Guide to Buying Property In Spain for Foreigners

Oscar is a very knowledgeable and professional lawyer. He always responded promptly and patiently to my many questions. I can easily say that without him as my lawyer, I wouldn’t have been able to purchase my flat, so I am extremely happy that he took on my case and I’m very grateful to him.

The process of buying a flat turned out to be very complicated due to various reasons, and we encountered problems at every stage of the procedure. However, Oscar went out of his way and proactively resolved every single issue along the way. He kept me fully informed and was fully open and honest with me, without sugarcoating any issues - something I truly appreciated. Thanks to his professional and kind attitude, and consequently my trust in him, I even managed to stay relatively calm despite all the setbacks.

I would definitely go back to him if I ever needed any legal help and would highly recommend him to others, without any doubt!

All was perfect!

Francisca has always been very helpful and professional and has gone out of her way to assist me. All very good!

The service was excellent. From the first contact all the way through the purchase of the property. It was great to have the advice and support when buying a property abroad.

Rafael was always available to help and assist me, even if it was a case of me worrying! Which I really appreciated because the process was stressful at times and involved lots of preparation.

Rafael made sure I knew exactly what I had to do. He replied and responded quickly to my messages/calls/emails. He was very knowledgeable and highly organised with a vast experience. He made me feel confident. I will always recommend him. I praise his work highly.

I had a direct phone call from Consuelo , within 24 hours of my first email contact . Was very clear and explained the next stages really well over the telephone.

The continued emails , were consistent and very helpful . Consuelo dealt with all the stages with a efficient process , that has made the application for the Tourist Licence for my property in Spain very easy. Her persistence with getting the Guardia Civil to issue passwords was impressive , for me to upload information to them as required by law in Spain.

Thank you Regards Brenda Killigrew

I thought Rosa was first class. Always helpful, always knowledgeable, and got the job done. I would highly recommend her.

Also very nice to work with, easy to talk to with a great attitude.

Rosa speaks perfect English. She always responded very quickly addressing the issues raised. She explained how the sale of our holiday home in Majorca would progress and was extremely professional.

During my career I have worked alongside many well known and respected UK law firms. Rosa was their equal.

She made the whole process seamless and stress free. She was a credit to your organisation. I rate her exceptional.

Raffaele got in touch very fast, listened carefully and was very supportive of the matter. Thank you !

Raffaele was extremely helpful and nothing was too much trouble. He is also very friendly and his manner puts you at ease straight away. Yes I would use him again and in fact my sister uses his legal services as well.

If you need a lawyer who speaks fluent English and Spanish (and Italian) and works on your legal matters professionally and without delay, then I strongly recommend contacting Raffaele.

Prompt Response, Full Understanding of what was Required and Possible Problems, Provision of Absolute Value for Money.

Total Ability to Explain What is Required, Identification of Challenges and Application of Relevant Solutions,

Meeting in Person Was Not a Problem, Highly Professional - Absolutely Life Changing Experience! Sincere Thanks to Oliver and Family from Kuznecovs Family!!!

I both purchased and sold a property in Spain utilising Francisca's services in both instances. I felt it was essential to use a lawyer as I am from the UK and this was my first experience of buying and selling in Spain and the system, process and tax requirements are very different and I wanted someone experienced and professional to oversee everything and 'hold my hand' through the process.

It seems that most Spaniards do not utilise a lawyer or use an independent property surveyor and the inmobiliaria/estate agent does a huge amount of additional work compared to what they do back home. This combined with the arras (deposit of thousands of Euros paid directly to the seller to 'secure' the property and take it off the market) made me nervous as it was so different to what I was used to in the UK - in some ways it's a lot better system.

Like most reading this review, I did a huge amount of internet research when looking for property to buy in Spain and from experience have found that there are many companies set up by Brits and other non-Spaniards that are looking to take advantage of first time buyers from their native countries by putting up flashy websites and charging exorbitant fees - without exception I found that the Spanish inmobiliaria/estate agent, lawyers, etc. were far more professional, hard working and able to get things done at a fair price. The challenge is, if like me, your Spanish language skills are poor to non-existent - my advice to you is to get used to using both Google Translate and WhatsApp on your mobile phone with a data package that works in Spain as these came to my rescue on multiple occasions and are invaluable.

