Buying Property in Costa Blanca in 2026: The Complete Process, Explained by Local Lawyers

This guide covers the full process of buying a home on the Costa Blanca in 2026 — before, during and after the purchase — the way our firm actually runs it, file by file, at notaries across the province of Alicante for the last 35 years. The legal process is Spanish national law, so most of it applies anywhere in Spain; the tax figures and the risks below are the ones that matter here, on this coast. It stands entirely on its own; if you prefer to watch, the same ground is covered in our 1h23 video guide, embedded below with clickable chapters.

Key facts — updated 19 August 2026

• Total buying costs: budget roughly 10–14% on top of the purchase price.

• Comunitat Valenciana (Costa Blanca): ITP 9% on resales since 1 June 2026, or 11% on the entire value where the property is worth more than €1M. AJD 1.4%, VAT 10% on new builds.
• Buying from a non-resident seller: the buyer must withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the tax office (Modelo 211).
• Average time from reservation to keys: 2–3 months.

• Golden Visa abolished on 3 April 2025 — buying property no longer grants residency.
• Non-resident owners file an annual tax return (Modelo 210) — one per owner, per property, even with no rental income.

What buying on the Costa Blanca really costs

In Spain, the price of the property is not the final cost. Depending on where you buy and whether it's a new build or a resale, expect to add roughly 10–14% on top of the purchase price in taxes and fees.

For a resale property, the main tax is the ITP (transfer tax), and it varies by region — broadly between 6% and 11% across Spain.

Here on the Costa Blanca, the figure changed recently, and most guides haven't caught up:

Comunitat Valenciana (Alicante, Valencia, Castellón) — rates in force since 1 June 2026:

So a €500,000 resale in Alicante province means €45,000 of ITP. A €500,000 new build means €50,000 of VAT plus €7,000 of AJD. (You'll still find "10%" and "1.5%" quoted almost everywhere online — those rates were cut on 1 June 2026 by regional Law 5/2025; the figures above are the ones in force.)

On top of taxes: notary fees, land registry fees, and legal fees. And one rule of thumb worth engraving somewhere: if you can't hold the property for at least five years, think twice — appreciation rarely outruns the round-trip costs faster than that.

Before you even view: the three things to set up

1. NIE — the foreigner's identification number. Nothing happens in Spain without it: not the purchase, not the taxes, not the utilities.
2. Power of attorney — if you're buying remotely, it lets your lawyer sign, pay taxes and register the property without you flying in for every step.
3. A Spanish bank account — not always mandatory, but in real life it makes everything easier, from the banker's draft to the utility direct debits.

One more thing most couples never consider: your marital regime matters. In Spain it is not automatic that a married couple buys 50/50 — how you hold the property affects taxes and inheritance later. Raise it with your lawyer before the deed is drafted, not after.

Mortgages for non-residents

Yes, non-residents can get Spanish mortgages. Banks are simply more conservative with you: expect to contribute around 30–40% of the price from your own funds, and expect slightly higher rates than residents get. You'll be offered fixed, variable (Euribor-linked) or mixed rates — our advice is blunt: compare several banks, and if a developer offers you to take over their loan (subrogation), check it against your own offer before accepting. Also remember Spanish mortgages carry their own set-up costs. A mortgage deed attracts AJD as well, but under Spanish law the lender is the taxpayer for that stamp duty, so it is not a line in your budget: on your side the usual cost is the bank valuation.

Researching the area and sanity-checking the price

Your goal decides what "good" means: living, long-term rental, or short-term rental — and if it's short-term, legality is the first filter, before any occupancy spreadsheet.

Then check the price twice:

• Idealista shows asking prices, not final prices. Use it for inventory, price ranges and the price-history tool — a listing that keeps dropping is telling you something.
• The notaries' statistics portal shows real completed sales: average €/m², typical purchase price, number of transactions — actual deals signed at the notary, not wishful listings.

And a warning from experience: in coastal hotspots like the Costa Blanca, a specific house can legitimately cost 20–30% above the area average — scarcity of quality stock is real here. Data frames the question; it doesn't answer it alone.

