It is most important to be aware of the Spanish legal requirements and taxation issues involved when buying or selling property in Spain. It is therefore highly recommended to take professional advice and involve a solicitor and an accountant.

Some of the major points are summarised below, they are by all means not comprehensive and cover only some of the complex legal issues:

• Make sure that the details about the property are correct. The local land registrar will provide you with this information. You will need to involve a notary. Do not rely on the ecritura provided by the seller. All details have to correspond exactly with those in the sales contract, i.e. the plot size, the part of it that can be built on etc.
  
  The Town Hall will provide you with the “clasificacion urbanistica”, the local development plan, outlining all necessary details. The seller must give you a copy of this publicly available document before you sign any pre-sales contract (contracto compra venta). Again, we strongly advice you to involve a solicitor.

• The land registrar will also tell you whether any outstanding tax or mortgage payments are owed and will be due. Any outstanding debts are always the responsibility of the owner of the property, i.e. once you have bought the property you have to pay any outstanding debts. A sales tax is payable once the contract is signed.

• The Spanish property laws vary considerably from those in the UK. We will give you competent and reliable information before you enter into any contract and make your final decision to purchase. We will happily answer any questions you may have.
  
  
• The Spanish property laws vary considerably from those in the UK. We will give you competent and reliable information before you enter into any contract and make your final decision to purchase. We will happily answer any questions you may have
  
  

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