Buying a home in Marbella, or elsewhere on the Costa del Sol, involves Spanish public registries, tax offices, a notary and, for most foreign buyers, a Foreigner Identity Number. This page gathers official and practical sources so you can read the rules at the organisations that publish them.
Find Marbella is a free, buyer-side property search service. We are not an estate agency: we do not own listings and we do not represent sellers. We do not give legal, tax or mortgage advice. The links below go to the authorities and organisations themselves. Procedures, forms and any fees can change, so always check the page you are using and take independent professional advice on your own purchase.
The list is aimed at people buying from abroad — including buyers from the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany — as well as those already living in Andalusia. It covers Marbella's town hall, the regional government of Andalusia, national Spanish registers and practical guides for people who are moving to Spain.
Official Spanish property registers
Two different official registers matter in a Spanish property purchase. They are easy to confuse. The Land Registry records legal rights. The Cadastre records physical and tax information about the same real estate. A careful purchase usually involves both, through a Spanish lawyer.
Spanish Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad)
In Spain, rights in real estate are recorded in the Land Registry, the Registro de la Propiedad. The professional body of land, commercial and movable-property registrars is the Colegio de Registradores de la Propiedad, Mercantiles y Bienes Muebles de España, which publishes its public site at Registradores de España.
The Colegio publishes quick guides for people buying property in Spain, including material aimed at foreign buyers, in its documentation and downloads section. Those guides explain what registration provides and how Land Registry information is used in a purchase.
Buyers and their lawyers commonly request a registry extract, often called a nota simple, to see who is registered as owner and whether charges or other rights are recorded against the property. The registrars also operate an electronic office, the Sede Electrónica of the Colegio de Registradores. How you request an extract, and what it costs, should be confirmed with your lawyer or on that official site at the time you apply. Find Marbella does not obtain registry extracts for you.
Spanish Cadastre (Catastro)
The Cadastre is a separate official inventory of real estate in Spain, maintained for tax and descriptive purposes by the Dirección General del Catastro. It is not a substitute for the Land Registry. The electronic office, the Sede Electrónica del Catastro, is the official starting point for cadastral information, including a property's cadastral reference, location and recorded area.
The cadastral reference is a unique identifier used in Spanish tax and administrative documents. It helps you confirm that the property described in a contract is the same unit recorded in the official inventory. If the cadastral description and the registry description appear to differ, that is a question for your lawyer, not something to resolve from a website summary.
Tax authorities and identification
Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria)
The Agencia Tributaria is Spain's Tax Agency. Its electronic office is the official site for tax procedures, including information that may be relevant if you are assessing whether you are treated as a tax resident in Spain.
The Agency publishes an English-language page on when an individual is considered resident in Spain for tax purposes. Tax residence is a legal question that depends on your circumstances. Buying a holiday home in Marbella does not, by itself, answer it. We do not advise on tax residence, non-resident tax returns, or how a purchase is taxed in your home country. Use the Tax Agency's own pages and an independent tax adviser.
Foreigner Identity Number (NIE) and Spanish consulates
A foreign buyer will normally need a Foreigner Identity Number, the NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero), for the formal, tax and registration stages of a Spanish purchase. An NIE is an identification number. It is not a residence permit and does not, by itself, prove residence or tax residence in Spain. Viewing property does not require an NIE.
Applications are made through the routes described by the Spanish authorities, including in Spain, through an authorised representative, or through the Spanish consular office responsible for the applicant's place of residence. Appointment systems and supporting documents vary by office.
As one official example of consular instructions, the Spanish Consulate General in London publishes a page on the Foreigner Identity Number for applicants in that consular district. Those instructions apply to that district, not automatically to every country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation is the ministry that oversees Spain's consular network; use it to find the consulate that covers your residence.
A fee is typically paid with the official form Modelo 790, Código 012, which is available from the Spanish Police electronic office. Check the current amount and instructions on that page when you apply. For a longer explanation of what an NIE is and is not, see our NIE number guide for property buyers in Marbella.
Regional and local authorities
Junta de Andalucía
Marbella is in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The Junta de Andalucía is the regional government, and its official portal is the starting point for regional administration. Property purchases in Andalusia are subject to regional as well as national rules, including taxes that the Junta administers.
The Junta publishes a page on taxes associated with buying a home and a page on the transfer tax modality known as Transmisiones Patrimoniales Onerosas, or TPO. Which tax applies, and at what rate, depends on the type of property — for example a resale home or a new build — and on the rules in force at the time. We do not state rates here. Read the Junta's pages and confirm the figures with your lawyer or tax adviser for the specific transaction.
Marbella Town Hall (Ayuntamiento de Marbella)
The Ayuntamiento de Marbella is the municipal council. Its official website, marbella.es, is the starting point for municipal information about the town, including citizen services. People who live in Marbella, even for part of the year, may need to deal with the municipality for local registration and other administrative matters. The exact procedure depends on your situation. The Spanish government's Punto de Acceso General also publishes English-language information on registering your residence.
Find Marbella does not handle municipal registration or town-hall appointments. Use the official sites, or a professional who acts for you, for those steps.
Notaries and the formal purchase
In Spain, a property purchase is completed as a public deed, an escritura pública, signed before a notary. The Consejo General del Notariado, the General Council of Spanish Notaries, publishes information on its portal. The Notariado also answers common questions about the private contract often used before completion, the contrato de arras, including whether that contract is compulsory.
If you are considering a mortgage, the Banco de España, Spain's central bank, publishes consumer information on arranging a mortgage. Those pages explain the formal steps from the bank's side. They are not a recommendation of any lender.
Your own independent lawyer should review contracts, explain the deed, and coordinate the notary appointment. Find Marbella does not provide that legal work and does not recommend a particular notary.
Practical guides for people moving to Spain
Official sites answer legal and administrative questions. Some buyers also want practical orientation on living in Spain: everyday matters such as moving, housing and settling in a new country. Those guides do not replace official sources or professional advice.
EasyExpat
EasyExpat.com: Information for Expatriates, Expat Guides is an international relocation portal with country guides and a directory of websites useful to expatriates. It also publishes a guide to living in Spain. The official text link above is the one EasyExpat publishes for sites that add a reciprocal link.
We include EasyExpat because it is a practical English-language starting point for people relocating, not because it is a Spanish public authority. For legal, tax or immigration questions, go back to the official sources in the sections above, or to a qualified professional.
How to use this page
Treat every link as a starting point, not as a complete procedure. Forms, appointment systems and fees change. The office that handles your case — a land registry, a tax office, a consulate or Marbella's town hall — is the one whose current instructions you should follow.
This page is not legal, tax or mortgage advice, and it is not a substitute for a Spanish lawyer or tax adviser. Find Marbella is not an estate agency and does not complete purchases, file tax returns, apply for an NIE, or register you with the municipality.
If you would like a longer walk-through of the purchase itself, read how to buy property in Spain as a foreigner. If you are planning a move, see relocating to Marbella. If you want help finding a property, you can send a free brief below and we will search on your behalf. You can also read how our buyer-side property search works.
How Find Marbella can help
Tell us the area, property type, budget and timeline. We take that brief to the estate agencies and developers we work with, including properties shared privately when they are available, and we reply within 24 hours with a shortlist and a short note on why each option is on it. We only introduce you to an agent when you say yes. The service is free for buyers; if a purchase completes after an introduction, the holding agency pays us a referral fee from its commission. Nothing is added to the property price.
We do not give legal, tax or mortgage advice, and we do not promise a specific property or an off-market match. For those questions, use the official resources on this page and independent professionals.