Frequently asked questions

Yes. A Polish citizen can buy property in Mallorca on the same terms as any other EU citizen. You do not need Spanish citizenship or permanent residence in Spain.

You can buy as a Spanish resident or as a non-resident living permanently in Poland or another country.

No. Spanish residency is not required.

Many properties in Mallorca are bought by people who live permanently outside Spain and use the property as a second home, a holiday home or an investment.

Yes. The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is the identification number issued to foreign nationals in Spain.

It is needed to complete the transaction, to settle taxes and for many of the formalities that follow, long after the purchase.

It is worth starting the application early. A professional agent can help you prepare the documents and coordinate the NIE procedure.

Yes. When buying a property in Mallorca it is worth holding an account with a Spanish bank.

It makes both the transaction itself and the later running of the property considerably easier.

A Spanish account can be used for the mortgage, for electricity, water and other utilities, community fees, property insurance, and for local taxes and other standing commitments.

A professional estate agent can help through the whole account-opening process, including dealing with the bank, preparing the required documents and arranging the appointment. That way a buyer coming from Poland does not have to navigate Spanish banking procedures alone.

Opening the account may be free, but the cost of running it depends on the particular bank, the type of account and your status, in particular whether you are a Spanish resident or a non-resident.

A bank may charge an account maintenance fee, a card fee, charges on certain transfers or operations, and additional fees connected with servicing a non-resident client.

At some banks the fees can be reduced or waived entirely if certain conditions are met: regular incoming payments, for example, taking additional banking products, or holding a mortgage.

Before opening an account it is worth comparing not just the cost of opening it but, above all, the total annual cost of running it. A professional agent can help you deal with the bank and choose an arrangement that suits both the purchase and the later upkeep of a property in Mallorca.

Yes.

It is worth working with people who can take you through the documentation and the procedures in your own language.

The most important documents should be completely clear to you before you sign them.

In many cases, yes.

You can grant a power of attorney to someone representing you in Spain. The power of attorney should set out precisely which actions your representative may carry out.

This is an arrangement often used by clients living in Poland or other countries.

As far as the right to buy is concerned, both are open to you.

Differences can arise in financing, in taxation, in how the property is accounted for afterwards, and in the owner’s own tax position.

So before buying it is worth deciding whether the property will be your main home, a second home or an investment.

There is no single location that is best for everyone.

It depends above all on why you are buying. A family planning to move needs a different property from someone looking for a holiday apartment, and different again from an investor.

It is worth weighing up the distance from the airport, access to the beach, schools and nurseries, transport links, restaurants and shops, what the town is like out of season, rental potential, and how easily the property could be sold later.

It depends on your lifestyle and on the purpose of the investment.

Palma offers year-round city life, with a wide choice of services, restaurants, schools and transport connections.

The north of the island, including Alcúdia, Port d’Alcúdia, Pollença and Port de Pollença, attracts people looking for proximity to the sea, nature, a quieter pace of life and holiday property.

An apartment usually means easier upkeep and is often a good option as a second home.

A house or villa gives you more privacy and more space.

A finca can offer an exceptional way of life and a large plot, but before buying one you should check its legal and planning position particularly carefully.

Yes, but before buying you need to work out more than the cost of the building work itself.

Check whether the work you are planning can actually be carried out, whether permits are needed, the condition of the installations and the structure, whether the existing building is legal, how long the work will take, and whether builders are available.

A low purchase price does not always mean a low final cost.

In Mallorca, location and view are among the most important factors in a property’s value.

Frontline properties, and those with an uninterrupted sea view, are especially sought after.

One of the basic documents is the Nota Simple from the Registro de la Propiedad.

It lets you check who owns the property and what rights, restrictions, mortgages or other charges are registered against it.

It is an extract from the Spanish Land Registry.

It shows the details of the property, its owner, the rights attached to it, mortgages, seizures and certain other charges or restrictions.

Very much so.

You should not make the decision on the basis of photographs, the wording of a listing or the seller’s assurances alone.

Before handing over any significant sum you should know exactly what you are buying and on what terms.

It depends on the type of property, but the usual list includes the Nota Simple, the title deed, the cadastral record, the planning position, permits and the legality of what has been built, the energy certificate, any liabilities to the owners’ community, local taxes, and existing mortgages and other charges.