Physical due diligence: what to check before you fall in love

The energy certificate is a starting point, not a survey — a decent rating can still hide damp, poor soundproofing or rushed workmanship. From our checklist:

• Damp: shine your phone torch along the wall at an angle — side light reveals the patches fresh paint hides.
• Cracks: hairlines in old plaster are normal; stair-shaped cracks, cracks at window corners, doors that don't close — those suggest movement.
• Utilities: ask for the electrical certificate (boletín / CIE). If the installation is old and uncertified, the utility company can refuse to put the contract in your name until you upgrade the whole thing.
• Country houses: ask two questions early — where does the water come from, and where does the wastewater go? Replacing a septic tank can run €7,000–15,000.
• Boilers: as we like to say in the office: boilers do not die on a convenient day — they die the week you arrive.

Buying an apartment? You're buying a share of the building. Three Spanish words to learn: ITE (the building's technical inspection — failed inspections mean mandatory works), derrama (a one-off levy on all owners for major repairs), and actas (the community minutes — where you find the real story: approved works, leaks, disputes, non-payers). Imagine discovering after completion that the community approved a façade repair and your share is massive. That's what the actas would have told you.

Legal due diligence: what your lawyer actually checks

A handful of documents decide whether a Spanish property is safe to buy. This is our daily work. The documents, in order:

• Nota simple (land registry extract): who really owns it, and what's registered against it — mortgages, embargoes, usufructs. Sometimes the seller isn't yet the registered owner (typically after an inheritance), and sometimes someone else holds a lifetime right to live in the house you're about to buy. And crucially: the nota simple doesn't tell the whole story — several of the worst risks never appear in it.
• The previous deed: does the price include the parking space, the storage room, the share of the communal garden? What are the exact boundaries?
• Catastro + the latest IBI receipt: the tax-side description of the property. Where the registry, the catastro and what is physically there do not agree, the gap can affect the valuation, the mortgage and any future sale, so it is worth resolving before completion rather than after.
• Ficha urbanística: what can and cannot be built — on your plot and on the ones around you.

New builds: the memoria de calidades is legally binding — check it line by line, not at a glance. Ask for the valid first-occupation title for that property, which in the Valencian Community may be a first occupation licence or a declaración responsable de primera ocupación depending on the case (a house can be physically finished and still not legally habitable without one), the building book, and the 10-year structural insurance (seguro decenal).

Off-plan: the only question that matters is where is my money and how is it protected? Spanish law requires stage payments to go into a dedicated project account, covered by a bank guarantee or insurance policy. Payments to a private account — or abroad — are a red flag we have rejected in real deals. Structure payments around objective milestones (building licence granted: yes or no), never around optimism.

Community apartments: before you sign anything, get the certificado de deuda cero — unpaid community fees can follow the property to its new owner. And if your plan is short-term rental: since April 2025, communities can restrict it, and you'll generally need their explicit authorisation — a property "with a tourist licence" does not automatically transfer that business to you.

The real risks nobody warns you about

Seven, from thirty-five years of files:

1. Under-declaring the price. The old game of paying part "off the record" now collides with the reference value system: the tax office assigns each property its own taxable value, and where that figure is higher than the price you agreed, transfer tax is normally calculated on it rather than on the price. Declare the tax on a lower base than the law requires and the tax office can claim the difference, with interest and, where it applies, a penalty — plus a bigger capital gains bill when you sell. Not worth it, ever.
2. Buying from a non-resident seller: the 3% is YOUR obligation. If the seller is non-resident, the buyer must withhold 3% of the price and pay it to the tax office (form Modelo 211) on the seller's behalf. If you don't, the tax office comes after you — and good luck recovering it from a seller back in their home country. On this coast, where half the sellers are non-resident, this is survival information.
3. "Paid" is not "cancelled". A mortgage repaid but not formally cancelled at the registry is still legally attached to the property. Same for embargoes and court annotations.
4. Planning, coastal law and hidden restrictions. The pool that was never legalised; the extension that can't be regularised because of the land classification; and the Ley de Costas — in Las Rotes (Dénia), a redrawn coastal line currently affects first-line properties and decades-old businesses, with values suffering while the litigation drags on. Near the sea, this is not a minor check.
5. Flood risk. Some beautiful houses sit next to a dry riverbed that is not dry when it matters. After the Valencia DANA, no serious buyer skips this check.
6. Easements (servidumbres). A right of way, shared access, buried utility lines — you think you bought full privacy and discover a neighbour legally crosses your land.
7. Occupants. A valid tenant, an informal occupant, a squatter — Spanish evictions take months or years. Our rule: confirm in the contracts and in the deed that the property is delivered vacant, and never accept "sign now, keys later". When you sign at the notary, you're getting the keys.

