Buy an apartment in Barcelona by a non-resident yourself: 15 steps from NIE to registration

Purchase of a apartment in Barcelona: 15 steps

1. Get a NIE.

   The number of the foreigner is for escritura, tax and register, and is obtained in Spain at the National Policy or the Spanish Consulate in the country of residence.

   • I picked out the place where I served, in Barcelona or at the consulate.
   • Payed the form 790 code 012
   • The number was given to all future owners, including the spouse.

   Where: Policy Nacional or Spanish ConsulateDuration: Depends on the record (cita previa)Value: 9.84 I, on the schedule of duties of the Politicala Nacional

   When you need help, there's no free record, and the date of the deal is already set. NIE in Barcelona by step.

2. Open a Spanish account and prepare the money documents.

   Banks and notaries are among the duty holders under Ley 10/2010 on countering money-laundering: they identify and ascertain the nature of the transaction; without a clear history of money, the transfer can be delayed.

   • Opened an account at the Spanish bank (resident or non-residential)
   • Collected documents on the source of funds: sale of property, income, inheritance, receipts
   • jurored the translation of key foreign documents

   Where: Bank in SpainDuration: Put in a few weeks before the deal.Value: Bank tariffs

   When assistance is needed: you are a citizen or resident of Russia or Belarus without a permit to reside in the EU. EU sanctions regulations prohibit banks from accepting from such persons more than 100,000 I per bank; as applied to your transfer, they are removed from the bank and the lawyer before signing the arras. How to open the account.

3. Count the full budget.

   The dwelling price is not equal to the purchase price. The secondary dwelling is subject to Catalan ITP on a scale of 10, 11, 12 and 13% depending on the cost (Decreto-ley 5/2025), and the new building from the developer: IVA 10% plus AJD at the Catalon rate.

   • Tax: ITP for secondary or IVA and AJD for new constructionCatalonia buying taxes)
   • Notary and Registro de la Propiedad, on State Tariffs (aranceles)
   • Gestoría, if you hire her, and tasación at mortgage
   • Repair, furniture and first payments comunidad and IBI

   Where: ATC calculator, notary, bankDuration: to armorCost: Depends on the cost of the facility

   When assistance is needed: the seller of a company: depending on the situation, the tax may be ITP or IVA with an AJD at an increased rate, and the error is costly. Also, in a claim for a discount rate. notary costs.

4. Deal with mortgage.

   Spanish banks give mortgages to non-residents, but the terms, the loan share and the list of documents are theirs.

   • Requested preconditions in two or three banks
   • Prepared income confirmation, tax returns and transfer statements
   • I made a condition in the arras against bank failure if I buy it on credit.

   Where: Banks in SpainDuration: until signature of the arrasValue: Bank terms

   When you need help: always if the transaction depends on the loan: see how to protect the deposit against bank failure. Mortgage to non-resident.

5. Study the market and restrictions on tourist rent

   If you plan to rent your apartment to tourists, consider: Ajuntament de Barcelona reports that it will not renew about 10,000 tourist housing (HUT) licences, which expire in 2028.

   • Set the goal: to live, to give up long term or to hold as an investment
   • Comparative prices of similar transactions in the area
   • I don't put a tourist license on the market.Tourism rental in Catalonia)

   Where: Auntation de Barcelona, open transaction dataDuration: pending selection of the facilityCost: free of charge

   When you need help, the seller says the apartment has a tourist license: its status is checked separately.

6. Order nota simple

   Nota simple, an extract from Registro de la Propiedad, shows the owner, the square, the mortgages, the arrests and other burdens.

   • Ordered nota simple online on Registradores
   • Checked the owner, the share of each and the area
   • Has issued the charges that the seller must pay before the transaction

   Where: Colegio de Registradores, onlineDuration: usually during the dayValue: 9.02 I plus IVA on Registradores

   When you need help, you have an arrest, a mortgage in favour of a private person, a mufruct or several owners.

7. Check the IBI and comunidad debts

   The IBI, the municipal property tax, pays the owner of the apartment on 1 January, which is subject to tax and contribution fees in comunidad de propietarios, the association of owners of the house, can be checked before the transaction.

   • Asked the seller for the last receipt from IBI
   • Received certificado de deuda from the comunidad administrator

   Where: seller, house administratorDuration: fresh certificate by date escrituraCost: See the administrator at home

   When assistance is needed, there are major upcoming repairs or court disputes at home. What is comunidad.

8. Collect the documents of the subject

   The energy efficiency certificate with label is mandatory for sale: the label is specified in the advertisement, a copy of the registered certificate is attached to the contract; in Catalonia, cèdula d'habitilat, the document on accommodation, the state of the technical inspection of the building (ITE) and the legality of the re-engineering.

