Buying a property in Spain: what to check before you sign

You have a listing or an address, and an agent who would like a reservation deposit. Before any money moves, two public registers and a few official maps answer most of the questions that matter later. What exactly is being sold? Who owns it, and what is charged against it? Does the plot sit in a zone with rules of its own?

The cadastre (Catastro) says what the property is and where it lies. The land registry (Registro de la Propiedad) says who holds which rights over it. Official maps show what the location brings with it. The rest is for the notary and your lawyer.

What does the cadastre show, and what does it leave out?

It shows the physical property, which is a different thing from showing who owns it.

The cadastre (Catastro Inmobiliario) is an administrative register under the Ministry of Finance in which properties are described (Article 1 of the cadastre law, Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2004). Every property in it receives a cadastral reference (referencia catastral), an alphanumeric code that places it unambiguously on the official cadastral map (Article 6). Ask the seller for this reference first. The deed will need it anyway, since the parties have to produce it before the notary (Article 40.1 b).

According to Article 3.1, the description covers among other things the location, area, use, quality of construction, a graphic representation and the cadastral value. Anyone may consult the data that is not protected (Article 52.1). That makes the cadastre the quickest test of a listing. Does the parcel on the map lie where the house stands? Is the building recorded with the use the advert claims?

Ownership is another matter. Cadastral data is presumed correct unless proven otherwise, but the legal statements of the land registry prevail (Article 3.3), and the cadastre law leaves the effects of registration expressly untouched (Article 2.2). Its purpose is fiscal. Cadastral information serves tax fairness and the fair allocation of public resources (Article 2).

Put the aerial image and the cadastral plan for your parcel side by side. A pool or annexe visible from above but missing from the description is a question for the seller.

What does the land registry extract (nota simple) tell you?

It tells you who holds which rights over the property, with what limits, on the day you ask, and it does so for information only.

The land registry records acts and contracts concerning ownership and other rights in rem over real property (Article 1 of the Ley Hipotecaria of 1946, LH). The registrar (registrador) releases its content either as a nota simple informativa or as a certificate (certificación), Article 222.2. At a minimum the nota simple identifies the property, names the holders of registered rights and states the extent, nature and limitations of those rights (Article 222.5). Mortgages, usufruct and easements (servidumbres) are among the registrable rights (Article 2). An attachment ordered against the owner (embargo) appears as a provisional entry, an anotación preventiva (Article 42).

Three limits matter before you pay a deposit:

• It informs, it does not prove. The nota simple has purely informative value and does not certify the content of the entries (Article 222.5 LH, repeated in Article 332 of the Reglamento Hipotecario of 1947). Freedom from charges can be proved against third parties only by a certificación (Article 225 LH).
• It is a snapshot. According to the Colegio de Registradores it covers the holders, rights and charges in force at the moment of the request.
• It does not show who lives there. Mere possession cannot be registered (Article 5 LH).

You can order it from any registrar, even outside the district where the property lies (Article 222.8 LH), and since the Colegio's online system FLOTI started in 2001 the website has been the usual route. If you are not the owner, you state a legitimate interest (interés legítimo), because registry entries are protected by data protection law (Article 332 Reglamento Hipotecario). For British buyers the Colegio also offers an English translation of the extract, set out in two columns beside the Spanish original. Where the two differ, the Spanish version prevails.

Cadastre

• Location, area, use, quality of construction, cadastral valueArticle 3.1 cadastre law
• Data presumed correct unless proven otherwiseArticle 3.3 cadastre law
• Information serves tax fairnessArticle 2 cadastre law

Land registry

• Ownership and other rights in remArticle 1 LH
• Unregistered titles do not prejudice third partiesArticle 32 LH
• Legal statements prevail over the cadastreArticle 3.3 cadastre law

Why does the registry carry so much weight? Unregistered titles do not prejudice third parties (Article 32 LH), and a buyer who acquires in good faith and for value from the person the registry shows as entitled to transfer, and who then registers, keeps the acquisition even if the seller's right later falls for reasons the registry does not show (Article 34). How far that reaches in one purchase is for the notary, the registrar and, in a dispute, a court.

Why do the cadastre and the registry give different figures?

Because two authorities describe the same property for different purposes, under different rules, and for decades without a link. The preamble of Ley 13/2015 names the causes, among them that registration is voluntary and that changes made in one register were not reported to the other. Older registry entries describe a plot only in words, with boundaries given by compass point, according to the Colegio de Registradores.

Since 1 November 2015 the link is in the law. Every form of registry information, the nota simple included, has to give the cadastral reference and say whether the plot (finca) is graphically coordinated with the cadastre as of a given date (Article 10 LH). Only once coordination is reached is the finca presumed to have the location and boundaries of the cadastral plan. Find that statement on your nota simple.

The cadastre also measures in its own way. Its built area (superficie construida) adds to the private part an approximate share of the common elements, calculated only for cadastral valuation. Covered balconies and terraces count at 50 per cent, or at 100 per cent if closed on three of their four sides, and in residential use spaces lower than 1.50 metres are left out. An agent may have measured differently. Ask which area the listing means.

How far apart the figures can be shows up in court auctions. In 97 cases the auction portal and the cadastre both gave an area for the same property.

The gap runs both ways: in 30 cases the portal figure was more than 5 per cent larger, in 52 cases more than 5 per cent smaller. That proves no error, since the portal does not say consistently which kind of area it means. For a private purchase the lesson is the same: an area from one source is a claim until you have compared it with the cadastre and the registry, and a wide gap is worth settling before the price is agreed.

What should you do when the figures do not match?