A mortgage does not in itself mean the property cannot be bought.

The transaction does have to be structured so that the existing debt is repaid and removed from the register, or so that some other legally agreed solution is applied.

The buyer should know exactly how the mortgage will be settled.

Yes.

For an apartment or any property belonging to an owners’ community, the position on community fees should be checked.

It is also worth finding out what the monthly charges are and whether the community is planning any major works.

They can reveal things you will not see when viewing the apartment.

The community may be planning to renovate the facade, the roof, the lift, the pool or other communal areas, for instance. Work like that can mean additional future costs for owners.

No.

Buying an apartment in Mallorca does not automatically carry the right to run holiday lets.

If the purchase is intended as a holiday-rental investment, whether that can legally be done should be verified before you buy.

Do not assume so.

The fact that part of a building has physically been there for many years does not automatically mean its legal and planning position is in order.

This matters particularly with houses, villas and fincas.

Once you have found the right property, the parties can sign a reservation document and agree the reservation amount.

The terms should clearly set out the price, the deadlines, and the circumstances in which the money is refundable or forfeited.

It is a private contract between buyer and seller, signed before the notarial deed.

It sets out the main terms of the transaction, including the price, the date by which the sale contract is to be completed, and the consequences of failing to perform.

In practice a figure of around 10% of the property price is very common, but it is not a universal, obligatory rate.

The exact amount follows from what the parties agree.

That depends on the type of contract signed and on its terms.

Under the common arras penitenciales formula, a buyer who withdraws may lose the amount paid, while a seller who withdraws may be obliged to return it twofold.

This is why an arras contract should not be signed without fully understanding what it says.

That has to be taken into account before signing the arras contract.

If the purchase depends on financing being granted, appropriate protection for the buyer should be written into the contract.

Submitting a mortgage application is not in itself a guarantee that financing will be obtained.

Yes.

Spanish banks do finance property purchases by Polish citizens.

Financing is possible both for Spanish residents and for people living and earning in Poland or another country.

Yes.

A bank can accept income earned outside Spain. It will, however, look closely at how much it is, how stable it is, what currency it is in, and what other commitments you already have.

Yes, though the assessment is usually more involved than for an employee. The bank may ask for documents evidencing the company’s results, tax returns, its trading history and bank statements.

There is no single statutory figure binding on every bank.

In practice the bank sets the maximum financing case by case, based on the client’s profile, the value of the property and its own risk policy.

For non-residents the share funded from your own resources is usually larger than for clients buying their main home as Spanish residents.

The bank takes into account the property valuation and the transaction price, in line with its own lending rules.

So a high price agreed with the seller does not automatically mean the bank will finance a given percentage of that particular price.

A tasación is the official property valuation carried out for the purposes of the mortgage process.

The bank uses it to establish the value of its security.

Yes.

The value of the property is not the only criterion.

What the bank examines above all is your ability to repay: income, outgoings, existing loans, assets, financial stability and other elements of your credit profile.

The list depends on the bank and on your circumstances.

Most often you may need proof of identity, your NIE, documents evidencing income, tax returns, bank statements, details of existing loans, documentation relating to your employment or business, and documentation for the property being bought.

The bank may also ask for additional documents.

The bank may require part of the documentation to be translated.

How much depends on the particular institution and on the type of document being submitted.

The bank looks at your current and expected income, your fixed outgoings, existing debt, assets, financial history, the nature of your employment or business, and the value of the property.

Each bank may apply its own risk criteria.

Yes, and it is often the best order to do things in.

An initial financial assessment establishes a realistic budget and avoids the situation where you find the perfect property and then cannot obtain the financing for it.

You need to allow for two things: your own contribution towards the price, and the taxes and transaction costs.

Do not assume the bank will finance the taxes and all the costs associated with the purchase.

A Polish bank and a Spanish bank are two different financing models.

The standard route for financing the Mallorcan property you are actually buying is a Spanish mortgage.

If you own another property in Poland there may be other financing options worth looking at individually.

In Spain you will find fixed-rate mortgages, variable-rate mortgages and mixed ones.

Which is best depends on the bank’s offer, the term, your circumstances and your attitude to risk.

It is not worth comparing offers on the size of the first instalment alone.

The FEIN (Ficha Europea de Información Normalizada) is a standardised document setting out the individual terms of the mortgage being offered to you.