Francisca's services through both the buying and selling process of my property were exemplary and professional at all times, her fees fair, her communication swift and her level of integrity beyond doubt. Some of Francisca's greatest non-lawyer strengths are her ability to empathise with a non-Spaniard buying property for the fist time in Spain, communicate the system clearly, set the necessary appointments / provide clear directions and generally 'hold your hand' through the process and sooth your nerves when necessary.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Francisca to anyone requiring the legal services (not just buying/selling property) of a lawyer in Spain and will certainly approach her again should I need such services again. It is rare to find a professional of this level of integrity in any industry or country.

We need more clones of Francisca across Spain! :-). From my experience, her services and professionalism cannot be improved upon.

Very relaxed and not uptight. All very good.

Confident, articulate, concise & polite. I've used eleven 'abogados' to date, all pale behind Jose. One case I had lasted 12 years ! So I do believe that I know a little concerning the lugubrious trade today. The Best Rise to the Surface.

I'm happy, Thank you.

Buying a house in Spain was a daunting prospect but we had found the place and just needed to go for it!

After a quick Google search for English speaking solicitors, I contacted Advocate Abroad, after speaking to someone for less than a minute I was told I would be contacted by their solicitor, Consuelo within the next couple of hours.

My phone rang within minutes, it was Consuelo and she explained all I needed to know about the legal requirements prior to making a purchase and after an offer is accepted. She explained the differences between a private purchase and a company purchase, and gave us enough information in that initial phone call to put our minds at ease and helped us understand the Spanish house buying processes.

Consuelo then went on to arrange our NIE numbers, make an appointment with the notary, dealt with the estate agents, acted as attorney with our bank, and completed most of the legal requirements within a three week period just before lockdown hit. Over the lockdown period Consuelo sorted out electric, water and taxes and explained everything clearly and precisely over email and WhatsApp. Once Spain relaxed it’s measures, Consuelo was quick to finalise everything, even met our Spanish friends to hand over keys and sent photos!

The service provided is incomparable with our British conveyancing lawyers, (we truly did get a clearly explained, personal service at an excellent price!) and although everything after our offer had to be dealt with remotely with us back in England, there was no doubt we were being looked after fully and competently.

I would not hesitate to recommend Advocate Abroad and I would certainly recommend you ask for the fantastic services from Consuelo!

Francisco is a true professional; super efficient and completely fluent in English. He helped me with a difficult legal matter and took all the stress out the situation as well as providing a pragmatic path to resolution...precisely what you need from a lawyer/abogado.

The service I received from Francisco was first class. I cannot think of any areas that could have been improved.

Francisca did a great job helping us with buying our new property. The price is absolute right. I can fully recommend her!

We couldn't have asked for anyone better than Consuelo in helping us buy our apartment in La Manga. She guided us through the process either by email or phone and made sure that we fully understood everything. This of course gave us complete peace of mind.

Consuelo is an extremely professional person but also very personable. We even had lock down to contend with but Consuelo always kept us updated. Excellent service!!

Consuelo went above and beyond expectations. We could not get to Spain to view the property we liked due to the COVID-19 travel ban so Consuelo viewed it on our behalf and sent videos.

She went through the whole buying process on our behalf. Communication throughout was excellent. Consuelo kept us informed of every step and sent copies of all documentation. Considering the amount of work she did under very difficult circumstances the fee was very reasonable.

Very attentive, fast response, professional and good results.

We are very happy with our meeting with Oscar, very understanding and professional, and had smart solutions.

Raffaele was responsive, understanding and polite.

He provided excellent value for money, explaining and providing appropriate solutions in a professional manner all the while ensuring technicalities and possible outcomes were understood.

Inma was extremely helpful: she responded promptly and kept us up dated during our case every day. She possesses great negotiation skills that led to success in our case. Great value for money for complicated issue. Inma also made us clear about Spanish legislations and law that was helpful.

Approachable and highly professional. Can't express enough our gratitude. We will definitely recommend Inma.

Great service.

Miguel provided a faultless service throughout the purchase of our property in Oviedo.

Always responsive, providing excellent advice and guidance and prepared to go above and beyond to help us on numerous occasions. I could not recommend him highly enough.

We were very have happy with the level of service provided by Miguel, he went above and beyond to make sure that everything was understood by us and clear.

