Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the European Union : country fiche : Spain.
Date: 2019-10-10
Institutions: Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency
Subjects: Spain, acquisition of property, consumer policy, notary, property market, real estate business, real estate market

Consumer market study on 
the functioning of the real 
estate services for consumers 
in the European Union 

Country fiche – SPAIN 

Ipsos-London Economics-Deloitte consortium  
June 2018 

Justice and 
Justice and 
Consumers 
Consumers 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Produced  by  Consumers,  Health,  Agriculture  and  Food  Executive  Agency  (Chafea)  on 
behalf of the European Commission Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers 

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European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Consumer market study on 
the functioning of the real 
estate services for consumers 
in the European Union 

Country fiche – SPAIN 

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers 

EU Consumer Programme (2014-2020) 

2018 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for 
consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

TABLE OF CONTENT  

1.  Regulatory background ........................................................................................ 7 

1.1 Level of regulation in the country ............................................................................. 7 

1.2 National legislation................................................................................................. 9 

1.3 Implementation of relevant EU legislation ................................................................ 12 

1.4 Communications and strategy papers ...................................................................... 14 

2.  General market information ............................................................................... 15 

2.1 Key market data ................................................................................................... 15 

2.2 Service providers .................................................................................................. 19 

3.  Roles of professionals and services in the real estate market ............................ 23 

4.  Land registration ................................................................................................ 24 

5.  The process to buy or sell a property .................................................................. 25 

5.1 Main steps in the transaction process to buy or sell a property ................................... 25 

5.2 Sale contract and transfer of ownership ................................................................... 29 

5.3 ...  rofessional services performed in the real estate market related to buying and selling a 
property .................................................................................................................... 32 

5.4 Creating a Mortgage .............................................................................................. 36 

6.  The process to rent or let a property .................................................................. 38 

6.1 Main steps in the transaction process to rent and let a property.................................. 38 

6.2 Rent contract ....................................................................................................... 39 

6.3 .  Professional services performed in the real estate market related to renting and letting a 
property .................................................................................................................... 41 

7.  Professional services regulation: notaries .......................................................... 43 

7.1 Market entry and structure regulation ..................................................................... 43 

7.2 Market conduct regulation...................................................................................... 44 

8.  Professional services regulation: lawyers or other licensed conveyancers ......... 46 

8.1 Market entry and structure regulation ..................................................................... 46 

8.2 Market conduct regulation...................................................................................... 47 

9.  Professional services regulation: estate agents .................................................. 49 

9.1 Market entry and structure regulation ..................................................................... 49 

9.2 Market conduct regulation...................................................................................... 51 

10.  The real estate market ....................................................................................... 53 

10.1 Transaction costs for sample transactions .............................................................. 53 

10.2 Transaction features ............................................................................................ 56 

10.3 Taxes during the process of buying and selling a property ........................................ 57 

10.4 Taxes during the process of renting and letting a property ....................................... 58 

11.  Consumer situation in the market ...................................................................... 60 

11.1 Consumer rights ................................................................................................. 60 

11.2 Consumer complaints .......................................................................................... 64 

 
 
 
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

General information1 

Country  

Researcher name  

SPAIN 

Prof. Dr. Sergio Nasarre Aznar (Coord.); Dr. Estela Rivas Nieto; Dr. Héctor Simón 
Moreno; Mrs. Gemma Caballé Fabra; Mrs. Rosa Maria Garcia Teruel 

Researcher contact details (email) 

sergio.nasarre@urv.cat  

Main Sources Used 

See list at point 1.2 

1 The drafting of the country fiches as part of the Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the European Union was coordinated by  
Professor Christoph Schmid (Universität Bremen, ZERP, Email: cschmid@uni-bremen.de). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

1.  Regulatory background  

1.1  Level of regulation in the country 

Table 1: Level of regulation 

Real estate 
transactions2 

Level of 
regulation  
Framework 
regulation 

Notary system 
(or lawyer/ 
conveyancer 
system)5 

Highly 
regulated.  
E.g. Notaries 
are appointed 
by the Ministry 
of Justice after 
the approval of 
competitive 
examinations 

Source of relevant legislation  

Spanish Civil Code 1889 (Gazette 25 
July 1889, n. 206) 
Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of 16 
November, approving the revised text 
of the General Law on the Protection of 
Consumers and Users and other 
supplementary laws (Spanish Official 
Gazette –BOE3- 30 November 2007, n. 
287) 

Law of the Autonomous Community of 
Catalonia 3/2017, of 15 February, on 
the Book Sixth of the Catalan Civil 
Code, relating to obligations and 
contracts (Official Gazette of the 
Generalitat of Catalonia –DOGC4- 22 
February 2017, n. 7314) 
Notary Law, 28 May 1862 (BOE 29 May 
1862) 

Decree 2 June 1944, on the Regulation 
on the Organisation and Regime for 
Notaries (BOE 7 July 1944) 

Ongoing discussion on regulation/deregulation (if applicable): 
current state of affairs and main arguments in the debate 
The general rules on sale contracts of the Spanish Civil Code are of 
application to real estate transactions.  
The Civil Code lacks specific rules regarding the sale of dwellings by 
developers or professionals. The existence of a Business to Consumer 
relationship is relevant in relation to the pre-contractual information to 
be provided to consumers, the protection against unfair contractual 
terms or the protection of the earnest money paid in the sale of 
dwellings off-plan. The main gaps are precisely to be found in relation 
to these topics, as shown below (point 11), which are regulated outside 
the Spanish Civil Code.  
It is further worth mentioning that current discussions in Spain focus 
more on mortgage law issues due to the decisions of the European 
Court of Justice (unfair contractual terms, remedies of consumers in the 
mortgage enforcement procedure, etc.) rather than on real estate 
transactions. Secondly, the Sixth Book of the Catalan Civil Code, 
relating to obligations and contracts, has been passed. It lays down 
rules on real estate sale contracts (see below). 
There are some European studies that deal with the regulation and 
deregulation of professional conveyancing services in Europe with 
opposite conclusions (ZERP, “Conveyancing Services Regulation in 
Europe”, 2007; and Murray, “The Role of Notaries in Real Estate 
Transactions – Current Challenges and Perspective on the Future”, 
2007).  
Some articles and academic papers (which take an economic 
perspective as a starting point) may also be found in Spain on this 

2 E.g. limitations or prohibitions of certain transactions; specific formality requirements etc. 
3 Available at: www.boe.es.  
4 Available at: dogc.gencat.cat.  
5 Only in countries where notaries do not exist or do not have a monopoly on conveyancing. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 1: Level of regulation 

(numerus 
clausus, they 
opt for a limited 
number of 
places), and 
their 
remuneration 
(in the form of 
fees) is fixed by 
the government  

Profession of 
estate agents 

Deregulated in 
Spain (except 
Catalonia) 

Regulated in 
Catalonia  

Spanish Royal Decree-Law 4/2000, of 
23 June, on urgent liberalisation 
measures in the property and transport 
sectors (BOE 24 June, n. 151), as 
amended by Act 10/2003 

Catalan Housing Act 18/2007, of 28 
December (DOGC 9 January 2008, n. 
5044)  
Catalan Decree 12/2010, of 2 February 
(DOGC 9 February 2010, n. 5563), 
which regulates the requirements to 
exercise the activity of real estate 
agent and creates the Register of Real 
Estate Agents of Catalonia  

issue6. The dominant view seems to hold that the particular 
organisation of Civil Law notaries does not restrain competition. 
Nevertheless, the attempt of the Spanish Government to address this 
topic has been the Preliminary Draft on Professional Colleges and 
Services of 27 February 2013, which established that the access and 
exercise of professional activities and professions shall be free, without 
any restrictions or conditions other than those established in the law. 
Notaries and land registrars, though, were still obliged to join a 
professional college. The Spanish government has decided to postpone 
the approval of this law.  
As result, it can accordingly be concluded that deregulation of 
professions is actually on the current Government agenda (it appears at 
the National Reform Program 20177), but it remains to be seen whether 
this reform will have an impact on the notarial profession. 
Since 2000, the profession of estate agents in Spain is deregulated. 
This means that anyone can become a real estate agent without any 
academic qualifications and without the need to join a professional 
college. There is a certain paradox in Spain: on the one hand, there 
exists a real estate agent college; on the other hand, professionals are 
not, since 2000, compelled to join it.  
As the burst of the Spanish housing bubble has shown, this situation 
may affect intra and cross-border acquisitions of real estate 8. There are 
a number of potential consequences that may result from  deregulation 
and poor legal advice: demolition of houses; over-indebtedness; unfair 
contractual terms in preliminary contracts; lack of knowledge of 
property rights already created on the dwelling and binding to third 
parties or urban and public limitations or charges on the property, etc.  
As a result, the professionalisation of the sector is a topical issue, and 
other Spanish Autonomous Communities are trying to regulate the real 
estate profession, such as the Basque Country in 2015, but such 
attempts have been unsuccessful so far. 

6 For instance, Benito Arruñada, “The economics of Notaries”, European Journal of Law and Economics, 3(1), October 1996, 5-37 . Available at: 
http://www.arrunada.org/Files/Research/%2fF34.pdf; or Pedro Garrido Chamorro, “La Función notarial, sus costes y sus beneficios", Revista Jurídica del Notariado, 37, 2001. 
7 Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/2017-european-semester-national-reform-programme-spain-es.pdf, p. 28. 
8 See in this sense Prof. Peter Sparkes, Cross Border Acquisitions of Residential Property in the EU: Problems Encountered by Citizens, March 2016. Available at: 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/556936/IPOL_STU(2016)556936_EN.pdf. 

8 

 
 
 
 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

1.2  National legislation  

Table 2: List of national legislation  

List of national legislation 

Law of the Autonomous Community of 
Catalonia 3/2017, of 15 February, on 
the Book Sixth of the Catalan Civil 
Code, relating to obligations and 
contracts 

Classification of 
national 
legislation  
Real estate 
transactions 
Buyers and sellers 

Act 20/2015, of 14 July, for the 
management, monitoring and solvency 
of insurance entities and reinsurers 
(BOE 15 July 2015, n. 168) 
Royal Decree 235/2013, of 5 April, 
which approves the Basic Procedure for 
Certification of Energy Performance of 
Buildings (BOE 13 April 2013, n. 89) 
Act 22/2011, of 28 July, on waste and 
contaminated soil (BOE 29 July 2011, n. 
181) 

Catalan Act 22/2010, of 20 July (DOGC 
13 August, n. 196), on the Consumer 
Code of Catalonia, as amended by Act 
20/2014, of 29 December (DOGC 31 
December 2014, n. 6780) 

Real estate 
transactions 
Developers/Buyer
s 
Real estate 
transactions 
Sales/lettings 

Real estate 
transactions 
Buyers and 
Sellers 
Consumers 

Content of the national legislation  

The law incorporates specific rules regarding the contract for the sale of real estate. For 
instance, the right of withdrawal is regulated for the benefit of the buyer if the contract 
foresees the need to obtain external financing (e.g. by a lending institution) that is 
eventually frustrated, unless otherwise is agreed. In turn, it foresees a “super-laesio 
enormous” for both parties if the seller or the buyer have sold or bought, respectively, for 
less than a half of the market value of the property. That is, if the market value of the 
property is 100€ and it is sold or bought only for 40€, the seller or the buyer can rescind 
the contract respectively. This will be applied in Catalonia once the new code of contracts 
is in force and if the Constitutional court does not render it unconstitutional.  
Protection measures regarding down payments made by the buyer. 

It requires energy performance certificates and establishes the technical and 
administrative conditions for certification of energy efficiency of buildings and the 
methodology for calculating its energy efficiency rating. 

Soil polluting legislation needs to be considered when transferring land, as the acquirer 
may be held liable in case of unsuccessful identification of the person liable. 

The Act 20/2014 has introduced some rules based on the European Directive 2014/17/EU 
on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovables, but it goes one 
step further in some aspects, e.g. the credit entity is not allowed to disburse the 
mortgage loan if the result of the consumer’s creditworthiness is negative, otherwise the 
loan contract will be void (which could affect the validity of the sales contract as well), 
and in the advertising and pre-contractual stage lenders must inform consumers about 
the risk of losing the dwelling if the loan contract is not repaid in due time. Despite this 
rule is no longer in force (due to a constitutional complaint lodged by the Spanish 
Government, 30 September 2015), there are some rules still in force that have an impact 
on credits entities, such as the duty to start a compulsory mediation procedure before 
initiating the mortgage enforcement procedure. 

9 

Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 2: List of national legislation  

Catalan decree 12/2010, of 2 February 

Act 10/2010, of 28 April, on the 
prevention of money laundering and 
terrorist financing (BOE 29 April 2010, 
n. 103) 
Catalan Legislative Decree 1/2010, of 3 
August, on Urbanism (DOGC 5 August 
2010, n. 5686)9 

Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of 16 
November, approving the revised text 
of the General Law on the Protection of 
Consumers and Users and other 
supplementary laws 
Royal Decree 314/2006, of 17 March, 
which approves the Technical Building 
Code (BOE 28 March 2006, n. 74) 

Spanish Building Act 38/1999, of 5 
November (BOE 6 November 1999, n. 
266) 

Act 7/1998, of 13 April, on General 
Contractual Terms (BOE 14 April 1998, 
n. 89) 

Urban Leases Act 29/1994, of 24 
November (BOE 25 November 1994, n. 
282). 

Regulation of 
estate agents 
Real estate 
transactions 
Professionals 

It requires estates agents to have a minimum qualification and to register so as to 
operate in the market. 
The Act is applied to property developers and persons whose business activities include 
those of agency, commission or brokerage in property trading, as well as to notaries and 
registrars of property, trade and personal property 

Real estate 
transactions 
Sellers and buyers 

Consumers 

It establishes the subrogation of the buyer in all the rights and obligations of the previous 
owner. 
Until the whole duties are performed by the promoter, the City Council does not grant the 
license of first occupation. This can cause the buyer to not be able to contract the 
electrical, water, gas and telephony supplies. 
Consumer rights, unfair terms regime. 

Real estate 
transactions 
Developers  

Real estate 
transactions 
Developers/Buyer
s 
Consumers 

It establishes the basic requirements of quality of buildings and facilities. 

It provides for specific provisions regarding the liability and the insurance regimes in the 
construction sector for the benefit of buyers. 

Unfair terms regime. 

Tenancy 

It contains the provisions that govern urban leases in Spain. 

9 According to article 148.1.3 of the Spanish Constitution, the Self-governing Communities of Spain may assume competences over town and country planning and housing, which means that each 
Autonomous Communities may enact rules on this topic, which may vary from one region to another. Here the Catalan law is taken as an example. 

10 

                                                
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 2: List of national legislation  

Unfair Competition Act 3/1991, of 10 
January 1991 (BOE 11 January 1991, n. 
10) 

Real estate 
transactions 
Seller 

Its goal is the protection of competition for the benefit of all those who participate in the 
market, prohibiting to this end acts of unfair competition, including unlawful advertising. 

Royal Decree 515/1989, of 21 April, on 
Consumer Protection regarding the 
information to be provided in the sale 
and rental of housing (BOE 17 May 
1989, n. 117) 
General Advertising Act 34/1988, of 11 
November (BOE 15 November 1988, n. 
274) 
Royal Decree 2960/1976, of 12 
November, which approves the 
consolidated text of the social housing 
(BOE 28 December 1976, n. 311) 
Decree 469/1972, of 17 February, on 
simplifying the issuing of the certificate 
of habitability (BOE 6 March 1972, n. 
56) 
Catalan Decree 141/2012, of 30 
October, concerning the living 
conditions of housing and the certificate 
of habitability (DOGC 2 November 
2012, n. 6245); and Catalan Housing 
Act 18/2007, of 28 December (DOGC 9 
January 2008, n. 5044) 
Spanish Condominium Act 49/1960, of 
21 July (BOE 23 July 1960, n. 176) 
Fifth Book of the Catalan Civil Code 
(Boe 22 June 2006, n. 148) 

Real estate 
transactions 
Developers/Consu
mers 

Duty to provide consumers with some pre-contractual information regarding the dwelling 
concerned (name of the seller, location of the building and materials used, etc.) when the 
sale or tenancy contract is made within the framework of an economic or professional 
activity. There are also provisions on advertising. 

Real estate 
transactions 
Seller 
Real estate 
transactions 
Buyers and sellers 

Real estate 
transactions 
Sale/Letting 

It contains rules regarding unlawful advertising. 

Rules on protected public housing, e.g. owners are not allowed to sell the property over 
the fixed price. 