Contracts: reservation → arras → private purchase contract

• Reservation contract (€2,000–10,000): takes the property off the market. Get one clause in before you sign: the deposit is fully refunded if due diligence uncovers charges, planning issues or serious legal problems. Drafted well, the reservation is your safety net — because no property is 100% perfect.
• Arras (deposit contract): the serious one, typically 10%. With arras penitenciales, if you walk away you lose the deposit; if the seller walks away, they pay you double. And a market reality worth knowing: in a rising market like the Costa Blanca, sellers do sometimes pay double to walk — the arras protect both sides, not just you.
• Private purchase contract: optional in theory, standard in our practice. Completion date, payment breakdown, inventory, utilities, delivery conditions, tax responsibilities. Most disputes don't happen because someone had bad intentions — they happen because something wasn't clearly written.

Completion day at the notary, from the inside

How it actually goes: the notary's office is packed; you wait; you're handed the borrador (draft deed) to read; you sign; the balance is paid — usually by bank transfer or banker's draft — and you get the keys. Cash is capped (and above all: don't — it complicates anti-money-laundering checks and can delay registration).

Expect questions about where your funds come from. That's not curiosity — it's mandatory AML compliance under Spanish and EU law. Every euro must be traceable.

And for buyers who ask about escrow: the exact figure doesn't exist in Spain, but the notarial deposit (depósito notarial) is the closest and safest equivalent — the notary holds the funds and releases them only when the deed's conditions are met. Not every notary offers it; we work with the ones who do.

The real secret of completion day is that it should be boring. All the checking, all the numbers, all the arguments — that happens the week before. At the notary you're confirming, not discovering.

After completion: the steps people forget

Day one: change the locks, and photograph the electricity, water and gas meters. Then, in the first weeks:

• Pay the purchase taxes within 30 days — miss it and there's a penalty, entirely avoidable.
• Register the deed at the land registry.
• Transfer the utilities into your name (in our conveyancing service, this is included — the job isn't finished at the notary).
• Make a Spanish will. Not obligatory; strongly recommended — it makes life radically easier for your heirs.
• Empadronamiento if you're moving here permanently — and note it is not the same thing as becoming tax resident.

The annual cost of ownership: as an order of magnitude, a €1M property in Alicante might mean roughly €1,500–2,500 of IBI per year, plus a rubbish collection fee (typically €100–200, rising in some towns — check before you buy), insurance and maintenance. Spain also has a wealth tax on assets, with large regional exemptions — whether it touches you depends on your residence status and numbers, so ask before assuming either way.

And if you remain non-resident: your property files a tax return every year. Even with no rental income, non-resident owners declare deemed income annually (form Modelo 210) — one return per owner, per property. It's the single most-missed obligation among foreign owners, and exactly what our Modelo 210 service exists for.

How long does it all take?

A realistic map: weeks 1–2 budget, NIE and setup · weeks 3–6 search, viewings, offer and reservation · weeks 4–8 legal due diligence and contracts · weeks 8–12 funds, final checks and the notary · first 30 days after taxes, registration, handover. Clean deals with motivated parties can close faster; embargoes or inheritance tangles can stretch it to six months. A fair average: two to three months.

About the author. Written by Daniel Bertomeu Quiles, Spanish lawyer & tax adviser (AEDAF no. 06838) at Expat Abogados — a family law firm in Moraira and Dénia working exclusively with non-resident buyers and owners since 1991 — together with his father Juan Bertomeu, lawyer (Alicante Bar, ICALI no. 4643), who has signed conveyancing files at Costa Blanca notaries for 35 years. This guide reflects how the firm actually runs purchases, file by file.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice for your specific case. Rates and rules change — the figures above are those in force on 19 August 2026 for the Comunitat Valenciana. For advice on your purchase, contact us.