Glossary of Spanish property terms

How to read this glossary

The terms are grouped in the order a buyer usually meets them, from the first viewing to living on the island. Each entry gives the Spanish word, the Catalan version where you are likely to see it on Mallorcan paperwork, and a short explanation. Where another guide covers the subject in depth, the entry links to it. Figures are those in force in October 2026.

Searching and making an offer

Inmobiliaria (immobiliària)

An estate agency, run by an agente inmobiliario (estate agent). Balearic Law 3/2024, in force since 10 May 2024, requires agents to hold liability insurance and a guarantee covering money they receive, and sets the minimum content of the written engagement they sign with each client.

Nota de encargo

The written engagement between an agent and a client. By law it must state, among other things, the property, the service and whether it is exclusive, the fee with the taxes on it, and the agent’s insurance and guarantee details. Keep a copy of anything you sign with an agent.

Honorarios

Fees, such as an agent’s commission. The agent’s fee and the tax on it must be written in the nota de encargo, so if an agent asks you for a fee, ask to see the engagement you signed.

Obra nueva / segunda mano

A new build sold for the first time by its developer, or a resale home. The difference decides the purchase tax: VAT and stamp duty on a new build, transfer tax on a resale.

Superficie útil / superficie construida

Useful area is the floor space measured from the inner face of the walls (in Balearic housing rules, Decree 145/1997). Built area also counts the walls, so it is larger, and some listings add a share of common areas, so compare like with like.

Finca

In everyday Mallorcan use, a country property with land. In the land registry any registered property is a finca (finca registral), including a flat.

Casa de pueblo (casa de poble)

A traditional house in a village or town centre, usually joined to its neighbours. If it has been altered over the years, check that the licences and the registry description match what is there.

Contracts, the notary and the land registry

1. 1

   Reservation (reserva)

   Optional. A small payment, sometimes held by the agent, that holds the property for a short time while the checks start. Its terms are whatever the document says.

2. 2

   Private contract with deposit (contrato de arras)

   Signed once the checks look clean. It fixes the price, the deposit and the latest date for the deed, and it binds both sides.

3. 3

   Deed of sale (escritura)

   Signed before a notary. You pay the balance and, unless the deed says otherwise, signing counts as handing over the property.

4. 4

   Tax and registration

   Transfer tax or stamp duty is filed and paid within one month. The notary normally sends an electronic copy of the deed to the land registry on the day of signing, and registration protects you against third parties.

Contrato de reserva

A short private agreement that takes a property off the market for a few days or weeks in return for a payment. Check who holds the money, whether it counts towards the price and when it is returned. A Balearic agent who holds such money must have a guarantee covering its return.

Contrato de arras

The private contract in which the buyer pays a deposit (arras or señal) towards the price. It is optional but binding once signed, and its wording decides what happens if someone pulls out.

Arras penitenciales

Arras that let either side withdraw: the buyer by losing the deposit, the seller by paying it back twice over (Civil Code, article 1454). They apply only if the contract says so.

Arras confirmatorias

A deposit that is simply a part payment confirming the sale. Neither side may walk away freely. If one side fails to complete, the other can ask a court to enforce the contract or to end it, with damages in either case (Civil Code, article 1124).

Escritura pública de compraventa

The public deed of sale, signed before a notary. It is the document that puts your purchase on the land registry.

Notario (notari)

A public official who checks identities, title, charges and payments and authorises the deed. Notaries stay neutral between buyer and seller, and their fees follow an official national scale (arancel).

Poder notarial

A power of attorney granted before a notary, letting someone sign for you. It can be limited to what the purchase needs; see The buying process.

Apostilla

The certificate under the 1961 Hague Convention that confirms a public document from one member country, such as a power signed before a UK notary, for use in another.

Traductor jurado

A sworn translator holding the Spanish Foreign Ministry’s title and listed in its public directory. Ask your lawyer or the notary whether a foreign document needs a sworn translation.

Nota simple

A short land-registry extract showing the owner, the description and the registered charges. It costs €9.02 per property plus taxes online and is for information only, as of the day it is issued.

Registro de la Propiedad

The land registry, which records who owns each property and the rights and charges over it. Registering your deed protects your ownership against third parties.

Cargas

Charges registered against a property, such as a mortgage (hipoteca) or a seizure order (embargo). Your lawyer checks how each one will be cancelled at signing.

Usufructo / nuda propiedad

A usufruct is the right to use and enjoy property that belongs to someone else (Civil Code, article 467). The owner keeps only the bare ownership (nuda propiedad) and cannot use the home until the usufruct ends.

Servidumbre

An easement: a burden on one property for the benefit of another, such as a right of way (servidumbre de paso) across a neighbour’s land (Civil Code, article 530). Check how a country property is reached.

Taxes and fees on the purchase

Which tax you pay depends on who sells. A resale pays transfer tax to the Balearic tax agency. A new home bought from its developer pays VAT plus stamp duty instead. Full details, and the reduced rates for some main homes, are in Buying costs and taxes.