At state level the certificate of habitability is required to contract water, gas, electricity 
and telecommunications supplies  

The certificate of habitability is compulsory for all dwellings in the Autonomous 
Communities that regulate it, such as Catalonia, and it must be provided in both sale and 
tenancy contracts so as to certify that the building fulfils the minimum required 
conditions. It is necessary also for the contract to be entered into the land register  

Real estate 
transactions 
Buyers and 
Sellers 

The seller remains personally liable for all previous debts with the board of owners of the 
condominium regime, but a hidden legal charge arises for the benefit of the board of 
owners securing the payment for the present and the preceding three (in Spain) or four 
(in Catalonia) financial years. This charge (it is not a mortgage) arises by operation of the 
law and its registration in the land register is neither usual nor compulsory. Nevertheless, 
it enjoys priority over any express prior mortgage in the case of the mortgage debtor’s 
insolvency. In order to be liberated from the charge, the purchaser may pay the 
outstanding debt to the condominium, without prejudice to the right to bring proceedings 
against the debtor (the seller). The law imposes on the seller the duty to provide evidence 
that no debts are due once the notarial deed is concluded (otherwise the notary will not 

11 

 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 2: List of national legislation  

Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 
February 1946)  
Spanish Civil Code 1889  

Real estate 
transactions 
Real estate 
transactions 

1.3 

Implementation of relevant EU legislation    

authorise the deed of conveyance), but the parties may agree otherwise, i.e., they may 
waive the delivery of the certificate issued by the secretary of the condominium. 
It contains the provisions that govern the granting of mortgages. 

General rules on sale contracts. 

Table 3: Implementation  of relevant EU legislation 

EU legislation 

Implementation 
achieved? 

Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair 
commercial practices (UCPD) 

Yes 

Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair 
terms in consumer contracts 

Yes 

Directive 2008/122/EC on the 
protection of consumers, in 
respect of certain aspects of 
timeshare, long-term holiday 
product, resale and exchange 
contracts  

Yes 

Implementation of 
EU legislation at 
the national level 
(e.g. the name of 
the law) 
Act 29/2009, of 30 
December, which 
modifies 
the Spanish legal 
system of unfair 
competition and 
advertising to 
enhance consumer 
and user protection 
Spanish Act 7/1998, 
of 13 April, on 
General Contractual 
Terms  
Act 4/2012, of 6 July 
2012, on 
Timesharing 

Source of the 
national 
implementation 
legislation 

Spanish 
Parliament 
(BOE 31 
December 2009, 
n. 315) 

Spanish 
Parliament 
(BOE 14 April 
1998, n. 89) 
Spanish 
Parliament 
(BOE 7 July 2012, 
n. 162) 

Content of the national 
legislation in keywords 

Amends the following acts 
to transpose the Directive: 
Consumers Act (RDL 
1/2007); Unfair 
Competition Act (3/1991); 
Act on Retail Trade 
(7/1996) and the 
Advertising Act (34/1988) 

Introduces protection 
against unfair terms in 
consumer contracts  

Which parts of 
the EU legislation 
have been 
transposed?  

All. In addition, 
Spain regulated a 
protection against 
unfair trade 
practices for B2B 
relationships, which 
was not included in 
the original wording 
of the Directive  
All 

All 

Act 4/2012 regulates this 
type of contract, as well as 
the obligation to inform 
the consumer, the 
advertisement, the 
withdrawal rights, etc.  

12 

 
  
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 3: Implementation  of relevant EU legislation 

Directive 2010/31/EU of 
Energy Performance of 
Buildings Directive 

Yes 

Directive 2005/36/EC on 
Recognition of Professional 
Qualifications, as last amended 
by Directive 2013/55/EU 

Yes 

Mortgage Credit Directive, 
2014/17/EC  

No 

10 See: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1049_EN.htm 

Spanish Central 
Government 
(BOE 13 April 
2013, n. 89) 

RD 235/2013 includes the 
obligation to have the 
energy efficiency 
certificate and the 
proceeding for issuing it  

Royal Decree 
235/2013, of 5 April, 
which approves the 
Basic Procedure for 
Certification of 
Energy Performance 
of Buildings (BOE 13 
April 2013, n. 89), as 
amended by Royal 
Decree  564/2017, of 
2 June. 
Royal Decree 
238/2013, of 5 April, 
which incorporates 
the regulation on 
thermal installations 
in buildings (BOE 13 
April 2013, n. 89) 
Royal Decree 
1837/2008, of 8 
November, relative 
to the 
acknowledgement of 
professional 
qualifications, in 
addition to certain 
aspects of the 
lawyers' profession; 
repealed by Royal 
Decree 581/2017, of 
9 June, which 
implements Directive 
2013/55/EU 
No transposition10 (there exists a draft law, but it is not yet passed) 

Spanish Central 
Government 
(BOE 20 
November 2008, 
n. 280) 
(BOE 10 June 
2017, n. 138) 

Royal Decree 1837/2008 
follows the same structure 
and articles as Directive 
2005/36/EC. And Royal 
Decree 581/2017 
introduces the European 
Professional Card for some 
professionals, such as Real 
Estate Agents.  

The main parts of 
the Directive were 
implemented. Note 
that some 
exceptions and 
dispositions with 
respect to “nearly-
zero energy 
buildings” were not 
properly 
implemented, which 
led to an 
infringement of EU 
law. The RD 
564/2017 was 
passed precisely to 
complete this 
process.  
All 

13 

 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

1.4 Communications and strategy papers  

Table 4: Communications and strategy papers  

Have the following 
communications 
and strategy 
papers been 
referred to in 
national 
documents? 
Yes 

Communication or 
strategy paper 

COM(2015)550 final 
Communication of the 
Commission Upgrading 
the Single Market: more 
opportunities for people 
and business  

Yes 

COM(2013)676 
Communication from the 
Commission on 
evaluating national 
regulations on access to 
professions 

Yes 

COM(2016)820 
Communication from the 
Commission on reform 
recommendations for 
regulation in professional 
services 

11 See: http://www.ces.es/documents/10180/3557409/Inf0116.pdf 
12 See: https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=CE-D-2013-1434  
13 See: https://www.cnmc.es/expedientes/ipn-11013 
14 See: http://www.ces.es/documents/10180/3557409/Inf0116.pdf 

Name of document 

Source 

Content 

“Economic Governance of the 
European Union”. Consejo 
Económico y Social de España 
(advisory body of the Central 
Government). Report 1/2016 

Consejo 
Económico y 
Social de España11  

Opinion of the Spanish Council of 
State (Consejo de Estado) on the 
Draft Law on Professional Services 
and professional bodies.  No. 
1434/2013 

Council of State12 
Comisión Nacional 
de Mercados y 
Competencia13  

The report only 
quotes the 
Communication in 
order to justify the 
actions to improve 
EU’s position in the 
world economy 
Reports quote and 
promote the 
content of the 
Communication 

Differences 
with respect to 
communication
s and strategy 
papers listed in 
the first 
column 
None 

None 

Report No. 110/13, on the Draft 
Law on services of professional 
bodies.  Comisión Nacional de 
Mercados y Competencia 
“Economic Governance of the 
European Union”. Consejo 
Económico y Social de España 
(advisory body of the Central 
Government). Report 1/2016. 

Consejo 
Económico y 
Social de España14  

The report quotes 
and promotes the 
content of the 
Communication 

None 

14 

 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

European Consumer 
Agenda 
Consumer Programme 
2014-2020 

No 

No 

N/A 

N/A 

2.  General market information  

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

N/A 

2.1  Key market data  

Table 5: Key market data   

General market situation (e.g. 
trends in the market, recent 
developments in the market, 
price fluctuations, etc.) 

Spain is the Western European country with the highest rate of homeownership (approx. only 13% of the 
population live in a rented dwelling, EUROSTAT 2015). This is a direct result of the Spanish housing policies 
implemented between 1960 and 2007 that aimed at promoting homeownership.  
The value of the property has decreased sharply by more than 40% (INE, 2016) since the beginning of the 
financial crisis in 2007. However, the value is increasing again since 2015. See the following picture:   

Source: Índice de precios de vivienda (INE, 2017) 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 5: Key market data   

Total value of residential 
transactions for buying and 
renting for the year 2015 (2014 
or 2013 depending on the latest 
available data) in EUR  

Ratio house owners – tenants 
(i.e. the percentage of 
households that are owners 
resp. tenants of dwelling units) 
Usage of land (Quotas for built 
land, agricultural land, “wild 
land” (forests, lakes etc.) 

The burst of the housing bubble in 2007 and the number of evictions (about 210,377 households were evicted in 
the period 2010-2015) show that the regulation of a suitable tenancy law framework and new types of tenure 
that ensure stability, affordability and flexibility, such as the temporal ownership and the shared ownership (they 
are only implemented in Catalonia since the Act 19/2015, of 19 July -DOGC 4 August 2015, n. 6927-) are 
paramount.  
Apart from that, getting a mortgage in Spain is more difficult since the housing crisis due to credit restrictions and 
the provisions against over indebtedness (Directive 2014/17/EU). Therefore, the only alternative to full 
homeownership in Spain (except Catalonia) is the tenancy market. Due to the rise of rental prices and other 
phenomena such as touristic apartments, it is more affordable even nowadays to buy a property than to rent it 
(only in three provinces of Spain, it is cheaper to rent it than to buy: 
http://www.elconfidencial.com/vivienda/2017-01-29/si-pagases-lo-mismo-de-alquiler-que-de-hipoteca-
comprarias-casa_1315309/). 
Ministerio de Fomento (2017). Total value of residential transactions for buying: 
2016: 60.869.283,7€ 
2015: 51.961.457,9€ 

Value of residential transactions for renting: no data available. Unlike the value for the acquisition of property, it 
is not compulsory nor common to record a tenancy agreement in the Land Register.  
Spain is the country in Western Europe with less share of tenancy market (around 13.1% in 2015).  Source: 
Eurostat. Population by tenure status, 2015. 
http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do?dvsc=9 

Data from 2011 (IGN, 2011):  
Usage of land 2011 
Built land 
Agricultural land 
Forest 
Wetlands 
Water surfaces (rivers, 
lakes…) 

Total hectares 
1,260,414 
23,762,388 
25,179,341 
100,660 
569,991 

In 2000, the usage of land was the following: 

Usage of land 2000 
Built land 
Agricultural land 
Forest 

Total hectares 
895,981 
25,387,248 
23,953,657 

% 
2,48% 
46,71% 
49,49% 
0,20% 
1,12% 

% 
1,77% 
49,9% 
47,09% 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 5: Key market data   

Wetlands 
Water surfaces (rivers, 
lakes…) 

111,083 
325,174 

Total 50,872,794 hectares (Spain) 

0,23% 
0,65% 

Average prices of residential 
property  

According to this data, Spain has built more than 300,000 hectares during part of the housing bubble.   
According to the type 
of property: 
•  Average flat of 
ca. 70 sqm 
•  Terrace house of 
ca. 100 sqm 
•  Detached (one 

Data from Fotocasa (September 2016): 1,636€ sqm. There exist also other studies to 
calculate the average price of residential property, such as Tinsa (Quantity survey that 
states 1,209€ sqm). 

family house) of 
ca. 150 sqm 
According to the type 
of location:  
•  Capital city 
•  Urban areas 
•  Rural areas 

The average price for a 70 sqm property in the following cities and areas (Fotocasa, May 
2017) is: 

Location 

Type 

Madrid 

Barcelona 

Valencia 

Bilbao 

Barcelona 
province 
Tarragona 
province 
Málaga province  Urban 

Capital 
city 
Capital 
city  
Capital 
city 
Capital 
city 
Urban 
area 
Urban 
area 

€/sqm in May 
2017 
2,889€/sqm  

€/property 70m2 

202,230€ 

4,227€/sqm  

295,890€ 

1,650€/sqm 

115,500€ 

2,940€/sqm 

205,800€ 

2,564€/sqm 

179,480€ 

1,450€/sqm 

101,500€ 

1,787€/sqm  

125,090€ 

area 

Alicante province  Urban 

1,323€/sqm  

92,610€ 

area 

17 

 
  
 
 
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 5: Key market data   

Price development of residential 
property  

According to the type 
of property  
•  Average flat of 
ca. 70 sqm 
•  Terrace house of 
ca. 100 sqm 
•  Detached (one 

family house) of 
ca. 150 sqm 

According to the type 
of location: 
•  Capital city 
•  Urban areas 
•  Rural areas 

Cuenca 

Rural area  1,049€/sqm  

73,430€ 

Cáceres 

Rural area  1,118€/sqm  

78,260€ 

The maximum price was registered in 2007 (2,952€/sqm). In 2010, the average price 
was 2,262€/sqm and, in September 2016, 1,636€. Therefore, there was a huge decrease 
in the value of residential property (second-hand).  

April 2007 
206,640€ 

December 2010 
158,340€ 

September 2016 
114,520€ 

Property ca. 70 
sqm 
Property ca. 100 
sqm 
Property ca. 150 
sqm 
Some examples showing the difference between a 70sqm property in 2007 and 2017: 

295,200€ 

226,200€ 

163,600€ 

442,800€ 

339,300€ 

245,400€ 

Location 

Type 

Madrid 

Barcelona 

Valencia 

Bilbao 

Barcelona 
(province) 
Tarragona 
(province) 
Málaga 
(province) 
Alicante 
(province) 

Capital 
city 
Capital 
city  
Capital 
city 
Capital 
city 
Urban 
area 
Urban 
area 
Urban 
area 
Urban 
area 

€/sqm in 
April 2007 

€/property 
70m2 in 
2007 

€/sqm in 
May 2017 

4,455€/sqm  311,850€ 

2,889€/sqm  

€/property 
70m2 in 
2017 
202,230€ 

5,365€/sqm  375,550€ 

4,227€/sqm  

295,890€ 

2,956/sqm 

206,920€ 

1,650€/sqm  115,500€ 

4,446/sqm 

311,220€ 

2,940€/sqm  205,800€ 

4,246€/sqm  297,220€ 

2,564€/sqm  179,480€ 

2,915€/sqm  204,050€ 

1,450€/sqm  101,500€ 

2,718/sqm 

190,260€ 

1,787€/sqm  

125,090€ 

2,181€/sqm  152,670€ 

1,323€/sqm  

92,610€ 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 5: Key market data   

Development of price index 
(Housing price index if existing, 
otherwise Consumer price index) 

Índice de precios de vivienda (Instituto Nacional de Estadística).  

Cuenca 
(province) 
Cáceres 
(province) 

Rural 
area 
Rural 
area 

1,899€/sqm  132,930€ 

1,049€/sqm  

73,430€ 

1,734€/sqm  121,380€ 

1,118€/sqm  

78,260€ 

2.2 Service providers 

Table 6: Service providers   

Total number of 
firms  

Total number of 
professionals 

Total number of 
employees 

Branch offices per 
firm 

Estate agents  At the end of the 
year 2011 there 
were 46.000 real 
estate agencies15 

It will depend on the 
offices and on whether 
the estate agent works 
by itself or is 
associated with others.  
No data available 

It will depend on 
each office or firm.  
No data available 

Estate agents 
registered in the 
professional college and 
exercising the 
profession: 4.149 (in 
2017) 
Estate agents 
registered in the 
professional college and 
not exercising the 
profession: 1.410  
(in 2017) 

Market 
concentration 
in % of 
turnover 
In 2015 
between 8-10% 
search a home 
(to buy or rent) 
through estate 
agents16. 

Average turnover 
per firm 
(expressed in EUR) 

Main estate agents 
firms in Spain: 
Altamira (55.000 
million euros) 
Servihabitat (52.000 
million euros) Haya 
RE (45.000 million 
euros) and Solvia 
(28.000 million 
euros)17 

15 http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/01/10/suvivienda/1357805834.html. 
16 https://www.fotocasa.es/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/informe-fotocasa-2015.pdf  
17 http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2016/01/15/vivienda/1452850789_547554.html. 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 6: Service providers   

Lawyer/ 
Advocates/ 
Solicitor  
(In Spanish: 
called as 
“abogados”) 

There are lawyers 
who associate with 
others and lawyers 
who are self-
employed 
(“freelance”) 

Notary 

The number of 
offices depends on 
the population of 
each region 
(province)24  
The Royal Decree 
140/2015, of 6 
March, on notarial 
office districts 
(BOE 9 March 
2015, n. 58) 
establishes that 
there are 2.843 
notary offices in 
Spain (2015) 

At the end of 2016 
there were 142.061 
resident lawyers 
registered; 10.893 non-
resident lawyers 
registered; and 
103.093 lawyers 
registered that did not 
exercise the 
profession18 

3.00025  
There are notaries who 
associate with other 
notaries 

Examples of the main 
international firms of 
lawyers in Spain: 
Garrigues, 2.134 19 
employees; 
Cuatrecasas, more 
than 90020 employees; 
Uria Menéndez, more 
than 50021 employees; 
Roca junyent, 23022 
employees 
It depends on each 
notary office. The 
notaries can have 
employees depending 
on the volume of the 
transactions 
(normally, between 5 
and 10 employees per 
office) 

There is some data 
that show that the 
incomes of lawyers 
have increased in 
recent years (e.g. 
Garrigues, 
Cuatrecasas, Uria 
Menendez, etc.)23 

The average income 
of a notary per 
month is around 
12.000-15.000 
euros28 

It will depend on 
each office or firm. 
No data available. 

