Choosing a lawyer

Why buyers use their own lawyer

Several professionals take part in a Mallorca purchase, but most of them do not act for you. An estate agent or a developer has its own interest in the sale going ahead. The notary who authorises the deed is a public official who must stay impartial between buyer and seller. A lender looks after its own interests. An independent lawyer (abogado, or advocat in Catalan) is the professional whose job is to protect your position alone: checking the property, negotiating the contracts and explaining the risks before you pay anything.

No Spanish law obliges a buyer to use a lawyer, and a notary will authorise a deed without one. The UK government’s guidance for buyers in Spain (last updated in May 2021 and marked as under review) nevertheless strongly recommends an independent lawyer, meaning one who works only for you and not for the agent or developer. It also warns against signing papers or handing over money before you have had independent legal advice.

Lawyer, notary and gestoría: who does what

Buyers from countries where one solicitor or notary handles everything are often unsure where the lines fall in Spain. The table sets out the usual division of roles in a purchase.

The notary does real checks at signing: the Land Registry position and any charges, the seller’s title, the community fees certificate, unpaid IBI (local property tax) from earlier years and the cadastral data, among others. Notaries must explain the deed and give special assistance to a party who needs it (Reglamento Notarial, art. 147), and may not charge for advice on the deed they authorise. What a notary does not do is act for you. The Spanish notariat states that notaries take no part in formalising the private contract that usually comes before the deed, commonly called the deposit agreement, although they can explain it free of charge. That private contract is where many of the buyer’s protections are agreed.

A gestoría is an office of gestores administrativos, professionals who handle procedures before public administrations on behalf of clients. Their statute (Decreto 424/1963, art. 1) excludes matters that require the legal expertise reserved to lawyers. In a purchase a gestoría may file the tax return and handle registration paperwork. Some law firms do these steps themselves, so ask your lawyer who will.

Abogado

A lawyer who holds the professional qualification and is a practising member of a Spanish bar association. Advocat in Catalan.

Colegio de la Abogacía

A bar association. The Balearic one is officially both the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de las Illes Balears and the Il·lustre Col·legi d’Advocats de les Illes Balears (ICAIB).

Notario

A notary: a public official and legal professional who authorises deeds and must stay impartial between the parties.

Gestoría

An office that handles paperwork with public bodies, such as tax filings and registrations, for a fee.

Escritura

The public deed of sale, signed before a notary and then registered at the Land Registry.

What your lawyer checks and does

The exact scope depends on what you agree in the engagement letter. A typical purchase file covers the stages below. The buying process guide puts them on a timeline and the surveys and checks guide explains each check in detail.

1. 1

   Before you commit

   Helps you obtain a NIE number and, if needed, a Spanish bank account, and reviews any reservation agreement before you pay a holding deposit.

2. 2

   Due diligence

   Obtains the Land Registry extract (nota simple) to confirm the owner and any mortgages or charges, compares it with the cadastre, and checks licences, planning status, community debts, IBI receipts and, where relevant, the holiday rental licence.

3. 3

   Private contract

   Negotiates and drafts the deposit contract (arras), so that conditions, deadlines and what happens to the deposit if either side withdraws are clear.

4. 4

   Mortgage

   If you borrow, goes through the bank’s offer documents with you. For a home loan to an individual, Ley 5/2019 also requires a free advice session with a notary you choose before signing (arts. 14 and 15). See mortgages for non-residents.

5. 5

   Completion

   Agrees the draft deed with the notary, checks how the price will be paid, including the tax retention the buyer must make when the seller is not resident in Spain, and attends signing with you or for you under a power of attorney.

6. 6

   After signing

   Makes sure the transfer tax is paid within the deadline, the deed is registered in your name and the cadastre, utilities and community of owners are updated. See buying costs and taxes.

How to check a lawyer is registered

In Spain the title abogado is reserved to people who hold the professional qualification and are practising members (ejercientes) of a bar association (Estatuto General de la Abogacía, Real Decreto 135/2021, arts. 4 and 7). Membership of one Spanish bar is enough to practise anywhere in Spain (Ley 2/1974, art. 3.3), so a lawyer handling a Mallorca purchase may be registered in Palma or elsewhere. The Balearic bar (ICAIB) has its seat at La Rambla 10 in Palma.

1. 1

   Ask for the details

   A lawyer must give you their name, tax number, bar association, membership number and professional address, and a firm must give its registered details (Estatuto General, art. 48). If several lawyers in a firm will work on your file, you are entitled to know who they are and who is in charge.

2. 2

   Search the Balearic census

   The ICAIB website has an online census of members (Censo de colegiados) that can be searched by membership number or by name. Under the bar’s statutes, its register must be kept up to date and show each lawyer’s name, membership number, qualifications, professional address and whether they are authorised to practise (ICAIB Statutes, art. 11.3).

3. 3

   Or search nationally

   The Spanish General Council of the Bar keeps a national database of lawyers from every Spanish bar in the census section of abogacia.es.

4. 4

   Confirm if anything does not match

   The General Council says it cannot guarantee that the national data is fully up to date, and points people to the individual bars. If anything does not match, the bar itself can confirm.

The UK government publishes lists of lawyers abroad who have confirmed they can work in English, searchable by country or area. It states that the lists are not recommendations and that it accepts no liability for losses from using them. Its buying guidance for Spain (last updated May 2021) also suggests checking a Spanish lawyer’s registration with the local bar and their professional indemnity insurance.

