For a non-resident buyer, purchasing a residence in Marbella takes between eight and twelve weeks from first showing to public deed. The process is well-established, professionally supported, and — assuming a clean title and the right legal counsel — predictable.
This guide describes the path as it stands in May 2026, including the changes following the abolition of the Golden Visa programme in April 2025.
Step 1 — NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero)
Every property purchase in Spain by a non-Spanish person requires an NIE — the Spanish foreigner identification number. It is the tax identifier used in the public deed, the IBI council-tax registration, the utility contracts, and the bank account.
There are two routes to obtain it: through the Spanish consulate in your country of residence (typical lead time 4–8 weeks) or through a Spanish lawyer holding power of attorney on your behalf (typical lead time 2–4 weeks). The lawyer route is faster but adds a power-of-attorney notarial step.
Step 2 — Spanish bank account
A Spanish bank account is required to pay the deposit, the deed-day funds, and the ongoing IBI / community / utility costs. Major Spanish private banks — Banca March, Bankinter Private, CaixaBank Premier — accept non-resident accounts on the strength of a passport and the NIE; some additionally request a source-of-funds reference letter from your existing private bank.
For Northern European buyers, our preference is to introduce to a private banking relationship from the outset rather than open a retail account that is then upgraded. The legal cost is the same; the operational ease over the next decade is meaningfully higher.
Step 3 — Reservation contract
Once a residence has been identified, the buyer signs a reservation contract and deposits between €6,000 and €10,000 (the lower end for residences below €5M, the higher end above). The deposit is refundable during a working window of typically 10 days for due diligence.
The reservation locks the residence — the seller cannot show it to other buyers — and triggers the legal due diligence phase.
Step 4 — Due diligence
The buyer-side lawyer obtains the Nota Simple (Land Registry extract) confirming title, mortgage status, and any encumbrances. Planning consent is verified against the residence as-built. Outstanding community fees, IBI debts and water/electricity arrears are confirmed and resolved at the deed.
For new-build, additional checks confirm the developer's bank guarantee on the deposit (mandatory under Spanish law since 1968) and the licence of first occupation.
Roughly 5% of due diligence reviews surface an issue meaningful enough to renegotiate or withdraw. The most common are unregistered extensions (a pool house, a garage), outstanding IBI from a deceased prior owner, and minor boundary discrepancies with the Land Registry plan.
Step 5 — Private purchase contract (Contrato Privado)
On clean due diligence, the buyer and seller sign the private purchase contract. The standard deposit at this stage is 10% of the purchase price, paid by bank transfer and non-refundable thereafter (unless the seller breaches, in which case the buyer is entitled to 20% — double indemnity).
From the private contract to the public deed is typically 30–60 days. The buyer's lawyer arranges the deed appointment with a Spanish notary and the seller's lawyer coordinates the cancellation of any existing mortgage on the residence.
Step 6 — Public deed (Escritura Pública)
On deed day, the parties (or their lawyers under power of attorney) appear before a notary. The notary reads the deed aloud, verifies the parties' identity and signatures, and witnesses the transfer of funds and keys.
The deed is then submitted electronically to the Land Registry the same afternoon. Provisional registration occurs within 24 hours; final registration is typically 10–15 working days.
Costs
On a €5M resale residence in Andalusia, the total transaction costs to the buyer are approximately:
— ITP (transfer tax) at 7%: €350,000
— Notary + Land Registry: approximately €5,000
— Lawyer (1% of price, capped): approximately €25,000
— Bank account setup, NIE coordination: €1,500
— Total approximately €381,500, or 7.6% of the residence price. The headline 10–12% figure applies more accurately to lower-price-band purchases where the fixed elements (notary, registry, lawyer minimums) are a larger proportion of the price.
For new-build instead of ITP, the buyer pays IVA at 10% plus AJD stamp duty at 1.2% — total tax 11.2%, materially higher than the 7% resale rate.
After Purchase — IBI, Community, Patrimonio
IBI (council property tax) runs at 0.4–1.1% of the cadastral value annually. The cadastral value is generally 30–60% of the market price, so the effective IBI on a €5M residence is typically €4,000–€12,000 per year.
Patrimonio (wealth tax) was abolished by Andalusia in 2022 at the autonomous level. The national solidarity tax may apply above €3M of net worth, but the régime is materially more favourable than Madrid, Catalonia, or Valencia.
Andalusia also offers a 99% reduction on inheritance and gift tax for direct relatives. For a luxury buyer planning intergenerational ownership, this is a defining advantage of the autonomous community.
Common Errors
Three errors recur. The first is buying off a public listing without verifying that the listed price reflects what the seller is actually accepting — in the upper register, public asks are frequently 10–15% above transacted prices, especially when residences have been listed longer than 90 days.
The second is engaging only one lawyer (frequently a friend of the seller, frequently recommended by the seller-side agency). The buyer-side lawyer should be independent of all seller relationships.
The third is failing to consider the Beckham Law before becoming a Spanish tax resident. For employed buyers moving to Spain, the Beckham Law offers a 24% flat tax on Spanish-source income for the first six years — a régime that is materially more favourable than the standard progressive rates that reach 47% above €300,000.
Spain abolished the Golden Visa on 3 April 2025. Residence by property investment is no longer possible. Non-resident buyers can purchase without restriction, but residence requires one of the four active routes: Non-Lucrative Visa, Digital Nomad Visa, Beckham Law (for employees), or the Entrepreneur Visa.
The desk works alongside Garrigues, Cuatrecasas, Pérez-Llorca, Uría Menéndez and DLA Piper Spain for legal counsel; Banca March, Coutts and Lombard Odier on banking; and the relevant notarial offices in Marbella town and San Pedro de Alcántara. Introductions are made because we have used them on behalf of principals since 2018.