No data 
available 

Usually there is one 
office per firm. Each 
firm usually is 
formed by two to 
three notaries. 

Notaries have 
the monopoly 
to write deeds. 
Notaires control 
the access to 
the profession. 
In some 
operations, like 
mortgages26, 
notarial 
intervention is 
compulsory 27. 

18 http://www.abogacia.es/2016/01/16/censo-numerico-de-abogados/ 
19 http://www.elconfidencial.com/ultima-hora-en-vivo/2014-04-29/garrigues-el-despacho-de-abogados-que-mas-factura-y-mas-prestigioso-de-espana_244044/ 
20 http://www.cuatrecasas.com/es/abogados.html 
21 http://www.uria.com/es/quienes-somos/despacho/firma-lider.html 
22 http://www.rocajunyent.com/rocajunyent/ 
23 See: http://www.expansion.com/juridico/actualidad-tendencias/2016/05/31/574d75df22601d3a218b459a.html 
24 See arts. 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76 Decreto 2 junio 1944, por el que se aprueba con carácter definitivo el Reglamento de la organización y régimen del Notariado. 
25 http://www.notariado.org/liferay/web/notariado/el-notario/el-notariado-en-espana/colegios-notariales 
26 Art. 145 of the Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 February 1946)  
27 7 out of 10 Spanish consumers have used the services of a notary at least once : http://www.notariado.org/liferay/web/notariado/el-notario/valoracion-social-del-notariado 
28 In Spain the Minimum Salary is 707’60 eur. See in: http://www.salariominimo.es 

20 

 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 6: Service providers   

Licenced 
conveyancers 

Architects 

Surveyor 

Engineers 

“Licenced 
conveyancers” do 
not exist in Spain. 
Their functions are 
fulfilled by estate 
agents. See above 
In 2016 there were 
50.000 architects 
registered29. Some 
of them work as 
self-employed and 
other are 
employees. 
Top 10 firms of 
surveyors in 
Spain32 (Tinsa, 
Eurovaloraciones, 
etc.) 

No data available. 
There are different 
specialisations for 
engineers 
depending on the 
field or sector. 

In 2016 there were 
50.000 architects 
registered30 

No data available 

Technical and civil 
engineers  (ingenieros 
técnicos de obras 
públicas e ingenieros 
civiles) 
In March of 2017: 
10.52834 

It will depend on the 
offices and if the 
architect works by 
herself/himself or is 
associated with others.  
No data available 

It will depend on the 
offices and whether 
the surveyor is self-
employed or is 
associated with others.  
No data available 
It will depend on the 
offices and if the 
engineer is self-
employed or is 
associated with others.  
No data available 

It will depend on 
each office or firm. 
No data available 

No data 
available 

In 2016 461.124 
million euros31 

It will depend on 
each firm. 
No data available. 

No data 
available. 
Estate agents   
can also do 
surveys. 

It will depend of 
each firm. 
No data available. 

No data 
available. 

In 2016 241’9 million 
euros33 

No data available. 
There are different 
specialisations for 
engineers. In this 
field, they are 
technical and civil 
engineers. 

29 https://www.cscae.com/images/stories/Noticias/Estado_de_la_profesion_de_arquitecto_en_Europa_2016.pdf. 
30 https://www.cscae.com/images/stories/Noticias/Estado_de_la_profesion_de_arquitecto_en_Europa_2016.pdf. 
31 https://www.cscae.com/images/stories/Noticias/Estado_de_la_profesion_de_arquitecto_en_Europa_2016.pdf. 
32 TINSA, tasaciones Inmobiliarias S.A, ST Sociedad de Tasación, S.A, Ibertasa, S.A, Valtecnic S.A, Gestión de Valoraciones y tasaciones, S.A, JLL valoraciones, S.A, Krata S.A, Euroval, CBRE 
Valutaion advisory, S.A and Valoraciones del Mediterraneo, S.A. See in: https://www.euroval.com/ranking-2016-sociedades-tasacion-aev/. 
33 https://www.euroval.com/ranking-2016-sociedades-tasacion-aev/. 
34 http://www.citop.es/servicios/documentos/Movimiento_31032017.pdf.  

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 6: Service providers   

Land 
Registrars 

As notaries, the 
number of offices 
depends on the 
population of each 
region (province) 
See Royal Decree 
195/2017, of 3 
March, amending 
the demarcation of 
Land, Mercantile 
and Personal 
Property registries 
(BOE 4 March 
2017, n. 54) 

There are 
approximately around 
1000 Land Registers35 

It depends on each 
office. Land registers 
can have employees 
depending on the 
volume of the 
transactions 
(normally, between 5 
and 10 employees) 

Usually there is one 
office depending on 
the population. 
Each office usually 
is formed by one 
Land Registrar. 

As notaries, the 
average income per 
month is around 
12.000-15.000 euros 

First trimester 
of 2017: 
113.738 buy 
and sell 
operations 
registered36 
As notaries, in 
some 
operations, like 
mortgages37, it 
is compulsory 
the Land 
registration 

35 https://www.einforma.com/registros-propiedad.  
36 http://www.registradores.org/wp-content/estadisticas/propiedad/eri/ERI_1T_2017.pdf.. 

37 Art. 145 of the Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 February 1946).  

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

3.  Roles of professionals and services in the real estate market  

Table 7: Role of professionals in the real estate market   

Estate agent   Property 

valuator38  

Lawyer/ 
Advocate/ 
Solicitor  

Legal advice 
and/or draft 
the 
documents 
such as the 
contracts 

Economic 
valuation of 
the real estate 
or properties 

When the 
value of the 
real estate is 
needed (ex: 
for a 
mortgage) 

Pre-
contractual 
phase and 
drafting the 
documents 

Usual in 
mortgage 
loans 

No 

Main function: 
does the 
professional 
typically work 
independently or 
as part of a firm 
or another 
organisation? 

Extent of 
engagement (at 
which point(s) 
does each 
professional 
intervene in the 
process?) 
Mandatory 
involvement 

Matching the 
parties. They 
may work 
independently
, in a firm or 
in 
collaboration 
with an online 
agency 

First 
negotiations 
or pre-
contractual 
phase 

No 

Notary 

Bank  

Finance 
mortgages 
loans. In 
recent years, 
due to the 
crisis, banks 
usually offer 
estate agent 
services as 
well 
Pre-
contractual 
phase 

Legal control 
of the 
documents 
and legal 
advice 

Elaboration of 
the sales and 
mortgages 
deeds 

Only is 
compulsory 
for 
mortgaging 
the property39  

Tax 
managers, 
“gestorias” 

Taxes, paper 
work, 
consultancy, 
etc. 

Technical 
expert 
(architect, 
engineer, 
surveyor) 
Control 
technical 
aspects of the 
buildings 

Land 
registrars 

Register the 
land property 
and the legal 
titles that 
affect it 

During all the 
process or in 
the end 

No, but their 
intervention is 
very usual 

Elaborate the 
energy 
certificate and 
control 
habitability 
requirements 

Depending on 
the cases their 
involvement is 
mandatory  
(i.e. energy 
certificate) 

At the end 
when the 
deed is 
finished 

Only is 
compulsory 
for 
mortgaging 
the property40  

38 In some EU countries, the real estate property valuators are regulated as a profession that is separate from estate agents (e.g. Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia); their services might be obligatory, 
especially when taking mortgage loans.  
39 Art. 145 of the Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 February 1946)  
40 Art. 145 of the Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 February 1946) 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 7: Role of professionals in the real estate market   

How are their 
fees/charges 
structured  

% based on 
value but 
fixed fee often 
agreed to 
client. 
Professional 
Colleges may 
establish a 
general 
criteria (See 
further 5.3 
and 6.2)  

Fee often 
agreed with 
the client. It 
depends on 
the operation 
(between 100-
300 euros41) 

Fees often 
agreed with 
the client. 
Professional 
Colleges of 
lawyers  
(http://www.a
bogacia.es) 
may establish 
a general 
criteria42 

Fixed fees43  

Between 200-
300 euros 

Fixed fees44 

Fees often 
agreed with 
the client. 
Professional 
Colleges can 
establish 
general 
criteria 

4.  Land registration  

Table 8: Land registration   

Responsible authority(ies) dealing 
with land registration 
Actors involved in the registration 
procedure and their main 
functions 

Land and Mercantile Registrars Association of Spain (http://www.registradores.org)  

Land Registrars (who register the act, if appropriate). They are in charge of assessing, under their responsibility, 
not only the legality of the extrinsic characteristics of all kinds of documents but also the capacity of grantors 
and the validity of any act, so they will not register void acts or contracts. They classify the documents 
submitted for entry in the registers for which they are responsible; advise the public on matters relating to 
registers and provide public access to the information entered; and check, where necessary, that persons 
requesting access have a legitimate interest and duly protect sensitive data. 
It must be borne in mind that registration is not compulsory in Spain; so only in specific cases, the registration 
is constitutive, such as with a mortgage. This means that the land registration system in the field of transfer of 
property is purely a publicity function. 

41 See examples of fees from  “TINSA” in: https://www.tinsa.es  
42 Act 2/1974, of 13 February, on Professional Associations. 
43 From art. 1 to art. 7 of Royal Decree 1426/89, of 17 November, which approves the tariffs of Notaries. 
44 Art. 2 of Royal Decree 1426/89, of 17 November, which approves the tariffs of Notaries. 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Intermediate steps of the 
registration procedure, if 
applicable 

The public deed by which the real estate transaction is formalised may be delivered by hand to the Land 
Registry by the buyer, by the one who has provided advice to the buyer (e.g. the real estate agent or the 
lawyer), by the management company appointed by the credit entity to follow the whole procedure or by the 
notary through electronic means. The latter has prevalence unless the parties express otherwise, which means 
that this is the standard procedure in practice. Therefore, once the public deed is performed, an electronic 
submission takes place so as to ensure priority. The Land Registrar will verify within the next 15 days following 
the presentation that both the formal aspects and the content of the document are in accordance with the law. 
Should the land Registrar conclude that there are defects preventing the document from being entered into the 
Land Register, the parties shall have the possibility to correct them depending on the nature of the defect. As a 
last resort, the Land Registrar’s decision may be appealed before the Directorate General of Registries and 
Notaries (an administrative body) or challenged before the Court of First Instance. 

5.  The process to buy or sell a property  

5.1  Main steps in the transaction process to buy or sell a property 

Table 9: Main steps of the process to buy or sell a property 

Main steps 

Main function 

Applicable  National specificities/additional functions/main actors  

Estate agent 
services 

Matching the parties  

Yes 

Alternative matching 
devices 

Matching the parties 

Yes 

The real estate agent provides intermediary services (Royal Decree 1294/2007, 
of 28 September, approving the General Bylaws of the Official Colleges of Real 
Estate Agents and of their General Council, BOE 3 October 2007, n. 237). Real 
estate agents normally offer their services before the intervention of the public 
notary (pre-contractual phase) 

Lawyers; Newspaper advertisement or magazines; personal contact or 
“property finders”, as the “Guide to buying a property in Spain” (The 
AIPP/RICS/RDE 45) points out; and Internet (Fotocasa46; Idealista47 and 
Habitaclia 48 are the most important real estate portals) 

45 Available at: http://www.registradores.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Guide-AIPP-RICS-RDE.pdf. 
46 http://www.fotocasa.es/es/.  
47 https://www.idealista.com.  
48 https://www.habitaclia.com.   

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Preliminary contract   Securing the transaction 

Yes 

before the final contract is 
concluded 

Preliminary checks 
(land register, 
administrative 
permits) 

Ensuring that the buyer knows 
all legal obligations and 
relevant features related to the 
property 

Yes 

Drafting the sales 
contract and/or 
deed of conveyance 

Summarising the agreement of 
the parties 

Yes 

Legal advice or 
counselling 

Ensuring that the transaction 
is valid and that the parties 
know about their rights and 
duties 

Yes 

The parties usually conclude a preliminary sales contract before formalising the 
deed of conveyance with the help of the notary in big cities, in areas 
characterised by huge housing demand and when foreign investors are 
involved49. In the preliminary contract, the parties agree on the object of the 
contract, the price, the method of payment and the conditions that could entitle 
one of them to withdraw from the contract.  

In this contract, the buyer assumes as a general rule the duty to provide the 
seller with an earnest money or deposit, the amount of which is not limited by 
law. Usually, both are free to withdraw from the preliminary contract before 
formalising the deed of conveyance, either the purchaser forfeiting the earnest 
money or the seller, which must return it in duplicate (this agreement is known 
as “pacto de arras”). These preliminary sales contracts have been the rule 
during the housing bubble in Spain (2000-2007) and are quite common when 
professional developers sell the properties just after starting the construction of 
the building (off plan). 

The preliminary checks are done usually by the professional involved in the 
transaction (e.g. the real estate agent). 

The professional involved in the transaction or a lawyer uses his own standard 
sale contract, which will be sent, if appropriate, to the notary, who will draft the 
deed of conveyance accordingly. The same may be sent when no professional is 
involved, in which case the parties will use the form and include the terms they 
deem appropriate. 

Lawyers may provide legal advice, and their intervention is quite common in 
Spain when foreigners are involved. Should the parties agree on formalising the 
deed of conveyance, the notary will inform the parties about the obligations and 
duties arising from the agreed contract, will be aware of the ownership and 
encumbrances on the property, and will consult the Land Registry before the 
deed is executed. 

49 See “Guide to buying a property in Spain”, p. 23. 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Certification of 
signatures  

Ensuring the validity of the 
agreement 

Contract execution 
(transfer of 
payment) 

Executing the contract (and 
securing that both parties 
perform their obligations) 

Yes 

Yes 

Contract execution 
(transfer of 
property) 

Executing the contract (and 
securing that both parties 
perform their obligations) 

Yes 

This takes place at the notary office. The notary must state that both parties 
have enough capacity to carry out this legal act. 

The transfer of payment so as to pay the sale price takes place usually at the 
notary office when the acquisition has been financed through a mortgage loan. 
However, the buyer may pay at the notary office through a bank guaranteed 
cheque or in cash (if any of the parties is a professional or a trader, payments 
can not be made in excess of 2500€ -Act  7/2012, of 29 October, on the 
modification of the tax regulations for the prevention of fiscal fraud, BOE 20 
October 2012, n. 261-), or the parties may agree a deferred payment, in which 
case the termination of the contract shall take place by operation of law upon 
failure to pay the price within the agreed period. In any case, the notary must 
identify the price in the deed, stating if it is received before or at the time of 
execution of the deed, the amount and payment methods.  

According to the Spanish Civil Code, ownership and other rights over property 
are acquired by law, by gift, by estate and intestate succession and, as a result 
of certain contracts, by tradition. As a consequence, the transmission of the 
property in Spain requires as a general rule a title (e.g. the sale contract on 
real estate) and the so-called tradition, that is, the physical delivery of the 
possession of the thing to the other party. Spanish law, thus, follows the 
Roman law tradition of title and modus. The same may be said regarding 
Catalan law.  

However, if the sale has been made pursuant to a public deed, the execution 
thereof shall be equivalent to the physical delivery of the thing unless the public 
deed states otherwise (instrumental delivery). This explains why sales contracts 
on real estate are concluded usually in front of a notary, and why the 
contracting parties usually draw up first a preliminary sales contract without 
delivering the possession of the real estate, without immediate transfer of 
property (as the buyer does not take possession of the dwelling).  

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Registration 

Making the transaction visible 
to third parties and the public 

Yes  

The main goal of the Land Register is to register acts and contracts related to 
property ownership and real rights. In order to be registered, such rights and 
contracts shall be included in a public deed or in an authentic document issued 
by the Judicial Authority or by the Government or its officers.  

Despite the non-compulsory nature of registration, as pointed above, it is 
relevant so as to ensure the full effectiveness of the contract vis-à-vis third 
parties. In particular, third party purchasers in good faith and for a 
consideration will not be protected once the acquisition has been registered, no 
matter if other unregistered property rights have been previously created on 
the same immovable. This is an exception to the «nemo dat quod non habet» 
rule and protects purchasers from such unexpected circumstances. Moreover, 
there is a legal presumption according to which the property right registered 
belongs to its older holder in accordance with the corresponding entry. 

Taxation (esp. 
transfer tax) 

Post-transaction 
controls (if 
applicable) 

Creating revenue for the state 

Yes 

See below Table 5.2. 

Securing that the contract is 
duly executed  

No 

Once the deed of conveyance is registered, there are no post-transaction 
controls on the part of notaries or land registrars, so the buyer may lodge a 
claim before courts in case of unfair contract terms, hidden defects, 
construction defects, etc. 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

5.2  Sale contract and transfer of ownership   

Table 10: Contract of sale and transfer of ownership  

Main steps 

Actors involved per 
intermediate step 

Payment details50 

Payments expressed : 

When is the payment made 

Typical risks 
associated to 
these steps, if 
relevant 

• In EUR as % of total 
purchase price and 
• As a fixed amount if 
available (add if VAT 
applies) 

Fees are not regulated, between 3-
5% of the total purchase price 

Real estate agent: Fees are not 
regulated, between 3-5% of the 
total purchase price 
Lawyer:  The amount of the fee 
can be agreed freely between the 
parties, see below. 