Fees and the engagement letter

Spanish lawyers’ fees are freely agreed between lawyer and client (Estatuto General, art. 26). Bar associations may not publish fee scales or fee recommendations (Ley 2/1974, art. 14). The one exception is guideline criteria used only when courts assess legal costs or a lawyer claims unpaid fees through the court (Estatuto General, art. 29). Any ’usual percentage’ you are quoted is therefore that firm’s own pricing. Fees can be a percentage of the price, a fixed fee or hourly, and quotes are easier to compare when they use the same basis.

Before starting, the lawyer must tell you the fees and costs of the work, preferably in a written engagement letter (hoja de encargo) (arts. 27 and 48). The Right of Defence Law (Ley Orgánica 5/2024, in force since 4 December 2024) adds a right to ask for the engagement in writing with a prior estimate of fees and costs (art. 15). That law is framed around defending rights in disputes and before courts and authorities, so for a straightforward purchase the Estatuto General is the main rule. At the end you are entitled to an invoice that itemises fees and expenses (Estatuto General, art. 28). The Balearic bar’s own statutes repeat these rules on free fees, engagement letters and invoices (ICAIB Statutes, arts. 42 to 44).

• Exactly which tasks are included (checks, contracts, completion, tax filing, registration) and which cost extra.
• Whether the fee is fixed, a percentage or hourly, and whether IVA (Spanish VAT, general rate 21%) is included.
• Which outlays (suplidos) are charged on top, such as registry extracts, translations, notary and Land Registry fees and taxes.
• What you pay if the purchase falls through at each stage.
• Any advance on account (provisión de fondos) and how it will be accounted for.
• Whether the lawyer or firm receives any commission or payment from the agent, developer or bank.
• Professional indemnity insurance: who the insurer is and what the cover is.

Language, translation and the deed

A notarial deed is written in the official language the parties agree on; in Mallorca that can be Spanish or Catalan, and if the parties disagree it is drawn up in both (Reglamento Notarial, art. 149). If you do not understand it, the notary can translate it orally if they know your language. At your request the deed can be drawn up in two columns with your language alongside, or with a translation incorporated. If the notary cannot convey the content, an interpreter you appoint attends and signs the deed (art. 150). The notary must read the deed to you or let you read it, and tell you that you have the right to read it yourself (art. 193).

Foreign documents used in Spain, such as a power of attorney signed abroad, may need an official translation by a sworn translator (traductor-intérprete jurado). The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an online directory of sworn translators searchable by language and province. If a private contract is drafted in two languages, it is worth asking which version prevails if they differ.

Buying through a power of attorney

If you cannot be in Mallorca to sign, you can give someone a power of attorney (poder notarial) to act for you, such as your lawyer or someone at their firm. Under the Civil Code a power for an act that must be recorded in a public deed must itself be in a public document (art. 1280), so it is signed before a notary. The Spanish notary will want the authorised copy, not a photocopy.

In the UK, apostilles are issued by the FCDO Legalisation Office. A document such as a power of attorney can be apostilled once it has been certified by a UK public official such as a notary or solicitor. As listed on gov.uk in October 2026, the standard paper service costs £45 per document and usually takes up to 25 working days plus courier or postage time, and an e-Apostille costs £35 and takes up to 2 working days. Ask the Spanish notary whether they accept an e-Apostille. The Spanish Consulate General in London says a power signed before a British notary for use in Spain must carry the apostille, and one drafted for use in several countries must also be translated by an official translator of the country where it will be used.

Points to settle with your lawyer before you sign a power for a purchase:

• The specific property, with its address and registry details, and a maximum price.
• Which acts are covered: the deposit contract, the deed, paying the price and taxes, applying for a NIE, opening a bank account, signing a mortgage.
• Whether the attorney may also receive or move money for you.
• An end date, or a limit to this one purchase.

Red flags and how to complain

• A lawyer introduced by the agent or seller who will not say whether any fee or commission passes between them. Paying or accepting commissions in breach of competition or conduct rules is a serious disciplinary offence for lawyers (Estatuto General, art. 125).
• The seller’s lawyer asks you to sign a consent to act for both sides without explaining what you give up.
• No engagement letter, no written quote, or a quote that leaves out IVA and outlays.
• No bar membership number, or a number that does not match the bar’s census.
• Pressure to sign a reservation or deposit contract, or to transfer money, before the checks are done.
• Bank details for a payment that arrive or change only by email, with no confirmation through a contact you already know.
• Assurances that an extension, licence or legalisation is ’just paperwork’, with no documents to back it up. See buying a finca.

A complaint can go to the lawyer first: lawyers must give clients a contact point for complaints and reply within one month (Estatuto General, art. 52; ICAIB Statutes, art. 68). The ICAIB must run a service for complaints from clients of lawyers practising in the Balearic Islands, filed at the bar or online (ICAIB Statutes, art. 13; Ley 2/1974, art. 12). Its website has a complaint form for privately engaged lawyers and information on mediation. The UK government notes that complaints should be made to the bar in writing and in Spanish. The ICAIB can also give opinions on disputed fees and, if both sides expressly agree beforehand, settle disputes over a lawyer’s work or fees by arbitration (ICAIB Statutes, arts. 9 l and 45). For serious disciplinary offences, sanctions are suspension for more than 15 days and up to a year, or a fine of €1,001 to €10,000 (Estatuto General, art. 127).

Questions buyers ask