The buying process, step by step

The purchase at a glance

Buying in Mallorca follows the same legal path as anywhere in Spain, with Balearic tax rates and a few island-specific checks. Besides you and the seller, three parties matter most: your own lawyer, the notary (a public official who authorises the deed and must stay neutral) and the land registry. The steps below are in the usual order, although some overlap.

1. 1

   Plan area and budget

   Decide where and what to buy, and budget for taxes and fees on top of the price.

2. 2

   Get a NIE

   Apply for the identification number Spain gives foreigners. The notary records it in the deed and the land registry needs it.

3. 3

   Hire a lawyer and open a bank account

   Choose a lawyer who works only for you, and set up a way to pay the price and the running costs.

4. 4

   Make an offer

   Agree the price. Some agents ask for a reservation payment at this point.

5. 5

   Check the property

   Your lawyer checks ownership, debts, licences and planning before you commit.

6. 6

   Sign the private contract

   Buyer and seller sign a contract with a deposit (arras) and a latest date for completion.

7. 7

   Arrange the mortgage

   If you borrow, the bank’s binding offer must reach you at least 10 calendar days before signing.

8. 8

   Sign the deed at the notary

   You pay the balance, sign the deed of sale and receive the keys.

9. 9

   Pay the taxes

   Transfer tax, or stamp duty on a new home, is due within one month of signing. VAT on a new home is paid to the developer with the price.

10. 10

    Register and settle in

    The deed is recorded at the land registry. You then take over utilities and join the community of owners.

Area, budget and an independent lawyer

Think about how you will use the home before you start viewing. If you might let it to tourists, check early whether the property can hold a holiday-rental licence, because Mallorca restricts them by area and property type (see holiday rental licences). In a building or estate run by a community of owners, starting a new holiday let has also needed the community’s express approval, by a three-fifths majority, since 3 April 2025 (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, articles 7.3 and 17.12). Country houses on rustic land (suelo rústico, land outside towns where building is tightly limited) have their own rules, covered in buying a finca.

Budget for taxes and fees on top of the price. A resale home pays the Balearic transfer tax (ITP, impuesto sobre transmisiones patrimoniales) on the higher of the price and the reference value (valor de referencia) published by the Catastro, Spain’s property survey. A new home bought from the developer pays 10% VAT (IVA) and stamp duty (AJD, actos jurídicos documentados) instead. Balearic stamp duty is 1.5%, or 2% when the value is €1,000,000 or more. Notary, land registry, lawyer and, if you borrow, valuation costs come on top. The full breakdown is in buying costs and taxes.

An independent lawyer (abogado) acts only for you, not for the seller or the agent. The UK government’s advice to British nationals is to contact a lawyer in Spain when considering buying property or land. Your lawyer checks the property, drafts or reviews the contracts and can handle taxes and registration after completion. Spanish bar associations must give free online access to their register of members, showing whether each lawyer is entitled to practise (Law 2/1974 on professional associations, article 10). The bar association for the islands is the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de las Illes Balears (ICAIB). The notary gives impartial information to both sides but does not act for you. See choosing a lawyer.

NIE and a Spanish bank account

The NIE (número de identidad de extranjero) is the personal number Spain gives foreigners who have financial or other dealings in the country. Everyone signing a property deed must show the notary their tax identification number, which is recorded in the deed (Ley del Notariado, article 23), and the land registry will not register a purchase without it (Ley Hipotecaria, article 254). It must be in place by the day of signing at the latest.

You can apply in Spain, or at the Spanish consulate in the country where you live, either in person or through a representative holding a notarial power of attorney. The Spanish consulate in Paris, for example, quotes about two weeks on average, and the one in London normally three weeks. A NIE obtained this way lets you deal with the Spanish authorities but does not give you the right to live in Spain. Forms, fees and current waiting times are in how to get a NIE number.

A Spanish bank account makes it easier to pay the price by transfer or banker’s draft and to pay the yearly property tax, community fees and utility bills by direct debit. When you open one, the bank will check your identity and, if you are not resident, ask for documents that prove it. Under anti-money-laundering rules it can also ask where the money paid into the account comes from (Banco de España). What banks ask of non-resident customers, and what changes when you become resident, is covered in moving to Mallorca.