Once the contract is concluded, 
either the preliminary sales 
contract or the deed of 
conveyance 
Once the contract is concluded, 
either the preliminary sales 
contract or the deed of 
conveyance 

Lack of specific 
training (real 
estate agents) 

Lack of specific 
training (real 
estate agents) 

Estate agent services 
or alternative 
matching devices 

Optional but usual 

Preliminary contract 
(usual) 

Usual (Real estate agent or 
lawyer) 

Preliminary checks 
(land register, 
administrative 
permits) 
Drafting the sales 
contract and/or deed 
of conveyance 
Legal advice or 
counselling 
Certification of 
signatures  

Usual (at the notary office) 

The fixed tariff was established by 
Royal Decree 1426/89, of 17 

At the notary office in cash or 
through bank transfer 

Unusual, court 
cases in which 

50  Payment  shall be  considered  as  the  ‘discharge of  an  obligation  by  its  settlement  equal to  the  monetary value of  the  debtor’s obligation’  while fees  can  be  defined  as  ‘a  charge  for services 
rendered’ (Retrieved from: http://www.investorwords.com/3634/payment.html, http://www.investorwords.com/1922/fee.html). Payment, therefore, includes both the cost of the service and the 
fees for the service in question. 

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Table 10: Contract of sale and transfer of ownership  

Contract execution 
(transfer of payment 
and registration; 
transfer of property)  

51 Defensor del pueblo, 2012, pp. 71 ff. 

November, and covers all the 
entire extra-judicial public record 
service: offices, salaries of the 
professional team, civil liability 
insurance, computerisation, binding 
and archiving of notarial 
instruments, maintenance of 
notarial colleges… only a small part 
corresponds to the notary's own 
fees. 

On the value of the sale contract of 
real estate a tariff will be applied:  
A) When the value does not exceed 
6,010.12 euros: 90 euros. 
B) For the excess between 
6,010.13 and 30.050,62  euros: 
4.5€ per thousand. 
C) For the excess between 
30.050,62 and 60,101.21 euros: 
1,50€ per thousand. 
D) For the excess between 
60,101,22 and 150,253,03 euros: 
1€ per thousand. 
E) For the excess between 
150.253,04 and 601,012.10 euros: 
0,5€ per thousand. 
F) Exceeding from 601,012.10 
euros to 6,010,121.04 euros: 0.3€ 
per thousand. 
For what exceeds 6,010,121.04€, 
the Notary will receive the amount 
that he freely agrees with the 
granting parties  

notaries are 
involved are not 
common. 
However, the 
Spanish 
ombudsman51 
pointed out that 
there were a 
number of 
complaints from 
clients expressing 
their concerns 
about the 
performance of 
some notaries, 
because -in their 
view- they felt 
that they did not 
provide adequate 
information when 
proceeding with 
the formalization 
of mortgage loans, 
thus limiting their 
intervention to 
quickly reading 
the corresponding 
deed.  

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Table 10: Contract of sale and transfer of ownership  

Registration in land 
register or similar 
device 

Usual (at the land registry) 

Taxation (esp. transfer 
tax) 

Mandatory 

Once the deed of conveyance 
has entered into the Land 
Registry 

Unusual, court 
cases in which 
land registrars are 
involved are not 
common  

The Land Registrar fees are 
established in the Royal Decree 
1427/1989, of 17 November, which 
approves the tariffs for the land 
registrars (BOE 17 November 
1989, n. 285). 
The inscription, annotation or 
cancellation of each property or 
right, the amounts set by the 
following scales will be collected: 
A) If the value of the property or 
right does not exceed 6,010.12 
euros, 24 euros. 
B) For the excess between 
6.010,13 and 30,050.61 euros, 
1.75 per 1,000. 
C) For the excess between 
30,050.62 and 60,101.21 euros, 
1.25 per 1,000. 
D) For the excess between 
60,101,22 and 150,253,03 euros, 
0,75 per 1,000. 
E) For the excess between 
150.253,04 and 601,012.10 euros, 
0.30 per 1,000. 
F) For the value that exceeds 
601,012.10 euros 0.20 per 1,000. 
See below 

Information on the legal position of a tenant occupying the dwelling to be sold. In particular: Does the rule emptio non tollit locatum 
apply? No. In Spain, the tenancy contract is only binding to third parties if properly registered (Act 29/1994, of 24 November, on Urban Leases, as 
amended by Act 4/2013), so purchasers will be protected no matter if someone is living inside the dwelling as a tenant. The third party must be 
however in good faith, i.e. he or she should not be aware that a tenant was living in the dwelling at the moment of conclusion of the contract. It is 
worth highlighting that tenancy contracts, generally speaking, are not registered in Spain. As a matter of fact, tenancy contracts do not appear on the 
official statistics provided by the Spanish Land and Mercantile Registrars Association. 

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5.3  Professional services performed in the real estate market related to buying and selling a property  

Table 11: Professional services performed in the real estate market related to buying and selling a property 

Minimum standards for 
information provided by law  

Service 
providers 
involved  

Quality of 
involvement  

Fees expressed: 

• In EUR as % of total purchase price and 
• As a fixed amount (if available) 

Services in the 
real estate 
market 

Estate agent 
services or 
alternative 
matching 
devices 

Information provided in Royal 
Decree 515/1989, of 21 April, on 
Consumer Protection regarding the 
information to be provided in the 
sale and rental of housing  
Also, Royal Legislative Decree 
1/2007 of 16 November 2007, 
approving the revised text of the 
General Law on the Protection of 
Consumers and Users and other 
supplementary laws. 

Optional but 
usual 

Estate agents 
and/or 
websites such 
as Fotocasa52, 
Idealista53, 
habitaclia54, 
etc. 

Provision of 
mandatory 
information 
before the 
start of the 
transaction, if 
applicable 

Directive 2014/17/EU of the 
European Parliament and of the 
council of 4 February 2014 on credit 
agreements for consumers relating 
to residential immovable property 
and amending Directives 
2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and 
Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 
(in Spain, the Directive is not 
transposed yet). 

Estate agents, 
lawyers and 
notaries 

Optional but 
not usual 

Royal Decree 1294/2007, which regulates the profession of 
real estate agents, does not deal with agent fees. 
Consequently, fees will be freely agreed between the client 
and the estate agent, without limitation. However, each 
Professional College of estate agents can establish criteria 
under Act 2/1974, of 13 February, on Professional 
Associations. 
Usually, fees are paid by the vendor (selling contracts) or 
landlord (rent contract). However, as the Royal Decree 
1294/2007 does not contain any provision related to that, 
parties can fix a fee that they consider as adequate.  
Usually, in buying and selling operations, fees vary between 
3% and 5% (in big cities or depending on the property, it 
can be around 10%) of the total purchase price + VAT55. 
See below Table 11 
For estate agents see above. 
In relation to notaries, fees are established by art. 1 to 7 of 
Royal Decree 1426/89, of 17 November, which approves the 
tariffs of Notaries56. For notary fees, see Table 10. 

52 http://www.fotocasa.es/es/ 
53 https://www.idealista.com 
54 https://www.habitaclia.com 
55 To see examples of fees: https://www.idealista.com/news/inmobiliario/vivienda/2010/09/17/255422-comisiones-de-las-agencias-inmobiliarias-puntos-a-
tener-en-cuenta 
56 Amended by Royal Decree 1612/2011, of 14 November, amending the Royal Decree 1426/1989, of 17 November, and 1427/1989. 

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Table 11: Professional services performed in the real estate market related to buying and selling a property 

In Catalonia there is: Ley 20/2014, 
de 29 de diciembre, de modificación 
de la Ley 22/2010, de 20 de julio, 
del Código de consumo de Cataluña, 
para la mejora de la protección de 
las personas consumidoras en 
materia de créditos y préstamos 
hipotecarios, vulnerabilidad 
económica y relaciones de consumo. 
The same as above 

The same as above 

The same as above 

Estate agents, 
lawyers and 
notaries 
Estate agents 
and lawyers 

Estate agents, 
lawyers and 
notaries 

Preliminary 
contract 
(usual) 
Preliminary 
checks (land 
register, 
administrative 
permits) 
Drafting the 
sales contract 
and/or deed of 
conveyance 

Legal advice or 
counselling 
Certification of 
signatures  

The same as above and 
deontological rules57 
No 

Lawyers and 
notaries 
Notaries 

Optional but 
not usual 

See above 

See above 

See above 

See above 

See above 

Optional but 
usual 
Mandatory for 
notaries 

Optional but 
usual 
(usually, when 
the parties go 
to the notary 
the contract is 
already 
redacted) 
Optional but 
usual 
Mandatory in 
cases that is 
compulsory 
the 
intervention of 
notaries58 

57 See  http://www.cgcafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cod_deontologico_cepi.pdf (for estate agents) and http://www.abogacia.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/codigo_deontologico1.pdf 
(for lawyers). 
58 E.g. Art. 145 of the Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 February 1946). 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 11: Professional services performed in the real estate market related to buying and selling a property 

Estate agents 
and notaries 

Optional but 
usual 

Contract 
execution 
(transfer of 
payment; 
transfer of 
property)  

Information provided in Royal 
Decree 515/1989, of 21 April, on 
Consumer Protection regarding the 
information to be provided in the 
sale and rental of housing  
Also, Royal Legislative Decree 
1/2007 of 16 November 2007, 
approving the revised text of the 
General Law on the Protection of 
Consumers and Users and other 
supplementary laws 

Registration in 
land register or 
similar device 

No 

Land Register  Mandatory in 
cases that is 
compulsory 
the 
intervention of 
Land 
Registers 60 

Royal Decree 1294/2007 does not establish anything related 
to fees for estate agents. Consequently, fees will be freely 
agreed between the client and the estate agent, without 
limitation. However, each Professional Colleges of estate 
agents can establish criteria under the Act 2/1974, of 13 
February, on Professional Associations. 

Usually fees are paid by the vendor (selling contracts) or 
landlord (rent contract). However, as the Royal Decree 
1294/2007 does not establish any disposition related to 
that, parties can fix the fee by drawing on the common or 
traditional practice in their region. 
Usually, in buying and selling operations the fee varies 
between 3% and 5% (in big cities can be around 10%) of 
the total purchase price + VAT59 
In relation to Land Registers, fees are fixed and established 
in art. 2  
Royal Decree 1427/1989, of 17th November, which 
approves the tariffs for the land registrars 
The inscription, annotation or cancellation of each property 
or right, the amounts set by the following scales will be 
collected: 
A) If the value of the property or right does not exceed 
6,010.12 euros, 24 euros; 
B) For the excess between 6.010,13 and 30,050.61 euros, 
1.75 per 1,000; 
C) For the excess between 30,050.62 and 60,101.21 euros, 
1.25 per 1,000; 
D) For the excess between 60,101,22 and 150,253,03 
euros, 0,75 per 1,000; 
E) For the excess between 150.253,04 and 601,012.10 
euros, 0.30 per 1,000; 
F) For the value that exceeds 601,012.10 euros 0.20 per 
1,000. 

59 To see examples of fees: https://www.idealista.com/news/inmobiliario/vivienda/2010/09/17/255422-comisiones-de-las-agencias-inmobiliarias-puntos-a-tener-en-cuenta 

60 E.g. Art. 145 of the Spanish Mortgage Law (Decree 8 February 1946). 

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 11: Professional services performed in the real estate market related to buying and selling a property 

Taxation (esp. 
transfer tax) 

No 

Other services   The same as above and 

deontological rules 

Lawyers or 
tax managers 
(“gestorias”) 
Estate agents 
or lawyers 

Optional but 
usual 

Optional but 
usual 

Between 200- 300 euros (often agreed with client). 

See above 

In relation to lawyers, fees will be freely agreed between the client and the lawyer, without limitation. However, each Professional College of Lawyers  
(http://www.abogacia.es) can establish a general criterion61. This criterion is a point of reference for both Professional Colleges (when they have to deliver 
opinions, e.g. when the lawyer’s fees are challenged by their clients) and lawyers (e.g. when the fees have not been agreed on the contract). As an 
example, the following table (from the Professional College of Barcelona62) states the indicative fees according to four applicable scales (each one includes 
different court procedures, ranging from the least to the most difficult). The scales are applied on the basis of calculation (the amount of which is 
estimated by the professional on the basis of the time spent in the procedure, the work actually carried out, the degree of complexity of the matter, the 
actual amount of the subject or the degree of specialisation required for the professional).  

Basis of 
calculation 
Up to 3000 eur 
Up to 20.000 eur 
Up to 50.000 eur 

Up to 100.000 eur 
Up to 300.000 eur 
Up to 600.000 eur 
Up to 1.500.000 eur 
For the excess 

Scale 1 

Fees 

Scale 2 

Fees 

Scale 3 

Fees 

Scale 4 

Fees 

10% 
8% 
7% 

4% 
2% 
1% 
0,50% 
0,25% 

300€ 
1.660€ 
3.760€ 

5.760€ 
9.760€ 
12.760€ 
17.760€ 

15% 
12% 
9% 

5% 
2,5% 
1% 
0.75% 
0,30% 

450€ 
2.490€ 
5.190€ 

7.690€ 
12.690€ 
15.690€ 
22.440€ 

20% 
15% 
11% 

8% 
4% 
2% 
1,50% 
0,50% 

600€ 
3.150€ 
6.450€ 

10.450€ 
18.450€ 
24.450€ 
37.950€ 
1 

30% 
20% 
15% 

10% 
7% 
5% 
3% 
0,60% 

900€ 
4.300€ 
8.800€ 

13.800€ 
27.800€ 
42.800€ 
69.800€ 

It should be borne in mind, however, that specific indicative fees are established for some court proceedings, e.g. proceedings concerning matrimonial 
disputes, disputes among neighbours or challenges to corporate agreements. 
With regard to the advice on selling or buying a property, the lawyer fees range approximatey from 100 to 300 euros depending on the services 
performed. 

61 Act 2/1974, of 13 February, on Professional Associations. 
62 Available at: http://www.campocavia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/HONORARIS-Criteris-Orientadors-2010.pdf.  

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5.4  Creating a Mortgage  

Table 12: Mortgage requirements   

Main steps to 
create a 
mortgage 

Actors 
involved  

Minimum standards for 
information  

Additional requirements 
for consumer 
mortgages, if relevant 

Conclusion of 
credit and 
mortgage  
agreement with 
lender (bank) 

Lending 
institutions, 
Notaries  

Lending institutions must 
inform clients properly in 
the pre-contractual stage 
(Order EHA/2899/2011, of 
28 October 28, on 
transparency and protection 
of clients of banking 
services; BOE 28 October 
2011), e.g. the Personalised 
Information Form (FIPER) is 
given to the client once the 
needs, preferences and 
situation has been 
explained to the bank, with 
the aim of assisting the 
client in the choice of the 
most convenient offer. 
The next step is the binding 
offer that the client may 
request. This may be 
handed to the client at the 
same time as the FIPER, in 
which case they will be in a 
single document. The 
content of the binding offer 
is identical to that of the 
FIPER, except for the fact 

Act 1/2013, of 14 May, on 
measures to protect 
mortgagees, debt 
restructuring and social 
rents (BOE n. 116, 15 May 
2013) 
a) It limits the default 
interest rate to three times 
the applicable legal interest 
rate for mortgages over 
primary residences and 
only if the purpose of the 
credit was to finance the 
acquisition of said primary 
home 
b) It requires a 
handwritten declaration to 
be included in the notarial 
deed whereby the 
consumer declares that 
adequate information has 
been given concerning the 
risks involved in the 
operation for mortgages 
over primary residences. 
That Bank of Spain has 

64 https://hipotecas.com/solicitud/simuladores/gastos.asp.  

Fees expressed: 

• In EUR as % of total 
purchase price and 
• As a fixed amount (if 

available) 

The notary fees depend on 
the amount of the 
mortgage loan (see above 
the scale). It accounts for 
600€ for a loan of 
150.000€, being the price 
of the sale contract 
180.000€64 
Added to this it the AJD 
(Stamp Duty), see below; 
the property valuation 
(300€); and the banking 
fees (it ranges from 1% to 
2% and are taken from the 
gross loan amount at 
completion) 

Typical risks associated 
to these steps, if 
relevant 

a) Notaries may declare 
contractual terms unfair 
themselves if these 
abusive clauses have been 
entered into the Register 
of General Conditions once 
a Court decision has 
rendered them abusive 
(see examples of abusive 
clauses below in point 11). 
In Spain, it could last 
years for the abusive term 
to be entered into the 
Registry of General Terms 
and Conditions 
b) The draft deed is made 
available to the consumer 
for three days (five in 
Catalonia) at the notaries’ 
office, but this still does 
not ensure that the client: 
a) takes the time to go 
and read it; and, b) 
understands between 50 
and 80 pages of legal 
language.  

