Typical sale-purchase process for buying a property in Spain:

  • Before you start: opening a Spanish bank account and getting an NIE number
  • You must have an account with a Spanish bank.
  1. Opening a “cuenta corriente” a current account in Spain is quite simple. You will need your passport. We can introduce you to a bank with English speaking staff and manager, and help you with mortgages, finance and international money transfer to Spain.
  2. You will have to pay for your Spanish property with a talón conformado de cuenta de no residente a bank cheque drawn on a non-residents’ account, so the bank has to be in Spain.
  3. We recommend you use a bank that has Internet banking. Standing orders will need to be set up for water, electricity, rates and community charges, and using the Internet will make it easy to keep track of your account wherever you are.
  • You must have an NIE number – the foreigners’ fiscal ID number*
  1. Although not actually needed until Stamp Duty is paid (approximately 3 weeks after the sale-purchase), The Notarios now insist that buyers have an NIE number in order to formalise the sale-purchase. An NIE number is also required if you are thinking of buying a car in Spain.