Using him made us realise that buying aboard was not straight forward and with his help opened doors which we would have struggled with. He was always available to us day and night ( even at weekends) and would respond to any question with either the answer or information of how to get it. He kept us informed at each and ever stage of our purchase. He was a real gentleman and we were very proud and honoured to have met such a lovely man.

He is a great example of how a person in his position should operate with his clients and we can not thank him enough.

Francisca is a highly professional and friendly lawyer based just outside of Valencia city that helped my wife and I purchase our property.

Her English is excellent and her ability to communicate the Spanish legal requirements for a foreigner to purchase property in a clear and concise way is exceptional.

I would have no hesitation in approaching her for other legal services myself and would recommend her to anyone.

Jose was Professional and very prompt to respond, good value for money and is approachable.

Our experience in using Rosa has been flawless. She has been incredibly responsive and helpful from day one.

We couldn't be more happy with her service and we look forward to many more years of help and support!

Having been in Barcelona for only six months, we ran into a problem with a local landlord and needed swift legal advice. I duly searched the internet and decided to plump for Advocate Abroad where upon I spoke to Oscar. Look no further. He was immediately courteous, polite, very understanding, and extremely professional. Above all, he was patient, listened precisely to what I had to say before he gave me his professional opinion of where I stood from a legal point of view. His command of the English language was faultless to the point where I felt that I could have been speaking to a native English speaker.

As to the subject matter, within a 30 minute phone call I understood exactly where I stood from a Spanish legal point of view, acted accordingly, and the problem was successfully dealt with. And probably the nicest touch of all, once once the matter was resolved having followed his advice, and with no further advantage to either himself or Advocate Abroad, he had the courtesy and kindness to ring me personally to see how I had gone on.

Thank you Oscar. Outstanding (not a word I use often) !!!

Juan was very professional at all times and he help us with everything. He even went to pick me up from the airport do we didn't missed our appointment with the notaire.

Juan was in contact with us constantly through face to face and wsup. I have no doubt we will use him again.

My transaction sometimes wasn’t the easiest but José went out of his way to deal with any difficulties and always explained things clearly and concisely. He was proactive and always kept me in touch with how matters were proceeding.

Inmaculada was very professional, very helpful and approachable , easy to communicate , pleasant,and her English is fluent.

Francisco was recommended to me by friends in Spain after they had a very positive experience with him. He was an excellent contact for me while I was in the process of buying a house in Spain.

It was an overwhelming experience buying from Canada, particularly because of the language barrier and the time difference, but Francisco did a fantastic job of explaining to me everything about the forms, taxes and the local processes.

He was helpful, friendly and informative. When I arrived in Spain to complete the purchase, I felt much more confident knowing that I had his advice and assistance, he even offered to help me fix a problem with my bank accounts when I didn't understand what was happening (language).

I would have no hesitation using his services again and highly recommend him to anyone in need of his assistance. I was 100% happy.

Inma was extremely good at reassuring me with my anxieties regarding buying a property abroad. From the first point of contact I felt she was very trustworthy and this continued all the way to point of signing and beyond.

I sent her so many emails with all my questions and she answered each one in good time and professionally. She was always on the end of the phone if I needed her and her English and patience was excellent! I would highly recommend this lawyer. We found her independently through Advocate Abroad and will absolutely use her services again!

Great communication with Rosa and good advice around what can be a potentially complicated property market on Mallorca.

I had no idea about the importance of a cedula de habitabilidad and how difficult it can be getting water and electricity connected with out one.

Our experience of estate agents on the island is not great but thankfully Rosa has kept us right through out our property search and in obtaining our NIE numbers. We are very grateful for her help.

Oscar helped us through the process of buying our family home in Alella Barcelona. He advised and informed as well as reviewing the contracts and doing checks on liabilities, registrations etc.

We are very happy with Oscars work. Easy to communicate with, available for questions and not shy to give you his opinion. Was a pleasure to work with you and we will make sure to stay in touch for any future legal advice we may need.

Thank you, Ramon was most informative , very clear and offered great advice.

We hope to be back in touch.

We recently completed a foreign real estate transaction which required us to seek legal counsel here in Spain. Not knowing where to turn we contacted myAdvocate Valencia who put us in touch with our lawyer Inma.