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Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

produced a standardised 
text63 
c) The default interest 
rates may only accrue on 
the outstanding principal if 
the mortgage loan is over 
a primary residence  
N/A 

See above Act 1/2013 

It depends on the amount 
of the mortgage loan. The 
Land Registrar’s fees 
accounts for 370€ for a 
loan of 150.000€, being 
the price of the sale 
contract 180.000€65 
Regular banking taxation 
Banking Fees 

N/A 

N/A 

that it is produced once the 
appraisal of the property 
and the land registry checks 
have taken place 

Insertion of 
mortgage in the 
land register, 
usually at first 
rank 

Land 
Registry 

Land Registrars provides 
information on the services 
they perform, but they do 
not provide legal advice to 
buyer 

Credit sum paid 
to mortgagor 
(buyer) or seller 

Lending 
institutions 

‐

Lending institutions must 
provide, free of charge, to 
the clients of banking 
services all of the pre
contractual information, 
which is legally required in 
order to adopt an informed 
decision on a banking 
service and compare similar 
offers (commissions 
applied, nominal interest 
rate…).  
See above Order 
EHA/2899/2011 

63 Bank of Spain (2013). Guía de acceso al préstamo hipotecario, annex IX, 75 (available at: http://www.bde.es/f/webbde/Secciones/Publicaciones/Folletos/Fic/Guia_hipotecaria_2013.pdf). 
65 Source: https://hipotecas.com/solicitud/simuladores/gastos.asp.  

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6.  The process to rent or let a property  

6.1  Main steps in the transaction process to rent and let a property  

Table 13: Main steps of the process to rent and let a property 

Main steps 

Process involved66 

Finding and matching landlords 
and tenants 
Information search by landlords 
or tenants  

Inspection of the property by 
tenants  

Delivery of mandatory information 
to tenants prior to the conclusion 
of the contract  
Delivery of energy performance 
certificate to tenant 
Provision of additional guarantees 
to landlord 

Conclusion of the contract in the 
usual form (e.g. oral, written, 
preformulated) 

Rent payment and deposit (e.g. 
bank account) 

Registration of the contract in the 
land register (e.g. excluded, 
optional or mandatory) 

Parties may contact a real estate agent to find a suitable tenant/property. In addition, there are several ways to 
look for a property: newspapers, specialised websites, advertisements, etc.  
The real estate agent or the landlord herself/himself usually asks for the following information to the tenant: the 
work life of the tenant, the payroll or even recommendation letters. Note that since 2013 a Registry of final 
judgments concerning rent defaulters is expected to be created (art. 3 Act 4/2013). 
With a real estate agent: this professional usually allows the tenant to enter the property to check whether it is 
suitable for them or not.  
Without a real estate agent: the landlord may show herself the property to the tenant.  
The real estate agent or the landlord herself/himself. The minimum information to be provided is, according to 
RD 515/1989: building layouts, description of the property, materials of the building, total price, etc.  

The real estate agent or the landlord herself/himself (art. 1 RD 235/2013, of energy efficiency). 

The minimum guarantee is to make a deposit equivalent to one or two monthly rents (art. 36 Act 29/1994). 
However, apart from that, parties may agree on additional guarantees from banks or the tenant’s relatives, such 
as personal guarantees, more quantity for the deposit or even the need to contract and insurance to cover 
property’s damages.     
The contract does not need to be in writing (art. 37 Act 29/1994). However, a contracting party may ask the 
other to conclude it in writing. If a real estate agent helps in this process, a preformulated contract is usually 
used (see an example in the following website: https://www.ocu.org/vivienda-y-energia/comprar-vender-
alquilar/modelos/contrato-de-arrendamiento-de-vivienda458474 ).   
According to art. 17 Act 29/1994, parties may pay in cash, with a transfer in a bank account, etc. Apart from 
that, it is important to use a bank account in order to receive aids from the Government (for example, 
deductions at the income tax, aids to pay the rent, etc.).  
When parties agree to pay the rent repairing the property and not in money (art. 17.5 Urban Leases Act), the 
payment is confirmed with the final acceptance of the work.  
It is not compulsory to register the contract into the land register. However, arts. 7.2, 13 and 14 Act 29/1994 
(since 2013) establishes that the contract does not bind third parties if it has not been recorded into the land 
register. Therefore, the registration is recommendable, but still unusual.  

66 Explain more precisely to what extent each step is relevant and how the step is performed 

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6.2  Rent contract   

Table 14: Rent contract  

Main steps 

Actors involved 
per intermediate 
step 

Finding and matching 
the parties 

Estate agents 
(not mandatory) 

Payment details67 

Payments expressed : 

• In EUR as % of total purchase 

price and 

• As a fixed amount if available 

(add if VAT applies) 

In rent operations, the usual fee is 
around 10% of the rent if the duration 
of the contract is less than a year or 
one month of rent if the contract has a 
duration of a year or longer. This price 
includes the advertising of the 
property, consultancy, information 
provided 

When is the 
payment 
made 

When the 
contract rent is 
celebrated, 
finished, or as 
agreed by the 
parties. 

Typical risks associated to these steps, 
if relevant 

 -There are websites that already match the 
parties (Fotocasa, Idealista, habitaclia…) 
-In some cases, there are estate agents 
who may not have any academic training or 
who do not have the appropriate required 
training / training which has no relation 
with real estate (that is to say, they are not 
registered in any professional college 
because the profession is deregulated). This 
can jeopardize consumers. 

Information search 
by landlord on tenant  

Estate agents or 
lawyers (not 
mandatory) 

In relation to lawyers, the fee of the 
total service will be freely agreed 
between the client and the lawyer. See 
above 

See above 

The intervention of an expert is not 
compulsory to draft the contract 

Inspection of the 
property by tenant  
Delivery of 
mandatory 
information to tenant 
prior to the 
conclusion of the 
contract 

Estate agents 
(not mandatory) 
Estate agents or 
lawyers 
(not mandatory) 

See above 

See above 

See above 

See above 

The intervention of an expert is not 
compulsory 
The intervention of an expert is not 
compulsory 

67 Payment shall be considered as the ‘discharge of an obligation by its settlement equal to the monetary value of the debtor’s obligation’ while fees can be defined as ‘a charge for services 
rendered’ (Retrieved from: http://www.investorwords.com/3634/payment.html, http://www.investorwords.com/1922/fee.html). Payment, therefore, includes both the cost of the service and 
the fees for the service in question.  

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Table 14: Rent contract  

Delivery of energy 
performance 
certificate to tenant 
Conclusion of the 
contract in the usual 
form (e.g. oral, 
written, 
preformulated) 

Rent payment and 
deposit (e.g. bank 
account) 
Registration of the 
contract in the land 
register or other 
device (excluded, 
optional or 
mandatory) 

Technical expert 
(architects, 
engineers…)  
Estate agents or 
lawyers. 
The usual form is 
written. A 
preformulated form 
is not usual. 
(not mandatory) 
Estate agents or 
lawyers 
(not mandatory) 
Land register 
(not mandatory and 
not usual) 

It depends on the property or the 
location of it68. Average: 50-150 eur. 

See above 

See above 

See above 

The intervention of an expert is not 
compulsory 

See above 

See above  

The intervention of an expert is not 
compulsory 

The registration of the rent contract is not 
compulsory. 

Once the deed 
of conveyance 
has entered 
into the Land 
Registry  

These fees are fixed in art. 2 of Royal 
Decree 1427/1989, of 17th November, 
which approves the tariffs for the land 
registrars69. 
The inscription, annotation or 
cancellation of each property or right, 
the amounts set by the following scales 
will be collected: 
A) If the value of the property or right 
does not exceed 6,010.12 euros, 24 
euros; 
B) For the excess between 6.010,13 
and 30,050.61 euros, 1.75 per 1,000; 
C) For the excess between 30,050.62 
and 60,101.21 euros, 1.25 per 1,000; 
D) For the excess between 60,101,22 
and 150,253,03 euros, 0,75 per 1,000; 
E) For the excess between 150.253,04 
and 601,012.10 euros, 0.30 per 1,000; 

68 See examples in: https://www.certicalia.com/precio-certificado-energetico 

69 Amended by Royal Decree 1612/2011, of 14 November, amending the Royal Decree 1426/1989, of 17 November, and 1427/1989. 

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Table 14: Rent contract  

F) For the value that exceeds 
601,012.10 euros 0.20 per 1,000. 
However, the Royal Decree 297/1996, 
of 23rd February, on the registration of 
urban contracts of lease in the land 
register (BOE 14 March 1996, n. 64), 
establishes a 25% reduction of the 
applicable notaries and land registrar 
fees so as to foster tenancy contracts 
to be entered into the land register. 

6.3  Professional services performed in the real estate market related to renting and letting a property 

Table 15: Professional services performed in the real estate market related to renting and letting a property 

Service 
providers 
involved  
Estate agents   Optional but usual 

Quality of 
involvement 

Fees expressed: 

• In EUR as % of total purchase price and 
• As a fixed amount (if available) 

In rent operations, the usual fee is around 10% of the 
rent if the duration of the contract is less than a year 
or equal to one month of rent if the contract has a 
duration minimum of a year 

Minimum standards for 
information provided by 
law, if applicable  
Royal Decree 515/1989, of 21 
April, on Consumer Protection 
regarding the information to 
be provided in the sale and 
rental of housing (building 
layouts, description of the 
property, materials of the 
building, total price, etc.) 
No 

Services in the real 
estate market 

Finding and 
matching landlords 
and tenants 

Information search 
by landlords or 
tenants (e.g. about 
salary, outstanding 
debts) 
Inspection of the 
property by tenants 

Estate agents, 
lawyers  

Optional but not 
usual 

No 

Estate agents 
and lawyers  

Optional and usual 

In relation to lawyers, the fee of the total service will 
be freely agreed between the client and the lawyer. 
Therefore, the lawyer fees ranges approximately from 
100 to 300 euros depending on the services 
performed. 
See above - The cost of this service, if provided, is 
included in the global fee charged to the client, which 
is calculated according to the abovementioned criteria 

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Table 15: Professional services performed in the real estate market related to renting and letting a property 

Delivery of 
mandatory 
information to 
tenants prior to the 
conclusion of the 
contract  
Conclusion of the 
contract in the 
usual form  
Rent payment and 
deposit  
Registration of the 
contract in the land 
register  

No 

No 

No 

No 

Other steps  

Royal Decree 515/1989, of 21 
April, on Consumer Protection 
regarding the information to 
be provided in the sale and 
rental of housing 

Estate agents 
and lawyers 

Optional but not 
usual 

N/A 

Estate agents 
and lawyers 

Optional but usual 
(written form) 

Lawyers and 
notaries 
Property 
registrator 

Optional but not 
usual 
Optional but not 
usual 

Estate agents   Optional but usual 

See above - The cost of this service, if provided, is 
included in the global fee charged to the client, which 
is calculated according to the abovementioned criteria 
N/A 

Fees are fixed in art. 2 of Royal Decree 1427/1989, of 
17th November, which approves the tariffs for the land 
registrars70. 

In rent operations, the usually fee is around 10% of 
the rent if the duration of the contract is less than a 
year or equal to one moth of rent if the contract has a 
duration minimum of a year. 

70 Amended by Royal Decree 1612/2011, of 14 November, amending the Royal Decree 1426/1989, of 17 November, and 1427/1989. 

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7.  Professional services regulation: notaries  

7.1  Market entry and structure regulation 

 Table 16: Market entry and structure regulation 

Regulation 

Subjective 
requirements 

Qualifications (diplomas, 
exams, concours) required to 
become a notary in your 
country: 

Objective 
requirements  

Do numerus clauses and other 
objective requirements exist?  

Citizenship 
requirements 

Inter-
professional 
cooperation 

Business 
structure  

Are foreign candidates 
admitted de iure and also de 
facto under the same 
conditions as nationals? 
Are forms of collaboration 
between notaries and other 
professionals allowed and 
usual?  
Are notary 
associations/corporations 
allowed? 

Regulation: Act 28 May 1862 and Decree 2 June 1944. 
Art. 5 of Decree 2 June 1944 establishes that the admission of the notary will take place through an 
exam (a public concours). It is a very demanding exam difficult to pass. 
Art. 6 of Decree 2 June 1944 establishes the following conditions to be appointed as a notary: 
 a) To be Spanish or to hold the nationality of a country of the European Union 
b) Be over 18 years old 
c) Not being ineligible for personal reasons (art. 7 Decree 2 June 1944) 
d) Be a Doctor in law or have the degree in law 
These are established in Arts. 8 and 9 Decree 2 June 1944, for example those physically or 
mentally disabled to exercise the profession cannot become notaries, as well as those who as a 
result of disciplinary proceedings have been dismissed from the service of the Public Administration, 
etc. To take part in the concours to become a Notary, the applications must be addressed to the 
General Directorate of Registries and Notaries and follow the procedure regulated by this Decree. 
Yes, but only Spanish or professionals who hold the nationality of another country of the European 
Union 

Yes, usually with lawyers and land registrars (e.g. arts. 9, 15, 22 Decree 8 February 1944) (which 
regulates the profession of land registrators) 

It exists the General Council of Notaries (“Consejo General del Notario”). 
https://www.notariado.org/liferay/web/notariado/inicio 
In each region of Spain (Autonomus Communities) exist the Professional Colleges of Notaries that 
depend on the General Council of Notaries. See, for example, the Professional College of Notaries of 
Catalonia in: https://www.notarisdecatalunya.org 
Notaries have the double character of public office holders and liberal professionals 

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Geographical 
limitations 

Are there limitations with 
respect to the area in which 
the notary can exercise his/her 
activities (e.g. at the regional 
or municipal level)?  

Are these limitation restricted 
to specific tasks? 

7.2  Market conduct regulation  

Table 17: Market conduct regulation 

Regulation 

Exclusive 
rights  

For which transactions or parts 
of them only notaries may act 
against payment. 

Duty to provide 
services 
Professional 
standards 

Mandatory 
intervention 

Are notaries allowed to refuse 
a request to act? 
How are professional standards 
regulated? What are the tasks 
of the professional 
representation (e.g. Chamber 
of Notaries) in this context? 
Is the intervention of a notary 
required for the registration 
procedure? 

Yes. According art. 8 Act 17/1993, notaries may only exercise their profession in the district in 
which their office is located. 
The office district coincides with the Spanish provinces. See them in: 
http://www.mjusticia.gob.es/cs/Satellite/Portal/es/administracion-justicia/organizacion-
justicia/cartografia-judicial/cartografia-partidos. 
According to art. 3 Act 17/1993, each “judicial region” constitutes a Notary District, within which 
notaries will be appointed in sufficient quantity to provide the public service, taking into account the 
population, the frequency of transactions, and the circumstances of the region and the decent 
subsistence of Notaries. 
See further: arts. 72 and following Decree 2 June 1944. 
Parties may freely choose their notary (art. 126 Decree 2 June 1944). There is no territorial 
limitation to choose the notary 

Art. 17 Act 17/1993 establishes in which transactions notaries can intervene: write deeds, extend 
and certify acts (e.g.: condominiums acts), copies, wills, creation of companies (S.L, S.A…), etc. 
According to art. 3 Act 17/1993, the Notary, as an organ of voluntary jurisdiction, may never act 
without prior request of the interested party, except in special cases legally established 
According to art. 2 Act 17/1993, if a Notary required to intervene in any public or private 
extrajudicial act refuses this without just cause, he or she shall be held liable 
The professional standards are regulated in Act 17/1993 and Decree 2 June 1944. The professional 
representation is under the General Council of Notaries (“Consejo General del Notariado”) and the 
notarial professional college of each region. Among its main objectives are to guarantee to society a 
notarial service that is economically sustainable and exercised for the benefit of society71 

Yes, the notarial deed is compulsory to register the mortgage (art. 3 Decree 8 February 1944  

71 See it in: http://www.notariado.org/liferay/web/notariado/el-notariado-informa/detalle?p_p_id=NOT013_WAR_notariadoNoticiasPlugin&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=column-
3&p_p_col_count=2&p_r_p_564233524_NOTARIO_INFORMA_DETALLE_ID=2817927 

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Table 17: Market conduct regulation 

Compulsory 
indemnity 
insurance 

Is indemnity insurance 
compulsory? If yes, what is the 
indicative amount of the 
insurance?   

Continuing 
education  

Do forms of continuing 
education exist? If yes, is 
continuing education 
mandatory? 
Are there limitations on 
advertising? 

Advertising 
restrictions 
Fee regulation  Notary fee system 

Yes (art. 24 Decree 2 June 1944 and art. 14 Act 17/1993). 
According to art. 26 Decree 2 June 1944, the amount of the insurance is 1.500 euros, unless there 
is a population of more than one million inhabitants, since in this case it will be raised to 3.000 
euros. The amount can be updated by the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries. Each 
notary may have another higher insurance according to the value of the transactions where they 
intervene 
Yes, professional colleges may organize courses or other education programmes for notaries, but 
they are not compulsory 

Yes – unfair trading rules (See Act 15/2007, of 3 July, on the protection of competition, BOE 4 July 
2007, n. 159)72 
According to art. 63 Decree 2 June 1944, the remuneration of Notaries will be in charge of those 
who require their services and will be regulated 
The fees are regulated in Royal Decree 1426/89, of 17 November, which approves the tariffs of 
Notaries 73. The minimum for their services is 30 euros (for example, for a will).  
Usually their fees depend on the value of the operation, see above. 
The average income for notaries per month is around 12.000 EUR. 

