and placed in the order that protects the buyer.
A property purchase in Spain follows a sequence that is logical, well-established, and almost entirely unfamiliar to a buyer arriving from the UK, the US, or most other markets. The unfamiliarity is the risk. Each step has a point where money or security can be lost — not through fraud, usually, but through not knowing what the step is for. This is the sequence, and where the care belongs.
It begins before you find the property
Two things have to exist before a serious purchase can move: an NIE — the foreigner’s tax identification number, required to do almost anything financial in Spain — and, in most cases, a Spanish bank account. Neither is difficult, but both take time, and a buyer who starts arranging them only after agreeing a price has already introduced delay into a process where delay costs leverage.
| # | Phase | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preparation and offer | NIE, bank account, lawyer, buyer brief, budget, proof and source of funds, and a formal offer with price, conditions and timing. |
| 2 | Reservation / PPC | A reservation or pre-purchase contract, usually with a smaller deposit, to take the property temporarily off the market and open due diligence. |
| 3 | Due diligence | Legal, technical and financial review: nota simple, ownership, charges, licences, extensions, planning status, community debts, IBI, utilities, structural checks, financing if needed, and source-of-funds compliance. |
| 4 | Arras contract | Usually around 10%. Buyer loses it if they withdraw; seller returns double if they withdraw. |
| 5 | Escritura and completion | Signing before notary, final payment, taxes, possession, and registration. |
The brief comes first too. Before viewings, the search should be defined: budget, zones, intended use. In a market with no central listing system, where the same property appears across multiple agencies at multiple prices, walking in without a brief means being shown inventory, not being shown the market.
The offer, the reservation and the deposit
The body of the process — what each phase actually involves, in the order they happen — repeats the structure of the table above. Slower than the headlines suggest, and sharper at the points most buyers underestimate.
Preparation and offer. Before viewings, the search should be defined: budget, zones, intended use. In a market with no central listing system, where the same property appears across multiple agencies at multiple prices, walking in without a brief means being shown inventory, not being shown the market. The formal offer comes once the brief and the figures are clear — with price, conditions and timing on paper, not in a conversation.
Reservation / PPC. When an offer is accepted, the next step is often not the arras contract immediately. In many transactions, especially at the higher end of the market, the parties first sign a reservation agreement or pre-purchase contract. This usually involves a smaller initial payment and temporarily removes the property from the market while the buyer carries out legal, technical, and financial due diligence. It creates order without creating the same level of risk as the arras: it gives the buyer time to verify the property before committing a larger deposit.
Due diligence. Before the arras, a nota simple from the Land Registry should be obtained — it reveals who actually owns the property, and whether there are charges, mortgages, or encumbrances against it. For a villa, the verification goes further: planning permissions, the legality of every extension and structure, community status, licences. The question is not whether the property is beautiful. It is whether it is what the seller says it is. Financial due diligence matters too: the buyer must be ready not only to pay, but to prove the origin of the funds used for the purchase. In Spain, anti-money laundering checks are part of the transaction, and in the luxury market — where many purchases are made without a mortgage — source-of-funds compliance is not secondary. It is part of being ready to buy.
Arras contract. Once due diligence is satisfactory, the commitment is usually formalised through a contrato de arras — a deposit contract, typically around 10% of the price. This is not a formality. Under the standard form, if the buyer withdraws, they lose the deposit; if the seller withdraws, they owe double. It is the moment the transaction becomes real, and it is the moment before which all the verification work should already be done — because after the arras, withdrawing has a price.
In Spain, the deed signs the deal. Everything before it is preparation, and everything after it is consequence.
The notary, and the point of no return
Escritura and completion. Completion happens before a notary, with the signing of the escritura pública — the public deed. The notary verifies the legality of the transaction and the transfer of title. Taxes are paid around this point: for a resale in Andalucía, transfer tax (ITP) at 7%; for a new build, VAT at 10% plus stamp duty at 1.2%. Legal, notary and registry costs add roughly 1 to 1.5% more.
The notary is the point of no return. There is no cooling-off period on a completed escritura, no second chance to discover the extension was never legalised or the boundary was never registered. Everything that protects the buyer has to happen before the signature, not after. This is why, at this level — where fewer than one in ten luxury transactions even involve a mortgage, and the buyer is committing capital directly — the verification is not a box to tick. It is the whole of the protection.
Where the two roles divide
A good Spanish lawyer handles the legal review: the title, the charges, the contract, the completion. That work is essential and it is theirs.
What a lawyer does not do is tell you whether the property is worth reviewing in the first place — whether the price reflects the market or the seller’s hope, whether the zone holds value, whether the villa that looks right is priced right. Your lawyer handles the legal review. A buyer’s advisor makes sure the property is worth the legal review before the arras is ever signed. The two roles do not overlap. They protect different things, and at this level you want both.
The process in Spain is not difficult. It is simply specific. The buyers who move through it cleanly are not the ones who moved fastest — they are the ones who knew what each step was for before they reached it.