She offered friendly, professional and flexible legal support during our stressful time, all while speaking perfect English, which further helped the situation. We are so glad to have met Inma and would use or recommend her services in the future. Five-stars!

Maria is an extremely competent and professional lawyer, she helped with all aspects of work involved even going above and beyond in her line of duty. I will definitely use her again if I require a lawyer. Brilliant experience.

Rosa is a very likable person, very competent and completely knowledgeable. We will definitely be in touch with her again as and when we need professional help in Mallorca.

The service was first class and would be hard to improve!

Consuelo worked very hard and her fee was more than reasonable.

Alvaro made one phone call on our behalf and sorted out a long standing issue with a rental agency in Fuengirola. Without his help we would have been lost.

Would absolutely recommend him, he understood the issue and dealt with it efficiently.

We were delighted with the level of responsiveness and service Inma provided. Our daughter has been accepted at UCAM to study Dentistry and consequently we were helping her set up life in Murcia.

Inma was most helpful in the flat leasing process in the identification of Agents and in the Tenancy Agreement negotiation and execution after a property had been found. This together with her good general advice about how things work in Murcia and Spain have made the process far easier that would otherwise be the case. Inma was also very helpful in the NIE process.

Bravo and we are delighted to recommend Inma as a first port of call in Murcia !

Best wishes Ashley.

Excellent customer service and good legal advice. Oscar always returns calls and messages promptly, even when he was on holiday! He is polite and patient.

I am very happy with the services provided by Advocate Abroad and especially Oscars work. All at reasonable cost.

Inma was always available to answer any questions we had or obtained the information required. All of questions were answered promptly and anything we didn’t understand was explained.

Inma is very friendly and approachable and we felt confident and assured with her professionalism.

I have recommended to a few friends who now use Rosa. Most profesional which is a rare in Spain. I honestly cannot think of any part of the service I would improve.

Jose's English is excellent and he explained everything to the letter. Absolutely brilliant and will definitely go back to him when we have found a house to buy.

Can't fault anything. In fact he showed us the car registry office and other offices that will be useful to help us settle in his beautiful country. A real gentleman.

Jose has guided and helped our family throughout the whole process of the purchase including the application for the NIE, ordering of the survey, signing of the contract and transfer of the utilities under our checking account.

We highly recommend his legal services for any such real estate transaction.

I would wholly recommend Miguel to anybody contemplating a house purchase in the Asturias area of Spain. His pricing was competitive and adapted to my particular requirements.

He consulted with other professionals (including the council) to help determine the expansion and future building possibilities of the land. He also undertook the necessary checks to establish there was no outstanding debt tied to the property.

Compared to UK solicitors Miguel was very much more approachable and would always respond to my queries and deliver frequent progress reports at any time of the day including weekends.

Given the complexity of the Spanish notary system it is essential you have a local solicitor who knows all the variations associated with the Asturian conveyancing system to guide you towards a successful outcome.

Even though I had a reasonable understanding of Spanish Miguel's excellent written and spoken English proved invaluable at all stages of the conveyancing process in particular the final signing of the deeds. Well done Miguel and many thanks for all your help!

I had an informal, introductory meeting with Miguel and he answered all my questions including providing me with a lot more information and suggestions that I had not thought about. I found him extremely friendly and professional.

I will be using his services next year for my first Spanish Tax return and will then be in a better position to comment on the quality and price of services provided. So far everything has been very good.

Oscar was a great help throughout a difficult process as we bought a house in Barcelona. Despite significant setbacks, he was able to help us find solutions to ensure we finally managed to purchase the property.

Thank you to Oscar for being incredibly professional and for explaining everything in a straightforward way so we understood a process which was foreign to us. I highly recommend him as a lawyer for anyone looking to buy a property in Spain.

Rosa was extremely helpful in assisting me buying a house in Maiorca.

The transaction was not without issues due mainly to spanish bureaucracy and Rosa handled all of them very professionally.

Given language problems and distance from my residence I will never regret having chosen her as my Lawyer in Palma and I have already recommended here services to other prospective buyers.

Miguel was awesome! Super responsive, extended my knowledge and put me totally at ease through the process of buying a house in Galicia.

I felt my interests were put first in the process and protected and would definitely recommend Miguel with full confidence.