72 http://www.elnotario.es/index.php/hemeroteca/revista-43/457-actuaciones-de-los-colegios-notariales-y-la-ley-de-defensa-de-la-competencia-y-ii-0-46104446562104345 
73 Amended by Royal Decree 1612/2011, of 14 November, amending the Royal Decree 1426/1989, of 17 November, and 1427/1989. 

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8.  Professional services regulation: lawyers or other licensed conveyancers (only relevant if legally admitted to perform real 

estate transactions and/or to assist the conclusion of tenancy agreements)  

8.1  Market entry and structure regulation  

 Table 18: Market entry and structure regulation 

Regulation 

Subjective 
requirements 

Conditions (diplomas, exams, 
concours) required to become 
a lawyer in your country. 

Objective 
requirements  
Citizenship 
requirements 

Inter-
professional 
cooperation 

Business 
structure  

Geographical 
limitations 

Do numerus clauses and other 
objective requirements exist?  
Are foreign candidates 
admitted de iure and also de 
facto under the same 
conditions as nationals? 
Are forms of collaboration 
between lawyers and other 
professionals allowed and 
usual?  
Are lawyer 
associations/corporations 
allowed? 
Are there limitations with 
respect to the area in which 
the lawyer can exercise his/her 
activities (e.g. at the regional 
or municipal level)?  
Are these limitation restricted 
to specific tasks? 

In order to become a lawyer in Spain, he or she must be of age and must not be disqualified from 
practising as a lawyer for any reason, according to Royal Decree 658/2001, of 22 June, by which 
the General By-law of the Spanish Lawyers is approved (BOE 10 July 2001, n. 164) 
Lawyers must hold a Spanish law degree and must complete a Postgraduate Course since the entry 
into force of the Act 24/2006 and Royal Decree 775/2011, at the end of which they must pass an 
official exam, they must also be a member of the bar association for the district in which the sole or 
main professional domicile is located 
No 

Yes, a Spanish national or a national of a Member State of the European Union may practise as a 
lawyer in Spain, provided they are in possession of the professional qualification required by the 
country of origin, which will be acknowledge according to the Royal Decree 581/2017, of 9 June 
(BOE 10 June 2017, n. 138). 
The Royal Decree 658/2001 establishes that lawyers can practice as self-employed holders of office 
or employees of a self-employed lawyer or an associated office. They usually collaborate among 
themselves, each partner one being in charge of a specific area of law 

Yes, the Act 2/2007, of 15 March, on Professional Services Firms (BOE 16 March 2007, n. 65), 
allows lawyers to set up commercial undertakings  

No, every lawyer registered in a Spanish Bar Association can rend a service freely in the whole 
State and in any area of law 

No. The lawyer who wants to practise in a different legal bounds of his Bar Association, should 
inform the Bar in which scope is going to rend a direct service 

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8.2  Market conduct regulation 

Table 19: Market conduct regulation 

Exclusive 
rights  

Neutrality 

Duty to provide 
services 

Regulation 

For which transactions or parts 
of them only lawyers may act 
against payment 
Is the lawyer allowed to act on 
behalf of both parties involved 
in the transaction? In this case, 
what type of fees apply and 
which party has to bear them? 
Are lawyers allowed to refuse a 
request to act? 

Professional 
standards 

How are professional standards 
regulated? What are the tasks 
of the professional 
representation (e.g. Chamber 
of Lawyers/Advocates) in this 
context? 

No, but the intervention of lawyers is mandatory in all civil proceedings as a general rule (art. 31 
Spanish Law on Civil Procedure 2000) 

Art. 4 of the Code of Conduct of the Spanish Bar Association 200174 states that the lawyer is 
obliged not to defraud the confidence of his/her client and not to defend the interests, which might 
be in conflict with those of the client. So there is no prohibition ab initio for a lawyer to act on 
behalf of both parties, as it is the case when both spouses decide to divorce by consent 

Yes, lawyers have full freedom to accept or reject a request to act, and they can also cease to act 
at any stage of judicial or administrative proceedings, as long as the client is still represented (art. 
26 Royal Decree 658/2001). This means that the lawyer who withdraws from the representation of 
a party needs to ensure that the party does not remain unrepresented. If lawyers are appointed to 
give legal advice to people who have the right to free legal representation, then the conditions of 
termination of the representation shall be governed by the Free Legal Assistance Act 1/1996, of 10 
January (BOE 12 January 1996, n. 11). However, it needs to be considered that art. 553.4 Act 
6/1985, of 1 July, on the judiciary (BOE 2 July 1985, n. 157) establishes that lawyers and attorneys 
may be subject to disciplinary proceedings for their actions before courts and tribunals when they 
refuse to continue providing legal representation or defence without any justification (e.g. when 
differences with the client appear) within the seven days prior to the trial or the hearing (art. 26 
Royal Decree 658/2001) 
These are established at the Code of Conduct of the Spanish Bar Association 

74 Available at: http://www.ccbe.eu/NTCdocument/Spain_EN_Codigo_deon1_1251981686.pdf.  

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Table 19: Market conduct regulation 

Compulsory 
indemnity 
insurance 

Is indemnity insurance 
compulsory? If yes, what is the 
indicative amount of the 
insurance?   

Continuing 
education  

Advertising 
restrictions 

Do forms of continuing 
education exist? If yes, is 
continuing education 
mandatory? 
Are there limitations on 
advertising? 

Fee regulation 

Lawyer fee system 

The indemnity insurance is compulsory. Thus, the Code of Conduct of the Spanish Bar Association 
states that an obligation for lawyers to be insured can be established by law, and Art. 9 Spanish Act 
7/2006, of 31 May, on the exercise of qualified professions and professional colleges (BOE 6 July 
2006, n. 160), establishes that the qualified professionals have the duty to cover by insurance the 
risks of liability that they can incur in the exercise of their profession. In practice, Professional 
Colleges offer its members the possibility to be covered by the indemnity insurance of the College 
(which is taken out for the benefit of all members), the cost of which ranges from 100 euros to 600 
euros depending on both the compensation limit and deductibles per claim chosen by the lawyer. In 
general, the cost of the indemnity insurance is higher when lawyers take it out on their own. 
Continuing education is not mandatory after the law degree and the Postgraduate Course; however, 
Bar Associations offers usually a wide range of training courses for its members 

According to art. 7 Code of Conduct of the Spanish Bar Association the lawyer is entitled to realize 
honourable, loyal and truthful publicity of his/her professional services, with complete respect to 
the people’s dignity, legislation in force on those subjects, on defence of competition and unfair 
competition, always in accordance to the deontological rules provided by this Code and those, as 
the case may be, announced by the Council of the Autonomous Region and the Law Society of the 
territory of professional practice, e.g. they are not allowed to promise results that do not only 
depend on the lawyer’s activity that is being advertised 
Fees may take the form of a fixed fee, hourly fee, or periodic payments and it can be agreed freely 
between the parties provided it does not go against the professional code of ethics or the rules of 
fair competition (article 15 Code of Conduct of the Spanish Bar Association). However, lawyers may 
set their fees according to the "guidelines" published by each professional college. These rules are 
based on general criteria for the preparation of minutes such as complexity of the matter, 
proportionality, etc. 
The contracting party must bear with the lawyer’s fees  

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9.  Professional services regulation: estate agents  

9.1  Market entry and structure regulation 

Table 20: Market entry and structure regulation 

Subjective 
requirements 

Regulation 

Qualifications (level and 
duration of education and 
training, diplomas, exams, 
traineeships or professional 
experience requirements, 
concours) required to become 
an estate agent in your 
country.  

Objective 
requirements  

Licence 
requirements 

Do numerus clauses and 
other objective requirements 
exist?  
Are estate agents licenced or 
do they work as employees? 

- The profession is deregulated since 2000 (through royal Decree 4/2000). This means that in Spain 
anyone can become real estate agent without any specific academic qualification and without 
joining an official professional college of estate agents (Colegio de Agentes de la Propiedad 
Inmobiliaria). However, this college exist for those who want to be registered. 
- Therefore, the profession can be performed by (art. 3 Act 10/2003): 
a) Real Estate Agents with the professional qualification and requirements contained in their own 
specific regulation. That is to say those who join an official professional college of estate agents 
b) Professionals or companies with any academic title or in any official professional college (…) 
- The profession regulation (for those who join a professional college of estate agents) is in Royal 
Decree 1294/2007  
- Those who join a professional college of estate agents must (art. 1 Royal Decree 1294/2007): 
a) Be over 18 year old and not be disabled 
b) Have the title of graduate, engineer, technical engineer or technical architect, or of the Official 
Title of Real Estate Agent issued by the Ministry 
c) Have lack of criminal records that disqualify the professional exercise 
- Catalonia (2007) and Basque Country (2015) have partially solved the deregulation of this 
profession. In Catalonia is compulsory to have an academic qualification related to real estate and 
to be registered in the Estate Agents Register (it is a public Register). However, in the Basque 
Country it is not implemented yet.  
Regulation in these regions: 
Catalonia: Act 18/2007 and Decree 12/2010  
Basque Country: (First Additional Disposition Housing Act 3/2015, of 18 June) 
No 

In Spain, the concept of licensed real estate agents does not exist. In addition, joining official 
professional college of estate agents (Colegio de Agentes de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria) is optional. 
However, in Catalonia and Basque Country the registration in the public Estate Agents Register as 
well as to fulfil the academic requirements are compulsory 

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Table 20: Market entry and structure regulation 

Yes 

Estate agents are allowed to exercise another profession. However arts. 41 and 44 of Royal Decree 
1294/2007 sanctions those who act for their own benefit or interest (conflict of interest) 
The inter-professional cooperation is not regulated 

  Not known. 
  The agent can be employed by another agent and establish a partnership with other agents. 
  No 

Citizenship 
requirements 

Inter-
professional 
cooperation 

Business 
structure  

Geographical 
limitations 

Is unlimited access to the 
profession granted to foreign 
professionals de iure and de 
facto? 
Are estate agents allowed to 
exercise another profession 
or business activity? Is inter-
professional cooperation 
regulated?  
Share of estate agent acts 
acting as sole practitioners 
and as companies (if data are 
available)? 
Can the agent be employed 
by another agent or establish 
a partnership with other 
agents? 
Are there any restrictions on 
the corporate structure of a 
real estate enterprise (such 
as voting rights reserved to 
qualified members of a 
profession, shareholding 
requirements etc.)? 
Are there limitations with 
respect to the area in which 
the estate agent can exercise 
his/her activities (e.g. at the 
regional or municipal level)?  
Are these limitation restricted 
to specific tasks? 

No 

No 

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9.2  Market conduct regulation 

Table 21: Market conduct regulation 

Neutrality 

Professional 
standards 

Compulsory 
indemnity 
insurance 

Continuing 
education  

Advertising 
restrictions 

Regulation 

Is neutrality regulated? Is 
the agent allowed to act on 
behalf of both parties 
involved in the transaction? 
In this case, what type of 
fees applies and which party 
bears these? 
How are professional 
standards regulated? Are 
entities or associations 
ensuring the professional 
representation and respect 
of rules of good practice 
(e.g. association of real 
estate professionals)? 
Is indemnity insurance 
compulsory for estate 
agents? If yes, what is the 
indicative amount of the 
insurance?   
Do forms of continuing 
education exist? If yes, is 
continuing education 
mandatory? What are the 
requirements related to the 
content and duration of 
continuing education? What 
are the consequences of 
non-compliance? 
Are there limitations on 
advertising? 

The neutrality is not regulated. The agent is generally employed by the seller (selling contracts) or 
landlord (tenancy contract) 

Joining an official professional college of estate agents (Colegio de Agentes de la Propiedad 
Inmobiliaria) is optional. However in Catalonia and Basque Country the registration in the public 
Estate Agents Register and to fulfil the academic requirements is compulsory 
It also exists associations like “Asociación Profesional de Expertos Inmobiliarios  (APEI)”, 
“Asociación empresarial de gestión inmobiliaria (AEGI)” and “Asociación profesional de Gestores 
intermediarios en Promociones de Edificaciones (GIPE)”. 

Yes for those who are in the professional college of estate agents (Colegio de Agentes de la 
Propiedad Inmobiliaria) 

It is not compulsory 
The professional college of estate agents (Colegio de Agentes de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria) offers 
academic courses and also some universities 

Yes – unfair trading rules (See Act 15/2007) 

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Table 21: Market conduct regulation 

Fee regulation 

Estate agents’ fee system 

Compulsory 
membership in 
professional 
bodies/compulsory 
registration 

Is membership in 
professional bodies 
compulsory? If so, what are 
the membership conditions 
and the membership fees? 
Does the professional body 
have a supervisory or 
another important 
regulatory role? 

Royal Decree 1294/2007 does not establish anything related to fees. 
Usually fees are paid by the seller (selling contracts) or the landlord (rent contract). However, as 
the Royal Decree 1294/2007 does not establish any disposition related to that, parties can 
establish whatever their consider or according the common or traditional use in each region. 
Usually, in buying and selling operations the fee varies between 3% and 5% (in big cities can be 
around 10%)75 of the price + VAT  
In rent operation, the usually fee is around 10% of the rent if the duration of the contract is less 
than a year or equal to one moth of rent if the contract has a duration minimum of a year. 
No, it is voluntary 

75 https://www.idealista.com/news/inmobiliario/vivienda/2010/09/17/255422-comisiones-de-las-agencias-inmobiliarias-puntos-a-tener-en-cuenta 

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10. 

The real estate market   

10.1  Transaction costs for sample transactions 

Table 22: Transaction costs VAT excluded   

€100,000 
sales price 
(no 
mortgage) 

Technical 
services 
(if usual) 
Property 
valuation: 
250€ 
approx. 

Estate 
agent76 

Between 
3%-5% 
of the 
total 
amount 
+ VAT 
3,000€-
5,000€ 

Legal services 

Land register fee 

Transfer tax/stamp duty 

It is not compulsory to ask for 
legal advice but, in this case, 
the lawyer can draft the 
contract (the fee depends on 
the lawyer and the Bar 
Association, approx. 400€) 
The estate agent normally 
offers legal services (drafting 
the contract) too 
Parties usually contract a tax 
manager (e.g. to pay the fees, 
taxes…) between 200€-300€  

It is possible to sell a 
property without registering 
it into the Land Registry. 
However, due to its effects, 
it is usual and 
recommendable to do so 
A notarial deed is required 
to register the contract into 
the Land Registry. The costs 
of the deed and the registry 
are statutory (RD 
1426/1988). Estimated 
costs are:  
•  450€ for the notarial 

Transfer tax: 

  VAT: 10% (if the seller is a 
professional) of the total 
amount 

  Property transfer tax (if the 
seller is not a professional): 
between 6-11% of the total 
amount (depending on the 
Autonomous Community) 
+ Tax on stamp duty: between 
1-1,5% of the total amount 

deed. 

•  170€ for the Land 

Registry.  

€100,000 
sales price + 
100.000€ 
mortgage 

Property 
valuation: 
250€ 
approx. 

Between 
3%-5% 
of the 
total 
amount 
+ VAT 
3,000€-
5,000€ 

It is not compulsory to ask for 
legal advice but, in this case, 
the lawyer can draft the 
contract (the fee depends on 
the lawyer and the Bar 
Association, approx. 400€). 
The estate agent normally 
offers legal services (drafting 
the contract) too. 

It is compulsory to register 
the mortgage (agreed on a 
notarial deed) into the Land 
Registry. The buyer shall 
pay for the deed and 
registry of both the 
transaction and the 
mortgage. 
Estimated costs are:  
•  900€ for the notarial 

Transfer tax: 

  VAT: 10% (if the seller is a 
professional) of the total 
amount 

  Property transfer tax (if the 
seller is not a professional): 
between 6-11% of the total 
amount (depending on the 
Autonomous Community) 

76 An agent usually receives a percentage of the transaction value.  

deeds. 

Total usual 
transfer 
costs 
Approx. 
15.900€ 

Approx. 
16,700€ 

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Table 22: Transaction costs VAT excluded   

€250,000 
sales price 
(no 
mortgage) 

€250,000 
sales price + 
250,000€ 
mortgage 

€500,000 
sales price 
(no 
mortgage) 

Property 
valuation: 
250€ 
approx. 

Property 
valuation: 
250€ 
approx. 

Property 
valuation: 
250€ 
approx. 