Have the difference explained in writing before you pay, while the seller is still the registered owner.

The Ley Hipotecaria sets thresholds. A plan and a written description count as matching if the area difference does not exceed 10 per cent of the registered area (Article 9 b). A difference of up to 10 per cent backed by a matching cadastral certificate, or a claimed difference of up to 5 per cent, can be entered without the full procedure (Article 201.3). Beyond that, the owner can submit the cadastral plan, after which neighbouring owners are notified and have 20 days to object (Article 199), or apply for a correction of description, area or boundaries under Article 201. The cadastre in turn can open its own procedure when it learns that its description and reality differ (Article 18 of the cadastre law).

These thresholds and the 20-day period come from the consolidated Ley Hipotecaria on boe.es (last updated 3 January 2025, wording in force since 1 November 2015). Whether they fit a particular finca is for the registrar to decide, and the registrar's assessment of that property is authoritative.

Which location risks can you check in official sources?

Each risk has its own law, and most have a public map. Check the exact plot, because a neighbouring parcel can lie on the other side of a zone boundary that the landscape does not reveal.

Flooding. The environment ministry (MITECO) runs a national flood map viewer (Sistema Nacional de Cartografía de Zonas Inundables, SNCZI) that anyone can use. A flood area (zona inundable) is land that a flood with a statistical return period of 500 years can reach (Article 14.1 of the Reglamento del Dominio Público Hidráulico, RD 849/1986). Along watercourses a zona de policía 100 metres wide applies, in which building of any kind is regulated (Article 9.1). Before building starts in a flood area, the developer needs a registry certificate showing that a note on the flood location has been entered (Article 14 bis.4), so the risk can turn up on a nota simple too.

The coast. The Ley de Costas (Ley 22/1988) draws two strips inland from the inner edge of the seashore. In the protection zone (servidumbre de protección), 100 metres wide, buildings for residential use are prohibited (Article 23.1 and Article 25.1 a). The transit strip (servidumbre de tránsito) of 6 metres stays open to walkers (Article 27.1). Existing buildings there may be modernised only without any increase in volume, height or floor area (Disposición transitoria cuarta, 2 c).

Protected nature. Natura 2000 is a European network of sites of community importance (LIC), special areas of conservation (ZEC) and special protection areas for birds (ZEPA), Article 42.1 of Ley 42/2007. Projects that may significantly affect such a site need an appropriate assessment (Article 46.4). Planning a pool? Ask the regional environment authority first.

Fire. On burnt forest land a change from forest use is prohibited for at least 30 years (Article 50.1 a, Ley 43/2003 de Montes). Whether a built residential plot on a former burnt area falls under this is not settled in general terms. Fire risk zones are set by each autonomous community, so the regional map is the source.

Noise. Noise maps cover among others major roads and major airports, and they are reviewed every five years (Article 14.1 a and Article 16, Ley 37/2003 del Ruido). Look at the date of the map.

Holiday lets. Since 3 April 2025, letting a flat as tourist accommodation needs the express prior approval of the community of owners (Article 7.3 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH, inserted by Ley Orgánica 1/2025). Whether this catches lets that existed before that date depends on a transitional rule. A register entry shows only that the building or unit is listed; the holiday-let check looks those registers up for one property.

The distances and periods above come from the consolidated laws on boe.es, with the version dates given in the sources. For a specific plot, the boundary or classification set by the competent authority is authoritative.

• Holiday-let register entry59building or unit listed
• Aircraft noise zone51plot inside the zone
• River flooding47flood area or watercourse zone of a river
• Coastal protection35plot inside a coastal protection zone
• Natura 20008inside the site, 29 more closer than the check distance
• Coastal flooding6plot inside a coastal flood area
• Fire risk zone6designated forest fire risk zone
• Former burnt area2plot on land that has burnt

That is how often each finding turned up in 466 property reports we had produced by 30 September 2026. The three most frequent are invisible at a viewing; aircraft noise can pass unnoticed on a quiet afternoon.

What is left for the notary and your lawyer?

Before authorising a purchase deed, the notary must check ownership and charges and must consult the registry again at the moment closest to signing (Article 175 of the Reglamento Notarial). The registrar's information to the notary includes documents already filed in the daybook (libro diario), and new filings in the following 9 calendar days are reported on the same day (Article 354 a Reglamento Hipotecario). For an ordinary nota simple, no rule says expressly that it shows such pending filings.

Your lawyer covers what the registers do not, starting with the reservation contract (contrato de arras) and the terms of the deposit.

What belongs on your list before the deposit?

• Cadastral reference obtained; parcel compared with the aerial image.
• Area in listing, cadastre and registry compared, any difference explained in writing.
• Nota simple ordered, with a fresh one shortly before signing.
• Registered owner matched against the seller; every charge noted.
• Coordination statement found on the nota simple.
• Plot checked in the SNCZI flood viewer and on the coastal, Natura 2000, fire and noise maps.
• For a flat, debt certificate and any resolution on holiday lets requested from the community administrator.

A property report takes the cadastral reference and shows flood areas, coast, Natura 2000, fire, aircraft noise and the holiday-let registers for that parcel, each with its source. It does not replace the nota simple or the authority's own answer, but it shows which points need a closer look; the property check page sets out what it covers.

In short

The cadastre describes the property; the land registry decides who owns it and what burdens it. A nota simple informs as of the day you request it and proves nothing against third parties. If the areas disagree, get the explanation before you pay, especially for a flat. Flood zones, the coast, protected nature, fire, noise and holiday-let rules can be checked for the exact plot. The notary checks title and charges again at signing, and the reservation contract is for your lawyer.