ITP (impuesto sobre transmisiones patrimoniales)

The Balearic transfer tax on resale property, charged on the higher of the price and the reference value. Each rate applies only to the slice of value inside its band, so a €500,000 home pays €41,000.

IVA (impuesto sobre el valor añadido)

Spanish VAT. A new home sold for the first time by its developer pays 10% VAT instead of transfer tax.

AJD (actos jurídicos documentados)

Stamp duty on notarial deeds. A buyer of a new build pays it on top of VAT; on a mortgage deed the bank has paid it since 10 November 2018.

Modelo 600

The Balearic self-assessment form for transfer tax and stamp duty, filed and paid to the ATIB within one month of the deed.

Retención del 3% (modelo 211)

When the seller is not resident in Spain, the buyer keeps back 3% of the price and pays it to the Agencia Tributaria on form 211 within one month. It counts towards the seller’s tax on any gain. If it is not paid, the property itself answers for it.

Plusvalía municipal

The town hall’s tax on the rise in value of urban land during the seller’s ownership. It is the seller’s tax, but the buyer must pay it when the seller is a non-resident individual. In any sale the buyer must also tell the town hall about it within the same 30 working days.

Valor de referencia

A value the Catastro sets from the prices notaries report in real sales, capped at market value. Transfer tax is charged on at least this figure, even if the price is lower.

Valor catastral

The cadastral value, a different figure from the reference value. It is the base for IBI and for the imputed income of non-resident owners, and it appears on the IBI receipt.

Land, planning and licences

Suelo urbano / suelo urbanizable

Urban land is land the town plan puts in the built-up area, with all the basic services: a proper road, water, electricity, street lighting and sewers. Land for development (urbanizable) is land the plan sets aside for future growth.

Suelo rústico

Land outside towns and villages, where building is tightly limited. It is either common (común) or protected (protegido), and its category decides whether a house can be built at all; see Buying a finca.

ANEI

Área natural de especial interés: a protected category of rustic land. The island plan in force does not allow new detached houses there.

PTIM and plan general

The PTIM (Pla Territorial Insular de Mallorca) is the island-wide planning plan. Each town’s general plan (plan general, or older normas subsidiarias) then sets what may be built on each plot.

Licencia de obras

The town hall’s building licence. New buildings, works that need a technical project, demolitions and changes of use require one. Small, simple works may need only a prior notice to the town hall (comunicación previa).

Licencia de ocupación o de primera utilización

The town hall’s licence confirming that a finished new or altered building can be used. Since 29 May 2024 it has replaced the first-occupation habitability certificate for new homes. Ten years after it is granted, a renewal habitability certificate is needed.

Cédula de habitabilidad (cèdula d’habitabilitat)

The certificate, issued in Mallorca by the Consell de Mallorca, that a home meets minimum living standards. It is needed to live in or let the home and for permanent utility contracts, and it expires ten years after issue.

Certificado de eficiencia energética

The energy performance certificate, rated from A to G. A seller must attach a copy to the sale contract and adverts must show the rating. It is valid for up to ten years, or five if rated G.

Fuera de ordenación

In Balearic planning law, the status of, among others, a building put up without a licence that can no longer be ordered down because the time limit has passed. Until it is legalised, only repairs for health, safety and hygiene are allowed and, if built after 1 March 1987, it cannot get electricity, water or similar supply contracts.

Legalización extraordinaria

A temporary Balearic procedure to legalise buildings and uses on rustic land that can no longer be ordered down because the time limit has passed, open in Mallorca for three years from 15 February 2025. The owner applies to the town hall and pays, on top of the usual fees and taxes, 10%, 12.5% or 15% of the building cost depending on the year of application. Some cases are excluded, such as buildings in flood zones or coastal easements, and as a rule a home legalised this way cannot be let to tourists, a ban recorded in the land registry.

Declaración de obra nueva

The deed that records a building on a plot, so that the house appears in the land registry. A house, pool or extension missing from it may never have been declared or licensed, and a building can also be registered once the time limit for enforcement has passed, so registration alone does not prove a licence.

Referencia catastral

The code that identifies a property in the Catastro, Spain’s property map. It appears on the IBI receipt and lets anyone look up the property’s description and plot map online free of charge.

Estancia turística en vivienda

Letting a whole residential home to tourists for stays of up to 30 nights, often called a holiday rental licence. It needs a declaration to the island council and an entry in its register of tourist activities, and new ones are possible only in zones declared suitable; see Holiday rental licences.

Autorización militar

Permission from the Ministry of Defence. All the Balearic islands are restricted zones, so buyers who are not EU nationals need it before acquiring rustic land there; urbanised land has been excluded since a 2021 Defence instruction. The notary must see it before the deed is signed.

Owning a home and the community of owners

Comunidad de propietarios

The community of owners that runs the shared parts of a building or estate under the horizontal property law (propiedad horizontal). Each owner pays fees and can vote at the owners’ meeting (junta).

Cuota de participación

Your share of the building, as a percentage fixed in the title. Unless the rules say otherwise, it sets your share of the community’s costs.

Derrama

A one-off levy that owners vote for to pay for works or other extra costs. The purchase contract can say who pays a levy approved before completion but due afterwards.