Between 
3%-5% 
of the 
total 
amount 
+ VAT 
7,500€-
12,500€ 

Between 
3%-5% 
of the 
total 
amount 
+ VAT 
7,500€-
12,500€ 

Between 
3%-5% 
of the 
total 
amount 
+ VAT 
15,000€-
25,000€ 

Parties usually contract a tax 
manager (e.g. to pay the fees, 
taxes…) between 200€-300€. 
It is not compulsory to ask for 
legal advice but, in this case, 
the lawyer can draft the 
contract (the fee depends on 
the lawyer and the Bar 
Association, approx. 400€). 
The estate agent normally 
offers legal services (drafting 
the contract) too. 
Parties usually contract a tax 
manager (e.g. to pay the fees, 
taxes…) between 200€-300€. 
It is not compulsory to ask for 
legal advice but, in this case, 
the lawyer can draft the 
contract (the fee depends on 
the lawyer and the Bar 
Association, approx. 400€). 
The estate agent normally 
offers legal services (drafting 
the contract) too. 
Parties contract a tax manager 
(e.g. to pay the fees, taxes…) 
between 200€-300€. 
It is not compulsory to ask for 
legal advice but, in this case, 
the lawyer can draft the 
contract (the fee depends on 
the lawyer and the Bar 
Association, approx. 400€). 
The estate agent normally 
offers legal services (drafting 
the contract) too. 

•  330€ for the Land 

Registry. 

Estimated costs are:  
•  550€ for the notarial 

deed. 

•  260€ for the Land 

Registry. 

Estimated costs are:  
•  1,150€ for the notarial 

deed. 

•  450€ for the Land 

Registry. 

Estimated costs are:  
•  700€ for the notarial 

deed. 

•  350€ for the Land 

Registry. 

+ Transfer tax for the 
mortgage: between 1-1,5% of 
the total amount 
Transfer tax: 

  VAT: 10% (if the seller is a 
professional) of the total 
amount 

  Property transfer tax (if the 
seller is not a professional): 
between 6-11% of the total 
amount (depending on the 
Autonomous Community) 
+ Tax on stamp duty: between 
1-1,5% of the total amount 

Transfer tax: 

  VAT: 10% (if the seller is a 
professional) of the total 
amount 

  Property transfer tax (if the 
seller is not a professional): 
between 6-11% of the total 
amount (depending on the 
Autonomous Community) 
+ Transfer tax for the 
mortgage: between 1-1,5% of 
the total amount 
Transfer tax: 

  VAT: 10% (if the seller is a 
professional) of the total 
amount 

  Property transfer tax (if the 
seller is not a professional): 
between 6-11% of the total 
amount (depending on the 
Autonomous Community) 

Approx. 
36,400€ 

Approx. 
37,200€ 

Approx. 
71,900€ 

54 

 
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Table 22: Transaction costs VAT excluded   

€500,000 
sales price + 
€500,000 
mortgage 

Property 
valuation: 
250€ 
approx. 

Between 
3%-5% 
of the 
total 
amount 
+ VAT 
15,000€-
25,000€ 

%VAT 
applicable 

21% 

21% 

Parties usually contract a tax 
manager (e.g. to pay the fees, 
taxes…) between 200€-300€. 
It is not compulsory to ask for 
legal advice but, in this case, 
the lawyer can draft the 
contract (the fee depends on 
the lawyer and the Bar 
Association, approx. 400€). 
The estate agent normally 
offers legal services (drafting 
the contract) too. 
Parties usually contract a tax 
manager (e.g. to pay the fees, 
taxes…) between 200€-300€. 
21% 

+ Tax on stamp duty: between 
1-1,5% of the total amount 

Estimated costs are:  

Transfer tax: 

•  1,400€ for the notarial 

Approx. 
72,850€ 

deed. 

•  600€ for the Land 

Registry. 

None 

  VAT: 10% (if the seller is a 
professional) of the total 
amount 

  Property transfer tax (if the 
seller is not a professional): 
between 6-11% of the total 
amount (depending on the 
Autonomous Community) 
+ Transfer tax for the 
mortgage: between 1-1,5% of 
the total amount 
- 

- 

The seller may pay a capital gains tax if s/he sells the property with gains (but not with losses according to STC 11.5.2017). The amount depends on the 
municipality. The transaction also affects the income tax of the seller. 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

10.2  Transaction features  

Table 23: Transaction features 

Transaction/service  

Estate agents 

Party bearing the costs of intermediation 
service (buyers or sellers, landlords or 
tenants)  
Costs expressed: 

• In EUR as % of total purchase price and 
• As a fixed amount (if available) 

Usually the seller/landlord. However, they may 
agree to share the Estate agents’ fee or to be paid 
for the tenant.   

Technical services 

Legal services 

Land register fees 

Usually the buyer/tenant 
*According to STS 23.12.2015, the assignment of 
all taxes and fees to the mortgagee is an unfair 
term (only regarding the mortgage) 
Usually the buyer/tenant 
*According to STS 23.12.2015, the assignment of 
all taxes and fees to the mortgagee is an unfair 
term (only regarding the mortgage) 
Usually the buyer/tenant 
*According to STS 23.12.2015, the assignment of 
all taxes and fees to the mortgagee is an unfair 
term (only regarding the mortgage) 

Fees as expressed in the contract: 

• In EUR as % of total purchase price and 
• As a fixed amount (if available)  

Possible hidden 
costs faced by 
buyers or 
tenants 

Estate agent fee for buying a property: between 
3%-5% of the total amount.  
Estate agent fee for concluding a tenancy 
agreement: 

•  Less than one year: a 10% of the amount.  
•  More than one year: the equivalent to a 

monthly rent.  

N/A 

VAT 

N/A 

A fee, when they draft the contract  

VAT 

The amount depends on the value of the property 
(buying a property) or the contract (renting a 
property) 

N/A 

Taxes on conveyancing  Usually the seller/landlord. However, they may 

A proportional cost on the agent’s fee 

N/A 

Transfer taxes 

agree to share the Estate agents’ fee or to be paid 
for the tenant.  It includes the VAT applicable for 
the estate agent’s service. 
Usually the buyer/tenant 
*According to STS 23.12.2015, the assignment of 
all taxes and fees to the mortgagee is an unfair 
term (only regarding the mortgage) 

A proportional cost depending on the value of the 
property (buying a property) or the value of the 
contract (renting a property) 

N/A 

56 

 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

10.3  Taxes during the process of buying and selling a property 

Table 24: Taxes related to buying and selling a property 

Relevance 
of the tax 

When to pay the tax as part of the 
process of buying or selling 

Tax amount (expressed in EUR as % of total purchase price 
and as a fixed amount if available) 

Registration tax 77 

Mortgage tax 

No 

Yes 

Cadastral tax 

No 

Stamp tax 

Transfer tax (tax on 
the acquisition of 
property) 

No 

No 

No 

No 

When the deed of conveyance is 
formalised 

ITP (Tax on capital transfers) in each autonomous region, when the 
mortgage is established: the amount depends on the region, it 
ranges from 1% to 1,5% of the amount of the guaranteed capital 
covering interest, indemnities and similar concepts 

The AJD (stamp duty) arising from the mortgage deed depends on 
each region in Spain; it ranges from 1% to 1.5%. It is incompatible 
with the previous one 

The IBI (Tax on real estate) arises for the 
mere fact of being an owner of a real 
estate, but it is not compulsory paid in the 
process of buying and selling strictly 
speaking. It depends on the local 
authority and it must be paid on a yearly 
basis.  
No 

No 

When the deed of conveyance is 
formalised  

State VAT in purchasing directly from the promoter: 10% of the 
value of the purchase, paid by the buyer 
ITP (Tax on capital transfers) in second purchases between 
individuals; tax of regional nature, it depends on each region and 
ranges from 6% to 11% of the value of the purchase. Paid by the 
buyer 
IIVTNU (tax on the increase of value of urban nature, surplus 
value) when the property is sold: it is paid by the seller. It depends 
on the city councils. The law establishes a percentage depending on 
the time the seller have own the good, the 30% cadastral value at 
most is paid. Each city council determines it in its tax ordinance 

77 Registration taxes are public levies associated with the registration act. They are not to be confused with registration fees, i.e. the payment required by the registration office to carry out the 
registration. Registration fees are contained in Table 10. 

57 

 
 
 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 24: Taxes related to buying and selling a property 

Archives tax 

Other taxes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Notarial and land registrar fees are not 
taxes strictly speaking  
If the seller earns or loses money, he 
declares it in his personal income tax 
(IRPF) for that year. Here it taxes the 
general tax base of the IRPF together with 
his other incomes; the scale depends on 
each region (19% and 48%). This money, 
if reinvested in another dwelling, is 
exempt from the IRPF 

10.4  Taxes during the process of renting and letting a property 

Table 25: Taxes related to renting or letting a property 

Relevance of 
the tax 

When to pay the tax in the process of renting or 
letting 

Tax amount (expressed in EUR as % of total 
purchase price and as a fixed amount if 
available) 

Registration tax 

Stamp tax 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

ITP (Tax on capital transmissions) for the constitution 
of the lease. The tenant is the one who pays this tax. 
The landlord (lessor) is the subsidiary responsible for 
its payment in the event he received the first rent 
and did not require the justification of the payment of 
the tax to the tenant 

Catalonia has a single tax rate: 0.5% of the total 
rent (the minimum taken as a starting point is 3 
years) 
The remaining Autonomous Regions have a scale of 
10 tranches from 0.09 euros to 0.024040 € for each 
6.01 € or fraction 
Some Autonomous Regions establish exemptions of 
this tax: Andalusia and Galicia: 100%, Aragon 90%, 
Cantabria 99% 

58 

 
 
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Other taxes 
concerning the use 
of the property, if 
applicable 

Yes 

The owner declares what has been received of the 
rent and can deduct expenses in the Personal Income 
Tax. The rent is included in the general taxable base 
together with the remaining incomes, and taxed 
according to the  sliding scales - the General 
or State sliding scale and the Complementary or 
Regional Government scale (the percentage could 
range then between 19% and 48% depending on the 
whole landlord’s income) 
The tenant does not have state deductions, and the 
autonomic ones depends on each autonomous 
region; landlords are allowed to subtract a certain 
amount of what has been paid (5% to 20%,) with a 
maximum limit  

59 

 
  
 
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

11. 

Consumer situation in the market  

11.1  Consumer rights 

Table 26: Consumer rights 

Are there 
specific 
consumer 
rights?  
In particular: 
are residential 
tenants treated 
as consumers? 
If relevant, 
which existing 
marketing 
practices are 
non-compliant 
with national 
consumer 
legislation? 

With respect to buyers 
With respect to sellers 

With respect to tenants  

With respect to landlords 

Royal Decree 515/1989 
Consumer rights when dealing with real estate agents or lawyers (e.g. unfair 
contractual terms, RDL 1/2007) 
Protection against abuses or unfair practices from professional landlords. Some 
information must be provided on the basis of Royal Decree 515/1989 
Consumer rights when dealing with real estate agents or lawyers (e.g. unfair 
contractual terms, RDL 1/2007) 

The main practices are non-compliant with national consumer legislation are related to the existence of unfair contractual terms in 
sale contracts of real estate and mortgage loans concluded to finance the acquisition. Here are examples of Court decisions that 
have rendered some terms void: 
A) The Supreme Court decision of 3 June 2016 (ECLI:ES:TS:2016:2401) established that the default interest rate -agreed with 
consumers on mortgage loans- exceeding 2 points the remunerative interest are deemed to be unfair and abusive. In this regard, 
the Act 1/2013, of May 14, on measures to protect mortgagees, debt restructuring and social rents, amended Article 114 of the 
Spanish Law on Mortgages (Ley Hipotecaria) through the addition of a third subparagraph worded as follows: “Default interest on 
loans or credits for the purchase of a habitual dwelling, secured by mortgages charged on the dwelling in question, may not be 
more than three times the statutory rate of interest and may accrue only on the outstanding principal”. The ruling argues that this 
provision does not preclude the court from rendering the default interest rate clause void should this interest be below three times 
the statutory rate of interest. 
B) The Supreme Court ruling 18 February 2016 (ECLI:ES:TS:2016:626) rendered void both default interest rate and acceleration 
clauses included in mortgage loans concluded with consumers. 
C) According to the Sentence of the Supreme Court of Spain 9 May 2013 (RJ 2013\3088), mortgage floor clauses are deemed to be 
abusive, not for not including an interest cap clause in that same mortgage contract, but for a lack of disclosure and information 
transparency that may result in an unexpected change in the contract price. This judgment also stated that consumers are not 
entitled to claim the repayment of the amounts wrongly paid during the contractual term. Some judgments have adopted the same 
solution afterwards, such as the Provincial Courts of Alicante 12 July 2013 (AC 2013\1545), Cáceres 3 October 2013 (AC 
2013\1753), Madrid 23 July 2013 (JUR 2013 \307654), Granada 18 October 2013 (AC 2013\2041), Córdoba 31-10-2013 (JUR 
2013, 374434) and Burgos 28-1-2014 (AC 2014\27).  
However, other courts have ruled in favour of the mortgagee, who is entitled to claim the amounts undue paid until the suppression 
of the floor clause, such as the judgment of the Commercial Court Num. 1 of Bilbao 21 October 2013 (AC 2013\2269); and the 
Judgment of the Provincial Court of Málaga 12 March 2014 (JUR 2014\76962).  
The Spanish Supreme Court ruling 24 March 2015 (ECLI: ES: TS: 2015: 1279) confirmed the judgment of the same court of 9 May 
2013 (ECLI: ES: TS: 2013: 1916), according to which mortgage floor clauses are deemed to be abusive, not for not including an 

60 

Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 26: Consumer rights 

interest cap clause in that same mortgage contract, but for a lack of disclosure and information transparency that may result in an 
unexpected change in the contract price. The Court states that the interest paid in excess shall be refunded to the borrower as from 
the date of publication of the ruling on 9 May 2013. As pointed out below, the European Court of Justice of the European Union has 
not followed this line of reasoning. 
D) The Supreme Court judgement 23 December 2015 (ECLI:ES:TS:2015:5618) rendered abusive a set of clauses that are common 
in the banking contracts with consumers. This judgement is in line with the judgement of the Supreme Court 9 May 2013, where 
several clauses were deemed to be abusive, such as the early termination for non-payment of a one monthly quota; the imposition 
to the consumer of the payment of all pre-procedural, procedural or attorney's fees and the attorney hired by the lender, in cases of 
breach of the mortgage contract; or clauses concerning default interest rate or the so-called “floor clauses”. As a result, the 
Supreme Court rendered abusive the term by which the credit entity imposes the payment of all fees related to taking out the 
mortgage. The underlying reason is the following: as the Lending institution is the party interested in creating the mortgage, banks 
should be the ones facing these costs. Usually, this term is written in a general manner, but it may be included in the notary costs, 
the fees of the land registry and the cost of the management company appointed by the lending institution in order to follow the 
whole procedure, and also the stamp duty. Lending institutions, however, are not voluntarily paying these costs, thus forcing 
consumers to go to court. It must be taken into account that there is only one Judgement of the Supreme Court so far (if 
consumers go to court, it is expected another Supreme Court decision of on this issue), but some lower courts are already ruling in 
favour of consumers. 
In the field of tenancy law, there are also unfair terms, but these are difficult to identify, as there is no notarial supervision.  

A number of decisions by the European Court of Justice show the non-compliance of Spanish rules on mortgages with the Directive 
93/13/EEC, of 5 April 1993, on unfair terms in consumer contracts. Examples are the following: 
a) Judgment of the European Court of Justice of 14 March 2013 (ECLI:EU:C:2013:164, Case C-415/11, Mohamed Aziz contra Caixa 
d’Estalvis de Catalunya, Tarragona i Manresa (Catalunyacaixa)). The Court of Justice holds that the Spanish legislation does not 
comply with the principle of effectiveness, as it makes impossible or excessively difficult, in mortgage enforcement proceedings 
initiated by sellers or suppliers against consumer defendants, to ensure the protection that the directive on consumer protection of 
1993 confers on them. Following this decision, the Spanish mortgage enforcement procedure, as well as the general enforcement 
procedure, was reformed by Act 1/2013, of 14 May. 
b) However, the bias towards the creditor with regard to appealing the judicial decision led to another Judgment of the European 
Court of Justice of 17 July 2014 (ECLI:EU:C:2014:2099, Case C-169/14, Sánchez Morcillo and Abril García v Banco Bilbao), which 
held that the domestic rule infringed the principle of “equality standing “. As a result, Act 9/2015, 25 May, regarding urgent 
measures on insolvency (additional provision 3), amended the Spanish mortgage enforcement procedure once again. 
c) Judgment of the European Court of Justice 29 October 2015 (ECLI:EU:C:2015:731, Case C-8/14, BBVA SA v Pedro Peñalva López 
and Others). Following the delivery of the judgment in Aziz in 2013, Spanish law was modified, in particular, in relation to 
enforcement proceedings for mortgaged assets (Act 1/2013).  
Thus, for proceedings instituted after the entry into force of that law, an objection by the defendant, based on the unfairness of a 
contractual term, which is brought within an ordinary time-limit of 10 days from the date of notification of the decision ordering the 
mortgage enforcement, henceforth allows the suspension of the mortgage enforcement proceedings until the objection to 

61 

If relevant, 
which existing 
marketing 
practices are 
non-compliant 
with EU 
consumer 
legislation? 