Offer, reservation and checks

Offers can be made through the agent. Once a price is agreed, some agents propose a reservation document and payment to take the property off the market for a short time while your lawyer starts the checks. This is not the same as the arras contract, which is signed between buyer and seller. A reservation’s terms are whatever the document says, so before paying it helps to know who receives the money and on whose behalf, whether the seller has accepted the offer, whether it counts towards the price or the agent’s fee, how long it lasts and when it is returned or lost (OCU, July 2026).

Your lawyer should then check at least the following before you sign anything binding:

• The land registry extract (nota simple): who owns the property and which mortgages, seizures or other charges are registered against it. The registrars’ official fee is €3.01 per property plus VAT (Royal Decree 1427/1989); the Colegio de Registradores quotes €9.02 plus VAT for one requested online. It shows the position only on the day it is issued.
• The Catastro record: whether the description, size and boundaries match the registry and what you are being shown.
• Planning and licences: whether every part of the building is legal and whether any planning case is open.
• Debts tied to the property: unpaid IBI (the yearly municipal property tax) and community fees can be claimed against the property after the sale.
• Certificates: the energy performance certificate and the cédula de habitabilidad (the certificate, issued by the Consell de Mallorca, that a home is fit to live in). A copy must go with the sale, or the contract must say there is none.
• Tenants, and the status of any holiday-rental licence if letting matters to you.

The full list, and when to bring in a building surveyor, is in surveys and checks.

The private contract and the deposit (arras)

Once the checks look clean, buyer and seller usually sign a private contract with a deposit, often called a contrato de arras. It sets the price, the deposit, what is included, who pays which costs and the latest date for signing at the notary. Spanish law does not require one, but once signed it binds both sides, as the Consejo General del Notariado (the notaries’ governing body) points out.

Arras penitenciales (penitential deposit)

Either side may withdraw: the buyer by giving up the deposit, the seller by returning it twice over. This comes from article 1454 of the Civil Code, and the contract should state it clearly.

Arras confirmatorias (confirmatory deposit)

The deposit is a part payment that confirms the sale. Neither side may withdraw freely; if one fails to complete, the other can choose to enforce the sale or end it, with damages in either case, through the courts if needed (Civil Code, article 1124).

Arras penales (penalty deposit)

The deposit works as a fixed penalty for breaking the contract. Unless the contract says otherwise, the penalty replaces damages (Civil Code, article 1152), and paying it does not release either side from the contract unless that was expressly agreed (article 1153).

If a dispute over a failed sale ends up in court, note that since 3 April 2025 a civil claim of this kind is generally admitted only after the parties have first tried to settle it out of court, for example by negotiating through their lawyers or by mediation (Organic Law 1/2025, article 5).

The law sets no deposit amount. It is whatever buyer and seller agree. The Spanish consumer organisation OCU notes that deposits above 10% of the price are uncommon. The contract should say that the deposit counts towards the price and record how it was paid.

If you need a mortgage

Borrowing in Spain as a non-resident is covered in mortgages for non-residents. If the purchase depends on a loan, the private contract can say what happens if the bank refuses it. Without such a clause, failing to get a mortgage does not by itself let you recover the deposit (OCU, July 2026). Law 5/2019 sets out fixed steps before you can sign:

1. 1

   Binding offer

   At least 10 calendar days before signing, the bank gives you the FEIN (European Standardised Information Sheet, a binding offer), the FiAE (a standard warnings sheet) and the draft contract with all costs listed.

2. 2

   Free notary session

   You, or someone representing you for this purpose, must attend a notary of your choice in person by the day before signing at the latest. The notary explains the terms, you answer a short test and the notary records it in a formal record (acta).

3. 3

   Signing

   The mortgage deed is usually signed at the same appointment as the purchase, with the seller, the bank’s representative and you present.

Under Law 5/2019 the bank pays the notary fees for the mortgage deed, its registration and the gestoría (an agency that handles paperwork with public offices). You pay for the valuation (tasación) and any copies you ask for. Since 10 November 2018 the bank has also been the taxpayer for stamp duty on mortgage deeds (Royal Decree-law 17/2018).

Signing the deed at the notary

The deed of sale (escritura de compraventa) is signed before a Spanish notary. Everyone has the right to choose a notary. When you buy from a developer or another business that sells regularly, the choice is yours as buyer, provided the notary has a reasonable connection with the purchase. Otherwise it follows what the parties agree and, failing agreement, the choice goes to whoever pays most of the notary’s fees (Notarial Regulation, article 126).