I have recommended our lawyer Oliver to many people due to his professionalism and ability to communicate on all levels.

Calls were always returned and questions always answered. Great value for money.

Alvaro quickly got to grip with our issues.

He explained things clearly and we feel that he was good value for money.

I highly recommend Rosa, she is very professional and thorough and her communication was superb throughout.

Her English is also first class. Thank you for all your help.

Very satisfied with the service provided!

It is very difficult to find a good Spanish lawyer and this law firm, has set the standard very high.

I sent them an email and within an hour someone called me and got on my case. Álvaro, was a shark and he got the job done. No waiting, no bs, straight to the point.

As an American EXPAT it is very important not to be manipulated by the Spanish Court system. He showed me some amazing loopholes and now, things are going great!

He really listened to my story (all the details about the issue I had), he was always clear about his strategy and never sugarcoated the possible outcome.

I appreciated the fact he was very down-to-earth and presented me with truth about the situation, without trying to give me false hopes.

Always professional I would totally recommend his service.

Francisca was extremely professional, great communication throughout the purchasing process.

Phoned or emailed me to keep me updated and worked to a good timescale for completion. Prepared well for the notary and simplified the answers on any questions or issues that occurred.

I would highly recommend Francisca for anyone from the U.K wishing to purchase property in Spain.

She takes away any stress or fear that can happen from entering the unknown legal practice in Spain. I would definitely use Francisca again for legal service, on any future issue or purchasing of property.

She provided good value for service and would be a future person to go to, for any expat in the Spanish community.

Jose was extremely helpful - I would definitely recommend him to friends.

I could not recommend Consuelo highly enough to choose as a lawyer. She went above and beyond what was required when working for me.

She is reliable, professional and kept me informed of the progress of my case and what she was doing at all times.

Consuelo has an ethical outlook and a strong sense of what is right. She was unfazed when others tried to block her efforts to help me and was always reassuring that we would get there.

Her spoken and written English is excellent so she can work with both English and Spanish (she did for me). Thank you Consuelo!

Jose is one of the most professional and reliable people I have ever had the pleasure to deal with. He is fully versed in the law and gives excellent advice. His services are excellent value for money.

I have no hesitation in recommending Jose and will definitely be using his services again

My lawyer was very supportive, interested in my needs, able to clarify my situation and explain the process and the various options open to me.

I always felt relieved after each consultation. I will definitely use Inma’s services again

Francisco advised and managed our recent property purchase in Fuengirola with such friendly professionalism that the whole process was effortless, smooth and completely stress-free!

Francisco was great at responding to our many questions, quickly addressing any concerns we had and resolving issues judiciously. His advice and guidance has been invaluable and the service provided, from start to completion, has been excellent and great value for money. We are more than happy to recommend Francisco to friends, family and all. Paul & Kirstin, Scotland.

First class in all aspects.

Alvaro was professional, approachable, and very responsive while supporting me with the formal and legal processes in assisting me purchasing my new home in Spain.

He was consistent in all communication and very informative.

To improve the service I would suggest to provide a formal summary document of all legal services and formality checks carried out on the property purchase process, (as done in the UK) as a final overall document given to the client.

He always responded promptly to any enquiries and really took time to explain things I wasnt sure about

Consuelo was extremely helpful, she couldn't have done more. I would definitely recommend her to friends.

Alvaro was transparent throughout the process and instilled a confidence in me that he would get the job done, which he duly did!

He was persistent and diligent with his approach, which meant that an issue that i had for 2 years was no longer one.

Regarding the above KPI's of measurement, he was top marks for all of them. I am genuinely satisfied with the service.

Jose was excellent in every way and he will now tend to all our business in Alicante

Rosa spoke English more or less fluently. Very satisfied with the service provided.

This is the second time we have used Jose . Excellent service, Excellent value for money, replied to emails within two hours.

We just told Jose what we wanted and he just got on with it. I can't praise him highly enough. There is no need for improvements.

Rosa is helpful and very easy to get on with. She knows many other people in the Mallorca property and legal sectors and I'd recommend her.

Her English is very good and there were never any language problems on either side.

I did a little bit of research before appointing Rosa to handle our property purchase in Mallorca, but quickly realised I’d made a great decision.

From beginning to end, she was highly communicative, helpful and friendly and I can’t recommend her highly enough.