 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Table 26: Consumer rights 

enforcement has been adjudicated upon. A transitional provision in that law aims to take account of enforcement proceedings in 
progress at the date of entry into force of the law, that is to say, proceedings in which the 10-day period for objecting to 
enforcement had already started to run or had expired. In these cases, in order to lodge an objection to enforcement, the parties 
concerned had a time limit of one month that began to run from the day following the publication of the law in the Spanish Official 
Journal.  
The Court states, first of all, that a time-limit of one month within which to bring an objection to enforcement appears, in principle, 
to be sufficient to prepare and bring an effective action and thus is reasonable and proportionate, having regard to the rights and 
interests concerned. Therefore, the duration of such a time limit does not undermine the principle of effectiveness. 
However, the Court emphasises that the mechanism chosen by the legislature to start the time-limit running, namely publication of 
the law in the Spanish Official Journal, infringes the principle of effectiveness. On the date on which the enforcement proceedings 
against them were instituted, the consumers were informed individually by a notice sent to them personally of their right to oppose 
enforcement within 10 days from the date of that notification. The Court holds that consumers could not reasonably take advantage 
of a further opportunity to object to enforcement since they were not notified of it through the same procedural means used to 
convey the initial information. By providing that the time-limit begins to run in the present case without the consumers concerned 
being personally informed of the possibility to raise a new ground of objection in enforcement proceedings which were already in 
progress before the entry into force of that law, the transitional provision at issue is not such as to guarantee full enjoyment of that 
period and, therefore, the effective exercise of the new right recognised by the Spanish legislative amendment. The Court observes 
that taking into account the progress, the special features and complexity of the proceedings and the applicable legislation, there is 
a significant risk that the time-limit will expire without the consumers in question being able effectively and usefully to exercise their 
rights through legal action because they are unaware of or do not appreciate the exact extent of those rights. 
d) The Judgment of European Court of Justice 21 January 2015 (ECLI:EU:C:2015:21, Joined Cases C-482/13, C-484/13, C-485/13 
and C-487/13, Unicaja Banco, S.A., contra José Hidalgo Rueda y otros y Caixabank, S.A., contra Manuel María Rueda Ledesma 
y otros) gives an answer to the request for a preliminary ruling from the Court of first Instance of Marchena (Spain) lodged on 
12 August 2013, which concerns the interpretation of Article 6 of Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer 
contracts. In this sense, these rules are paramount:   
1) Article 3(2) of the Act 1/2013, May 14th, on measures to protect mortgagees, debt restructuring and social rents, which amends 
Article 114 of the Law on Mortgages (Ley Hipotecaria) through the addition of a third subparagraph worded as follows: ‘Default 
interest on loans or credits for the purchase of a habitual dwelling, secured by mortgages charged on the dwelling in question, may 
not be more than three times the statutory rate of interest and may accrue only on the outstanding principal. Such default interest 
may not in any circumstances be capitalised, except in the case provided for in Article 579(2)(a) of the Law on Civil Procedure.”  
2) The Second Transitional Provision of Law No 1/2013:  “The limitation of default interest on mortgages on habitual dwellings, 
provided for in Article 3(2), shall apply to mortgages created after the entry into force of this Law. Likewise, that limitation shall 
apply to default interest, provided for in mortgage loans secured on habitual dwellings and created before the entry into force of the 
Law, which falls due subsequently, and to any interest which, having accrued and fallen due by that date, has not been paid”. 

According to the ECJ, Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13 must be interpreted as not precluding a national provision under which the 
national court hearing mortgage enforcement proceedings is required to adjust the amounts due under a term in a mortgage-loan 

62 

 
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Table 26: Consumer rights 

‐

‐

307/15 and C

308/15, Francisco Gutiérrez Naranjo v Cajasur Banco SAU, Ana María Palacios Martínez v Banco Bilbao Vizcaya 

contract providing for default interest at a rate more than three times greater than the statutory rate in order that the amount of 
that interest may not exceed that threshold, provided that the application of that national provision: 
–       is without prejudice to the assessment by that national court of the unfairness of such a term and 
–        does not prevent that court removing that clause if it were to find the latter to be ‘unfair’, within the meaning of Article 3(1) 
of that directive. 
e) The Judgment of European Court of Justice 11 June 2015 (ECLI:EU:C:2017:60, Case C-421/14, Banco Primus SA v Jesús 
Gutiérrez García) gives an answer to the request for a preliminary ruling from the Court of first Instance of Santander (Spain) 
lodged on 19 November 2013, and confirms the idea that Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13 must be interpreted as not precluding a 
national provision under which the national court may adjust the default interest in mortgage enforcement proceedings, provided 
that the application of that national provision: 
–       is without prejudice to the assessment by that national court of the unfairness of such a term and 
–      does not prevent that court removing that clause if it were to find the latter to be ‘unfair’, within the meaning of Article 3(1) of 
that directive. 
f) The Judgment of European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) 21 December 2016 (ECLI:EU:C:2016:980, Joined Cases C
C
Argentaria SA (BBVA), Banco Popular Español SA v Emilio Irles López and Teresa Torres Andreu). It deals with the temporal 
limitation of the legal effects stemming from the declaration of nullity in respect of ‘floor clauses’ made by the Spanish Supreme 
Court in its judgment of 9 May 2013. According the Court, article 6(1) of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair 
terms in consumer contracts must be interpreted as precluding national case-law that temporarily limits the restitutory effects 
connected with a finding of unfairness by a court in accordance with Article 3(1) of that directive, in respect of a clause contained in 
a contract concluded between a consumer and a seller or supplier, to amounts overpaid under such a clause after the delivery of the 
decision in which the finding of unfairness is made. 
Following this decision, and in order to avoid consumer claims overloading the courts, the Spanish Government designed an out-of-
court procedure to facilitate agreements with regard to the reimbursement of the amounts that consumers may have paid unduly 
(Royal Decree-Law 1/2017, 20 January, on urgent measures for consumer protection in the area of floor clauses (BOE 21 January 
2017, n. 18). 
g) The Judgment of European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) 26 January 2017 (ECLI:EU:C:2017:60, Case C
Primus SA v Jesús Gutiérrez García). It establishes that Articles 6 and 7 of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair 
terms in consumer contracts must be interpreted as precluding a provision of national law, such as the Fourth Transitional Provision 
of Law 1/2013 on the protection of mortgagors, restructuring of debt and social rent) of 14 May 2013, which, as regards mortgage 
enforcement proceedings which were instituted before the date of entry into force of the law of which that provision forms part and 
which were not concluded at that date, imposes a time limit of one month on consumers, calculated from the day following the 
publication of that law, within which to object to enforcement on the basis of the alleged unfairness of contractual terms. In 
addition, in the case the bank satisfied the requirements of Article 693(2) of the Law on Civil Procedure and initiated the mortgage 
enforcement proceedings only after non-payment of seven successive monthly instalments and not, as provided for in Clause 6a of 
the loan agreement at issue in the main proceedings, as a result of failure to pay any amount owed. However, it cannot exonerate 
the national court from its obligation to draw the appropriate conclusions from the potentially unfair nature of that term. 

421/14, Banco 

154/15, 

‐

‐

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Table 26: Consumer rights 

Are there 
existing 
marketing 
practices 
detrimental to 
consumers, 
even if not 
necessarily 
illegal, in both 
domestic and 
cross-border 
transactions? 

A number of European Reports have condemned the abusive planning practices in Spain, which resulted in a European Parliament 
resolution on March 26th 2009 on the impact of extensive urbanisation in Spain on individual rights of European citizens, on the 
environment and on the application of EU law, based upon petitions received (the Report was drafted by Margrete Auken). This 
pointed out that “many thousands of European citizens have, in different circumstances, bought property in Spain in good faith 
acting with local lawyers, town planners and architects, only to find later that they have become victims of urbanisation abuse by 
unscrupulous local authorities and that, as a result, their property faces demolition because their homes have been found to be 
illegally built and therefore worthless and unsaleable”78. These problems were pointed out by the Report headed by Prof. Peter 
Sparkes, Cross Border Acquisitions of Residential Property in the EU: Problems Encountered by Citizens, March 201679. This study 
has demonstrated that lack of transparency and lack of advice about public law aspects of land purchases have been a major factor 
in problems encountered by cross border purchasers. 

11.2  Consumer complaints  

Table 27: Consumer complaints 

How often do consumers 
complain due to arising legal 
issues? Are complaints 
against a professional 
service provider frequent? 
To whom can consumers 
complain? Is the procedure 
effective? 

See below 

In the event that the consumer decides to file a complaint with the competent Consumer Administration (after trying 
first to reach an agreement with the company through its Customer Service department, or directly with the person 
in charge of the establishment), the consumer may either contact the Municipal Consumer Information Office (OMIC) 
of the locality or the Directorate General of Consumer Affairs of its Autonomous Community. In the first case, 
consumers can complain through an online form (e.g. in Madrid or Barcelona). The action of these Administrations 
begins with a mediation procedure with the company with which the consumer has a controversy. Associations of 
Consumers and Users may also represent the interests of consumers. Lastly, it is worth to mention Royal Decree 
231/2008, of 25 February, regulating the Consumer Arbitration System (BOE 25 February 2008, n. 48), which 
provides that any disputes that may arise between companies and consumers may be resolved by the competent 
Consumer Arbitration Board. The procedure will not last for more than 6 months from the beginning of the 
arbitration. As a last resort, consumers can complain before the Courts of Justice; but such a court action may last 
months or years. 

78 Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/556936/IPOL_STU(2016)556936_EN.pdf.  
79 Idem  

64 

 
                                                
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

The Council of Consumers and Users (a representative and consultative body at national level) provides data on the enquiries and complaints of consumers 
on  an  annual  basis.  The  following  table  shows  the  amount  of  enquires  and  complaints  regarding  leased  dwellings  (vivienda  arrendamiento)  and 
homeownership (vivienda en propiedad). Enquires and complaints regarding leased dwellings are in the top ten topics, as tables below show 80. 

80 Source: http://www.consumo-ccu.es/dictamenes/memoria2015.pdf, http://www.consumo-ccu.es/dictamenes/memoria2014.pdf 

65 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                
 
Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

Though the Council of Consumers and Users does not provide data on the issues at stake in each topic, the study carried out by Legalitas (Observatorio 
Jurídico de Légalitas), based on the analysis of almost one million queries to its lawyers by clients of all ages and social strata distributed throughout the 
national geography during the year 2016, shows that the second most consulted subject in Legálitas was housing (19.89%), with the volume of consultations 
received in recent years being very stable. The main arguments for consultation were centered on leases (rental contracts, lack of payment of rent, damages 
to the home, return of the deposit, conservation works...) and in the community of neighbours (noises, owners' meetings, extraordinary works...). However, 
in the sale of housing, there was an increase of 11.73% over the previous year, which could reflect the trend of the real estate market. 

In addition, controversial issues may be easily identified when they reach courts. The following examples may be quoted: 

1) The existence of unfair terms in sale contracts of real state 

a) Terms that impose expenses on consumers for which the seller is legally liable, such as the clause that imposes on the consumer the cost of the 
certifications that the seller has to deliver along with the sale contract, and specifically, the certification of energy efficiency; or the one by which the seller 
is authorized to pass on to the purchaser the tax on the increase of value of urban land (Supreme Court decision of 17 March 2016, ECLI:ES:TS:2016:1292). 

b) Terms that link the contract to the will of the seller, e.g. when the professional seller has an excessively long or merely indicative period to perform 
his due obligations, or when the promoter reserves herself/himself the right to distribute the mortgage burden between the dwellings when they have already 
been transmitted to the buyers (Supreme Court decision of 2 December 2008).  

d) Abusive terms for lack of reciprocity, e.g. when a penalty must be paid by the buyer for the delay in the payment of the price, but no penalty is 
due in the case of delayed delivery of the housing on the part of the seller; this term is abusive for lack of reciprocity (Provincial Court decision of of Sevilla 
12 September 2013).  

d)  Clauses  that  impose  disproportionate  guarantees,  e.g.  the  clause  that,  in  the  event  of  a  breach  of  contract  by  the  buyer,  allows  the  seller  to 

withhold all amounts already paid as a penalty (Supreme Court decision of 15 April 2014).  

e) Abusive clauses for imposing waivers on consumer rights, such as the clause of submission to the jurisdiction of courts other than the court locally 
competent for the domicile of the buyer; or the clause that requires the buyer to comply with his obligation to pay the price even if the seller has not fulfilled 
his obligation to deliver the property (Supreme Court decision of 21 December 2011). 

2) Sale of housing off-plan. Unfair contract term related to the delivery period, according to article 85 RDL 1/2007 and article 5 RD 515/1989 (Supreme 
Court decision of 13 March 2017; ECLI:ES:TS:2017:859). 

3) Obligation of the promoter to  return the earnest money paid by buyers  on the basis of the Act 57/1968 (repealed by Act 20/2015);  Supreme Court 
decision of 21 December 2016, ECLI:ES:TS:2016:5520; 16 November 2016, ECLI:ES:TS:2016:5104 ; and 24 June 2016, ECLI:ES:TS:2016:2960). A case 
in which the developer falls into bankruptcy, Supreme Court decision of 23 July 2015, ECLI: ES:TS:2015:3443. 

4)  Resolution  of  a  sales  contract  of  real  estate  due  to  the  non-compliance  with  the  delivery  date,  Supreme  Court  decision  of  9  March  2016 
(ECLI:ES:TS:2016:976 

66 

Consumer market study on the functioning of the real estate services for consumers in the EU – Country Fiche Spain 

5) Validity of a penalty clause included in a sale contract of real estate by which in case of termination of the contract for breach of the buyer, the seller may 
take  all  or  part  of  the  quantities  delivered  by  the  buyer  on  account  of  the  price  as  damages,  Supreme  Court  decision  of  21  January  2016  (ECLI: 
ES:TS:2016:28). 

6) Time-sharing disputes, e.g. regarding the condition of consumer (Supreme Court decision of 15 February 2017, ECLI: ES:TS:2017:540); and the nullity 
of  the  contract  due  to  the  existence  of  terms  that  go  against  the  law,  Supreme  Court  decision  ofs  15  February  2017,  ECLI:  ES:TS:2017:475;  and  10 
November 2016, ECLI: ES:TS:2016:4840). 

 7) Finance the deposit needed to buy a dwelling not from the own pocket but with personal loans. No delivery of the sales deed by the Bank, misleading 
information about the provision of funds to face the cost of the sale and subrogation into an existing mortgage, no provision of information about taxes 
20073126 
(Servicio 
http://www.bde.es/f/webbde/Secciones/Publicaciones/PublicacionesAnuales/MemoriaServicioReclamaciones/08/Fic/msr0806.pdf). 

Reclamaciones 

complaint 

number 

2008, 

BDE 

de 

 8)  In  the  preliminary  sales  contract  concluded  before  formalising  the  deed,  the  buyer  assumes  as  a  general  rule  the  duty  to  provide  the  seller  with an 
earnest money or deposit, the amount of which is not limited by law. However, problems arise when the developer fall into bankruptcy before finishing the 
construction and the buyer needs to start a long and complex procedure to get back the earnest money already paid81. In this case, the Spanish Act 22/2003, 
of 9 July, on insolvency proceedings establishes that purchasers are not privileged creditors, but they may seek the termination of the contract (arts. 61 and 
62).  The  Act  20/2015  (repealing  the  Act  57/1968)  introduced  some  protection  measures  regarding  down  payments,  according  to  which  either  a  surety 
contract must be signed by the seller with insurance companies duly authorized to operate in Spain, or a guarantee must be issued by credit entities for the 
benefit of the buyer’s payment. Nevertheless, the consumer protection has been reduced in the sense that the above-mentioned duties only arise when the 
seller has obtained the building license, whereas the vast majority of claims on the part of consumers take place before the grant of this license. Furthermore, 
the prescription period has been reduced from 15 to 2 years. 

9) In addition to this, Spanish households have faced difficulties due to the credit crunch in obtaining the mortgage loan to finance the acquisition of the 
property once the construction is completed. The Spanish Supreme Court did not accept the resolution of the preliminary contract in these circumstances 
(Resolution 17 January 2014). Therefore, the buyer still has the duty to obtain the purchase money in order to perform his obligation of payment; otherwise 
he will be liable with all his present and future assets (art. 1911 Spanish Civil Code).  

81 Purchasing off plan is one of the problems in cross-border acquisitions of immovable property pointed out by Diana Wallis, ´European Property Wrongs – what can the EU do?`, in Diana Wallis 
and Sara Allanson (eds.), European Property Rights & Wrongs, 14.  

67 

 
 
 
 
  
                                                
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doi: 10.2818/254821