   • Got a copy of the power certificate and label.
   • Checked cèdula d'habitilat and her time
   • Asked the result of the ITE building and its regulations
   • Checked the apartment plan with the cadastre and work permits

   Where: seller, Generalitat de Catalunya, AjuntamentDuration: to arrasValue: documents prepared by seller

   When you need help, the area in the cadastre and register is different from the real one, there are buildings or shared apartments.

9. Form the reservation (reserva)

   The armor rents the apartment from the sale for a short period while you're doing the checks.

   • The amount of the armor is paid for by the transfer, not in cash
   • The text indicates the time and cases of repayment (bad note, debts, bank refusal)

   Where: seller or seller ’s agencyDuration: usually before signing the arrasValue: by agreement

   When you need help, you're asked to sign an arras penitentiales reservation without a right of return.

10. Sign the contrato de arras and select its species

    In Catalonia, the money transferred by the buyer is considered default to be arras confirmatories: confirmation of the transaction and part of the price (article 621-8 Codi civil de Catalunya). Arras penitentiales where the buyer loses the deposit upon refusal and the seller returns it in double amount should be expressly stated.

    • The treaty clearly refers to the species of arras
    • The price, period of escritura, who chooses notary and how the costs are distributed
    • Conditions are written: net nota simple, no debts, mortgage (if necessary)

    Where: private contract, possibly notaryDuration: from signature to escritura, by treatyValue: amount of deposit by agreement

    When you need help, you always have to show the Arras project to a lawyer before you sign it: it's the biggest risk of losing money.

11. Pass the tasación, get FEIN and acta de transparencia

    In mortgage, the bank needs an evaluation (tasación) from an evaluation company approved by Banco de España; you can make a valid evaluation of such an appraisalr yourself. On Ley 5/2019, the bank gives FEIN and the draft contract no later than 10 calendar days before signing, and the notary issues a free statement that you have received documents and clarifications.

    • Tasación paid for it: it is legally paid by the borrowing agent
    • Received FEIN, FiAE and the draft treaty in at least 10 days
    • I went to the notary personally on acta de transparencia.

    Where: bank, valuation company, notaryDuration: 10 calendar days before signatureCost: Tasación pays the loanee, notary act free of charge

    When you need help, you don't own Spanish, and you don't own a contract and act in Spanish only: you need an interpreter at a notary's meeting.

12. Sign escritura from the notary and pay the price.

    The buyer is entitled to choose a notary, and the notary requests the register data, checks the debts and records the price on the account, and on which account the price has been paid. If the non-resident seller holds 3% of the price and transfers it to Hacienda on a modelo 211 within a month.

    • Bank cheque or transfer, requisitions are in escritura
    • No cash: limit for professionals 1,000 me, for non-resident physicals 10,000 I
    • If the seller is a non-resident, he's held 3% and delivered the modelo 211.
    • If I can't make it, I've got a surety in advance.

    Where: notary of your choiceDuration: Date from arrasValue: arancel notary on State tariff

    When you need help, the non-resident seller, you buy by trust or pay from several countries. escritura and notary.

13. Pay the ITP at ATC (modelo 600)

    The ITP and AJD in Catalonia administers Agéncia Tributària de Catalunya (ATC) rather than the State Hacienda. The modelo 600 declaration is filed after escritura within a short time, as prescribed by Catalan rules; without it, the register will not record.

    • He served the modelo 600 and paid the tax, saved the copy.
    • Checked if a discount rate was applied (youth buyers, protected housing)
    • The deadline was checked on the ATC page on the day of signature

    Where: Agéncia Tributeria de Catalunya, onlineDuration: See ATC page, report from date escrituraValue: ITP or AJD

    When assistance is needed: there are allowances for the time limit, and if the ATC rate is not correct, the tax may be added. AEAT and ATC.

14. Register the purchase in Registro de la Propiedad

    The register's security is open to third parties, and the notary can send escritura to the register electronically on the day of signature, which closes the register for other documents on the apartment.

    • Asked the notary to file an escritura on the register electronically.
    • Passed the tax confirmation to the register
    • Changed IBI payer and re-formulated communal contracts

    Where: Registro de la Propiedad at siteDuration: See the registry pageValue: arancel register on the State tariff

    When help is needed: the registry has issued comments (nota de calificación) and refused to record.

15. Pay your owner's taxes and remember your sales taxes.

    Every year, IBI comes in. A non-resident who does not rent an apartment announces a conditional income at modulo 210:1.1 or 2% of the cadastral value, a 24% or 19% rate for EU and EEA residents. The resident reflects an apartment in Renta. When sold, the seller pays plusvalía mobilipial in Ajuntation and a profit tax.

    • IBI's on auto-writing.
    • Non-resident: modulo 210 for 2026
    • I've determined tax residence (Resident or non-resident)

    Where: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Agencia TributariaDuration: IBI Ajuntament, Modelo 210 annuallyValue: at cadastral value

    When you need help, you rent an apartment, change your tax residence or sell it. modelo 210 and IBI and plusvalía.