It lets you see the financing terms in full before you sign.

No.

The borrower has the right to choose the notary.

Before the mortgage is signed the notary is also obliged to explain the financing terms to the borrower and to satisfy themselves that those terms are understood.

That depends on who is providing the help and on what basis the service is given.

If you use a broker or mortgage adviser, you should be told clearly, before the work begins, whether their fee is paid by the bank, by you, or from both sources.

In some cases the broker receives a commission from the bank and you pay nothing additional for the introduction itself. Under other models a fee is charged to the client for the analysis, preparing the documentation, comparing offers and running the mortgage process.

Before starting a mortgage application you should know exactly whether the help is chargeable, how much it is, who pays it, when it becomes payable and what services it covers. A professional broker should set out all the costs before the work begins.

The final sale is most often formalised by signing the notarial deed, the escritura pública de compraventa.

Before signing, the documents and the method of paying the price are verified.

Once the conditions of the transaction have been met, the property is handed over to the buyer.

Not always.

If an appropriate power of attorney has been prepared beforehand, a representative can carry out specified acts on the buyer’s behalf.

In transactions financed by a mortgage, signing the mortgage documentation and the sale is coordinated accordingly.

The mortgage process does have to be prepared in advance, because set information procedures apply before a mortgage can be signed.

Yes.

The buyer, or borrower, has the right to choose the notary.

After the purchase you need to see to the taxes arising from the transaction, registration of your ownership at the Registro de la Propiedad, transferring or taking out utility contracts, updating your details with the owners’ community, setting up payment of taxes and charges, and insuring the property.

Registration at the Land Registry is an extremely important part of securing the new owner’s title.

Once the process is complete the property should appear in the register in the buyer’s name.

Depending on the property there may be IBI (the local property tax), community fees, a refuse collection charge, insurance, utilities, maintenance and upkeep costs, and taxes arising from the owner’s tax position and how the property is used.

IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles) is the local property tax.

How much it comes to depends on the cadastral value and on the municipality.

Owning a property as a non-resident can create tax obligations in Spain even when the property is not let.

After buying, it is therefore worth establishing how your annual non-resident tax return will be handled.

As a rule, residential letting and holiday letting are two different legal questions.

Before buying as an investment it is worth deciding on the letting model you are planning and checking the rules that apply to the specific property.

Yes, but gifting or inheriting property in Spain carries legal and tax consequences.

For higher-value properties it is worth thinking about succession planning at the point of purchase.

It is not a condition of buying a property.

For a foreign owner of Spanish property it can, however, make later succession matters easier.

It is worth discussing with a lawyer or notary, particularly where the owner holds assets in more than one country.

That depends on the particular property, the location, the purchase price and the investor’s strategy.

An investment should not be judged solely on the belief that "Mallorca always goes up".

What counts includes the location, the supply of similar properties, letting potential, running costs and the likely price on a later sale.

It depends on the strategy.

Some investors are looking for regular rental income; others buy primarily for potential growth in the property’s value over the long term.

The best investment property is not always the one generating the highest monthly rent.

Such properties are especially sought after in Mallorca because supply is limited.

You do need to look very carefully at the specific building, its structural condition, its exposure to the sea, community costs and its legal position.

How readily it sells depends above all on location, the type of property, its condition and the price.

So at the point of buying it is worth asking yourself: "if I wanted to sell this in a few years’ time, who would the next buyer be?" That is one of the most important investment questions there is.

Having only the deposit the bank requires is not enough.

You also need funds for the taxes and the remaining transaction costs.

So before starting your search it is worth preparing an individual projection of the total purchase budget.

If a mortgage is essential to the purchase, it is best to start with an initial assessment of your borrowing capacity.

That tells you the price range you can realistically search in.

A good agency should do considerably more than simply show you a property.

Its role can be to coordinate the entire process: your requirements → selecting properties → negotiation → checking the documentation → financing → reservation → preparing the transaction → the notary → handover → the formalities after the purchase.

For someone buying property abroad, being able to run the whole process in their own language can make the transaction considerably easier.

With the answers to four questions:

1. What is my total budget?

2. Do I need a mortgage?

3. What is the property for: living in, holidays or investment?

4. What are my three most important requirements for the location and for the property itself?

Only then is it worth starting the search in earnest.