Fondo de reserva

The community’s reserve fund for maintenance and repairs. By law it must be at least 10% of the community’s last ordinary budget.

Administrador de fincas

A property manager hired by a community to run its accounts and paperwork. Ask for the certificate of any unpaid fees and the minutes (actas) of recent meetings.

IBI (impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles)

The yearly municipal property tax, based on the cadastral value. Whoever owns the property on 1 January owes that year’s bill.

IRNR (impuesto sobre la renta de no residentes)

Non-resident income tax, filed on form 210. Owners who live abroad pay it on rental income or, if the home is not let, on imputed income; see Taxes for owners.

Renta imputada

A notional income Spain taxes on a non-resident’s home that is not let: 1.1% or 2% of the cadastral value, depending on when the town’s values were last revised. It is taxed at 19% for residents of the EU and EEA and 24% for everyone else, including UK and US residents.

Testamento

A will. Foreign owners can make one before a Spanish notary covering their Spanish property; how it fits with a will made at home is covered in Inheritance and wills.

Residency and paperwork

NIE (número de identidad de extranjero)

The personal identity and tax number Spain gives foreigners. Notaries need it to record you in the deed, so you need it before signing. It is personal and unique to you but gives no right to live in Spain; see How to get a NIE number.

TIE (tarjeta de identidad de extranjero)

The residence card for non-EU nationals, including British residents, showing their NIE. EU and EEA citizens who stay more than three months register instead and receive a registration certificate (certificado de registro).

Cita previa

An advance appointment, usually booked online, which many public offices ask for before an in-person procedure.

Empadronamiento (padró)

Registering on the town hall’s register of residents (padrón). Everyone who lives in Spain must register in the municipality where they mainly live (Law 7/1985, article 15).

Residente fiscal

Tax resident in Spain: someone who spends more than 183 days of a calendar year here, or whose main business or economic interests are here. Tax residents pay Spanish income tax on their worldwide income.

Residencia no lucrativa

A residence permit for non-EU nationals who will live in Spain without working. Applicants need health insurance and income or savings of at least 400% of an official index (IPREM) a month for the main applicant.

Golden visa

The investor residence visa that a property purchase of €500,000 or more per applicant used to give. Spain abolished it with effect from 3 April 2025 (Organic Law 1/2025).

Gestoría

An office that handles paperwork with public bodies, such as tax forms and registrations, for a fee. A gestor is not the same as a lawyer, who advises on and checks the legal side of a purchase.

The police fee for assigning a NIE in Spain is €9.84 (October 2026), paid on form 790, code 012. A Spanish consulate abroad may charge a different fee, so check with it.

Recent changes behind these terms

• 10 May 2024: Balearic Law 3/2024 came into force. It sets requirements for estate agents, including insurance, a guarantee and the content of the nota de encargo, and created a voluntary register of agents.
• 29 May 2024: in the Balearic Islands the town hall’s occupancy licence replaced the first-occupation habitability certificate for new homes (Decree-law 3/2024). Law 7/2024, in force since 14 December 2024, repealed the decree-law and kept the rule.
• 15 February 2025: Mallorca’s three-year window for the extraordinary legalisation of buildings on rustic land opened, after the Consell de Mallorca adopted the procedure in Law 7/2024 (additional provision 7). A constitutional appeal against that provision by more than 50 members of Congress was admitted on 10 June 2025; the BOE listed no ruling on it when checked on 25 October 2026.
• 3 April 2025: the investor golden visa ended when Organic Law 1/2025 removed it from Law 14/2013. Buying a home no longer leads to residence on its own.
• 16 April 2025: Balearic Decree-law 4/2025 stopped new tourist-let declarations for flats and other homes under horizontal property, with limited exceptions. The Balearic Parliament validated it in May 2025, and Law 4/2026 widened one exception from 14 June 2026.
• From 1 April 2027: non-resident tax on imputed income for 2026 can be filed, under Order HAC/623/2026 of 12 June 2026. The period for 2025 income still runs to 31 December 2026.
• 8 October 2026: Royal Decree-law 29/2026 came into force, but it still needs a parliamentary vote. Among other things, it puts furnished lets of up to 30 nights under 10% VAT from 1 December 2026 (unless the home is the landlord’s own main residence), sets new maximum plusvalía coefficients from the same date, and replaces the national income tax’s 1.1% and 2% imputed-income rates with a scale of 1.1% to 3%, rising with the total cadastral value of the owner’s properties, from 1 January 2027. Whether that scale will apply to non-residents had not been confirmed by the Agencia Tributaria when checked.
• Parliament was dissolved on 6 October 2026 for a general election on 29 November 2026, so the vote on Royal Decree-law 29/2026 falls to the Congress standing committee (Diputación Permanente), which must decide within 30 days, that is by early November 2026 (Constitution, articles 78 and 86). If it is repealed, these measures fall. An earlier decree-law with the same title, Royal Decree-law 26/2026, was repealed by Congress on 2 October 2026. When checked on 25 October 2026, the BOE listed no validation or repeal of the new one.

Questions buyers ask