Technical article

Spain: What a Foreign Buyer Owns, What It Costs Each Year, and What the Heirs Pay

A buyer from outside the EU, and a Spanish company with more than half foreign capital, needs military authorisation to buy in restricted zones.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Imagine a widow in Texas who owns a flat in Spain. She has two sons, one in Mexico and one in the US. When she dies, what do the sons own, and what do they pay? The answer starts with what she holds.

What a foreign buyer owns

A foreigner can hold full ownership of a Spanish home, with no residence needed. The title sits in the Land Registry. The official gazette carries one exception. A buyer from outside the EU, and a Spanish company with more than half foreign capital, needs military authorisation to buy in restricted zones. Those zones cover all the islands, parts of the coast and the borders with France and Portugal. Foreign holdings in a zone may not pass 15% of its surface.

One property-law guide puts the wait for approval at two to four months. A notary's article from 2008 says a contract signed without it is valid but defective. The same 1978 rule, as summarised, says a foreign heir in a restricted zone asks for authorisation within three months or sells within a year.

Two changes are in the news. One property-law guide says Spain ended the golden visa for new property buyers on 3 April 2025, so buying gives no right to live there. A bill filed in May 2025 would put a 100% tax on purchases by people not resident in the EU. It has not been voted on, and the International Bar Association said in July 2025 that it had lost momentum.

What it costs to buy and to hold

What the heirs get and pay

Heirs show their status with the will and a certificate from the Registry of Last Wills, a notary's declaration of heirs, or a European Certificate of Succession. The tax is due within six months. An extension to twelve months has to be asked for before month five.

Spanish law reserves two-thirds of the estate for children, so a parent can choose freely for one third. Catalonia and Galicia reserve one quarter. A spouse takes the use of one third where there are children.

The state tax scale runs from 7.65% to 34%. A non-resident heir pays only on assets in Spain. Regions can change the rates and reliefs, and that matters. The EU's top court ruled in 2014 that non-resident heirs in the EU and its European partner states may use the regional reliefs. The Spanish Supreme Court said the same for heirs in third countries such as the US, in 2018 and on 6 April 2022. A non-resident heir may choose, inside the filing deadline, the rules of the region where the home sits. One secondary site says Madrid gives close family 99% relief. The relief differs from region to region, so the sons' tax could land anywhere on the scale.

If the home is sold

The buyer holds back 3% of the price and pays it to the tax office on the seller's account. The gain is taxed at 19% in one tax summary, and a seller from outside the EU may meet the 24% general non-resident rate, so sources differ. The seller needs a representative in Spain. The town also charges its own tax on the rise in land value, which an inheritance triggers too, according to one guide (tier U).

Trusts and companies

Spain does not recognise foreign trusts and has not joined the Hague Trusts Convention. A trust cannot be entered as owner in the Land Registry. For tax, the assets count as the settlor's in life and the beneficiaries' after death. A company in a jurisdiction the tax office lists as non-cooperating pays 3% of the cadastral value every year just to own Spanish property.