1. 1

   Preparation

   Your lawyer and the notary’s office prepare the deed. Just before signing, the notary checks ownership and charges online with the land registry (Notarial Regulation, article 175).

2. 2

   Documents

   In a building with a community of owners, the seller must provide a certificate of any unpaid community fees, unless you expressly waive it. The notary also asks about, and warns you of, any unpaid IBI linked to the property.

3. 3

   Reading the deed

   The notary reads or explains the deed. If you do not understand Spanish and the notary cannot translate, an interpreter you appoint must take part and sign the deed. You can also ask for the deed in two languages side by side (Notarial Regulation, articles 150 and 193).

4. 4

   Payment

   You pay the balance, for example by banker’s draft or bank transfer, and the deed records how every payment was made. If the seller has a mortgage, ask your lawyer how it will be paid off and cancelled.

5. 5

   Non-resident seller

   If the seller is not resident in Spain, you hold back 3% of the price and pay it to the Spanish tax office. If the seller is a non-resident individual, you also have to pay the seller’s municipal plusvalía (a tax on the rise in land value) in their place, so ask your lawyer to hold back enough to cover it.

6. 6

   Keys

   Signing the deed counts in law as handing over the property, unless the deed says otherwise (Civil Code, article 1462). You receive the keys, and the notary normally sends an electronic copy of the deed to the land registry the same day.

After signing: taxes, registry, utilities and community

Filing a tax return late without being asked adds a surcharge of 1%, plus 1% for each full month of delay, rising to 15% plus interest after 12 months (General Tax Law, article 27). Penalties may apply if the tax office finds the omission first. Your lawyer or a gestoría can file the returns for you.

The notary’s electronic copy creates a first entry at the land registry (asiento de presentación). For 60 days from that entry, no conflicting deed can be registered. The registrar has 15 days from presentation to register your deed, a period that starts again if something is missing. Nothing is registered until the transfer tax or stamp duty has been paid and, where plusvalía is due, the town hall declaration or notice has been filed. Until your purchase is registered, it cannot be relied on against third parties (Ley Hipotecaria, articles 17, 18, 32 and 254).

• Utilities: transfer the electricity, water and any gas contracts into your name and set up payment. Meter readings taken on completion day make it easier to split the bills. Suppliers must ask for a valid cédula de habitabilidad or occupation licence before a permanent contract (Balearic Housing Law 5/2018, article 16).
• Community of owners (comunidad de propietarios, the body that runs the shared parts of a building or estate): give the administrator your details and arrange payment of the fees.
• IBI: whoever owns the property on 1 January owes that year’s bill (Local Finance Law, article 75), so the private contract may say how the year of sale is shared.
• Yearly taxes as an owner, including non-resident income tax: see taxes for owners.

Buying through a power of attorney

If you cannot be in Mallorca for every step, someone else, for example your lawyer, can act for you with a power of attorney (poder notarial). You can grant it before a notary in Spain, at a Spanish consulate abroad, or before a notary in your own country. The Spanish consulate in London, for example, says a purchase cannot be signed at the consulate, but it can authorise a power for a representative in Spain.

1. 1

   Decide the scope

   A power can be limited to this purchase and any mortgage, or be general. A narrow power limits what can be done in your name.

2. 2

   Agree the wording

   Ask your lawyer and the notary in Mallorca to approve a draft first. A power that is too narrow or badly worded can delay completion.

3. 3

   Sign it

   A power signed at a Spanish consulate is sent straight to your representative in Spain. A power signed before a notary in your own country needs an apostille (the Hague Convention certificate) and, if it is not in Spanish, an official translation.

4. 4

   Send the original

   Send the signed power to your representative in Spain in good time, so the notary can review it before the signing date.

Since 9 November 2023 a Spanish notary can also authorise a power for specific acts by videoconference, if you can identify yourself electronically in a way Spanish law accepts. General powers cannot be granted this way, and the purchase deed itself cannot be signed by videoconference (Ley del Notariado, article 17 ter). The ways to grant a power, and what to settle before you sign one, are compared in choosing a lawyer.

Questions buyers ask