Francisca provided a perfect service!

She is professional, dedicated and took care to understand the needs of my situation. Her service offers exceptional value for money and gives complete peace of mind.

Very Satisfied with the service provided by Oliver. He was quick, efficient and value for money. Would definitely recommend to friends.

Juan was extremely helpful during every part of the purchase. As I was buying an older property there were slight complications but Juan explained every issue and managed to work through the difficulties with supreme efficiency.

Also there was a ridiculous situation with my Spanish bank account where I could not access the money even though it was in the account. Thankfully I had given Juan power of attorney and he managed to sort-out the problem.

He went above and beyond the call of duty and I am very grateful for all his help. I would strongly recommend him to anyone looking to buy in the Almeria region.

Jose-Antonio was extremely helpful and prompt and also it was helpful that he could be contacted via social media like Whatsapp

We were very satisfied with the service we received. Rosa dealt with the matter in hand promptly and efficiently.

Oscar was very kind, professional and fair. He was able to help me with my problem and he was very determined that he would.

Oscar is very competent, polite and showed a lot of effort to solve my problem. I strongly recommend him.

Very satisfied with the service. Francisco is bilingual English-Spanish and was always quick to respond and was very professional at all times.

Inmaculada has been of excellent service to us, as a family and in helping to set up a business in Spain. She has now undertaking several project for us and has delivered high quality on all of them. Perfect service!

Extremely accommodating and highly professional and very pro active. Excellent result and service. Highly recommended.

My lawyer Alvaro was extremely helpful and very efficient. I would definitely recommend his services to friends.

Rosa dealt with everything efficiently and promptly and went beyond our expectations by helping us to open a Spanish bank account and deal with other minutiae.

A perfect relationship between client and professional. Nothing was too much trouble.

Went over and above his job and more. I would only use his services if I need legal services. I were very lucky to find Jose first time round.

Thank you jose

I'm very pleased with services I received. Buying a house from abroad is not an easy job and thanks to Francisca everything was clear.

She's very efficient and I highly recommend her!

My lawyer Francisca offered value for money and was very helpful. Will use her again.

Alvaro assisted me during my experience at advocate abroad, and he was so kind. He answered any questions I had, and made me feel completely at ease.

I knew I was in the hands of a professional. He could not have done more to help me.

Francisca was extremely helpful. She made the whole process easy to understand. I would definitely recommend her service to friends.

From our very first contact through to the end of our purchase, Rosa surpassed all expectations.

She was helpful, efficient, always quick to return our communications and a pleasure to deal with. We have already recommended her services to a friend.

Felt very comfortable at all times. Nothing was too much. Understood everything mentioned in our meeting. Very reasonable rate, money wise.

Jose Antonio was very professional and has assisted me in every step of the purchase of my flat in Alicante.

He also assisted me by advising of the most suitable area according to my needs. His commitment and dedication is excellent.

Jose Antonio was very easy to approach and happy to help in any way he can.

I will definitely recommend him to my family and friends.

Rosa was excellent. Very efficient and professional.

Responsive and always available. Extremely helpful - we did not understand the process and she guided us through.

We would not hesitate to recommend her.

Rafael was extremely helpful, accommodating and understanding. He couldn't have done more.

Miguel is fantastic, his English is superb. He responds clearly and concisely and always quickly too.

He is helpful and approachable and has always answered all my questions very thoroughly. He’s very polite and an absolute pleasure to deal with.

I hope he never retires!

Erardo was very professional, always available and most courteous in all the dealings I had with him.

I would be happy to recommend Erardo to anyone.

Inma is a very approachable, open and knowledgeable professional.

She is available to meet with us on short notice, is attentive to our needs, answers each of our questions fully and provides appropriate legal solutions.

Inma is bilingual which has simplified communication and avoids misunderstandings. Her fees are definitely value for the money paid, and we will continue to seek her professional services.

He has been very attentive, efficient, and always anticipates our needs in a timely manner.

We enjoy working with him and look forward to other future business arrangements when needed.

Francisco is a good men and honest. Did the job perfect.

Jose was excellent from my initial contact to the exchange of the contracts, always responding quickly to my emails even out of work hours, very professional and understanding.

Jose made the whole experience stress free and quite enjoyable, I would highly recommend him for anybody needing legal advise or business abroad.