Many people feel they want to escape the UK climate and head for the sun in the south. In 2025, Britons were still the largest group of foreign home buyers in Spain, according to the country's land registrars.
If you want to buy a property in Spain, it's a good idea to know what it costs to own it before you decide.
Spain has realized that they have a real commodity in homes for tourists from other countries, and with a good lawyer or adviser, it is not a cumbersome process to buy these homes.
However, it is not always easy to get an overview of the later costs of having a home in Spain.
Fortunately, Spain's rules are very good when it comes to selling your home.
In addition, Spain is a cheaper country when it comes to consumption. Supermarkets have reasonable prices and high quality. So that is not where the budget comes in.
Property tax in Spain
Property owners pay a Spanish property tax called Impuesto Sobre Bienes Inmuebles (IBI). It is a local tax that must be paid whether you live in Spain or the UK.
So, you pay this tax even if you only visit your home once or twice a year. The tax is calculated on the property's cadastral value (valor catastral), which covers both the land and the building.
The tax rate is set by the local authority, usually between 0.4% and 1.1% of the cadastral value for urban property, so in some places you may pay less IBI for a similar home. You can check the rate in advance with the local authority in the area where you plan to live.
The cadastral value is set by the authorities and is usually much lower than the market value.
Your personal income tax
IRNR, also known as Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes, is the income tax that non-residents pay on income from Spain.
If you own a property in Spain but are not resident there and do not rent it out, you still pay tax on it. The tax is calculated on an imputed income based on the property's cadastral value (valor catastral), not its market value.
We will now explain how this works. The imputed income is 2% of the cadastral value, or 1.1% if the municipality's cadastral values have been revised in recent years. You then pay 19% tax on that amount if you live in another EU country or in Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein, and 24% if you live anywhere else, including the UK.
If the cadastral value is €100,000 and the rate is 1.1%, the imputed income is €1,100. The tax is then €209 a year at 19% or €264 a year at 24%.
If you are resident in Spain, you will have to pay IRPF personal income tax instead.
Remember to insure your home
When you have a property in Spain that you don't necessarily live in all year, it's important that you have good home insurance.
Spain may be a very peaceful country, but a home that stands empty for part of the year can still attract burglars. The price of your insurance depends on the characteristics of your property, which together determine its quality, as well as on your possessions and their value.
If you have a mortgage, the bank will require the home itself to be insured against damage. Beyond that, if you don't want to take out a large insurance policy, you can insure your most valuable possessions and possibly buy the remaining furniture more cheaply.
Your garden furniture doesn't have to be the most expensive in the world, and your sofa can easily be from IKEA and still be stylish and beautiful.
In addition, you can make a neighbor agreement to keep an eye on each other's homes and possibly give them a key to the house if you trust them, so they can check that everything is in order. Plus, they can make it look like someone lives there when you don't.
Communal costs in your area
If your property is part of an estate, neighborhood or housing estate where there are communal areas, it goes without saying that you will also have to pay something for these.
If the homes in your area have a communal area with a swimming pool, you will all have to pay for the maintenance of the pool, for water changes and for keeping the area clean and tidy.
In addition, it is a legal requirement that all owners are members of the owners' association. This is where the budget for common costs is set, usually at an annual meeting.
If you want to have an influence on the finances of the common areas and want to prepare or complete them, you can become chairman of the owners' association.
Then you have some power over how the money is managed. For example, you might want a lift for all the elderly people living in the area, so that they don't have to climb many stairs.
It may also be that an extension to the pool is an obvious option if many more people have moved into the area.
A children's pool could also be arranged so that adults without children on the trip can relax by themselves. This way, children can also play without having to worry about being too wild or making too much noise.
Prices depend on the area
When you want to buy a property in Spain, your costs also depend on the area. The more popular the area, the more expensive your expenses may be.
So, it can pay to live in an area that has not yet attracted as much attention from tourists from other countries. Then you can experience cheaper restaurants and local shops because there is not the same competition.
If you are looking for properties for sale in Malaga and want to live in the center of Malaga, you will find that all the shops and restaurants must raise their prices as soon as someone else does. At the same time, they can afford to do so, as they are guaranteed a large clientele anyway.
So, you can save a lot of money per year on consumption alone if you strategically place yourself in the country.
Moreover, there is something charming about living in an area that has not yet been overpopulated by tourists. So, every year you visit your accommodation, you're ensuring that you have an authentic experience in Spain.