A purchase in Spain ends at a notary’s desk, and you do not have to be at it. Someone you choose can sign for you under a power of attorney, a poder notarial. This guide sets out who can sign for you, the difference between a general power and a specific one, the three ways to grant a power from the United Kingdom, the newer option of a video call with a Spanish notary, what the power should cover, and how it ends. The rules come from the Civil Code, the notaries, the Spanish consulates and gov.uk, linked where they apply, as they stand in October 2026. Where the power fits into the purchase as a whole is set out in the Spanish buying process.
What a power of attorney is
The Spanish notaries’ council describes a power as a public document, authorised by a notary, in which one person appoints another to act in their name in particular legal acts. The person appointed proves it by showing the authorised copy of the power, the copia autorizada (Notariado). As the council says in a short note of its own, granting a power does not hand over your rights. It lets someone act for you within limits you set (Notariado).
For a purchase the power has to be a notarial one. The Civil Code requires a power to be in a public document when the act it is for must itself be in a public deed (article 1280), and the deed of purchase is exactly that. A signed letter or an email is not enough.
Who can sign for you
Anyone you trust and name in the power. The Spanish consulates in the UK note that a power may be granted by Spanish or foreign citizens, to one or more people (Consulate General in London). In practice it is usually your own independent lawyer, the person already running the checks set out in the legal checks before you buy. A family member who will be in Spain can be named instead, or as well.
If two of you are buying, each of you either signs or grants a power, and a couple can grant one power together: the consulates’ fee depends on the number of people granting it. Whoever signs, the deed still records the buyers’ tax numbers. The Notaries Act requires the parties to a deed that acquires a property to give their tax identification numbers and those of the people they represent (article 23), so each buyer needs a NIE, as how to get a NIE number explains.
General or specific
The Civil Code distinguishes a general mandate, covering all of a person’s affairs, from a special one, covering one or more particular matters (article 1712). The next article is the one that matters for a purchase. A mandate in general terms covers only acts of administration, and to sell, mortgage or carry out any other act of ownership the mandate has to say so expressly (article 1713). Buying a home and signing a mortgage are acts of that kind.
The consulates describe the two kinds in plain terms. A general power lets the person you appoint do, without limits, any act valid in law: buying and selling, managing assets, entering into contracts, mortgaging, opening and running bank accounts, making payments. A special power covers one or more specific acts, such as buying, selling, accepting an inheritance or obtaining a NIE, on the conditions you set (Consulate General in Edinburgh).
For buying one home, a specific power does what is needed and nothing more. The notaries’ council suggests asking the notary which kind suits you, since a power can be shaped to almost any act. Your lawyer drafts the wording, and it is worth making it cover every step that would otherwise bring the paperwork back to you:
- applying for your NIE, if you do not have one yet
- opening a Spanish bank account and making the payments
- signing the reservation, the private contract, the arras, and the deed
- paying the tax on the purchase and registering the deed
- if you are borrowing, signing the mortgage and attending the notary’s meeting before it
- putting the water and electricity contracts in your name
If you are borrowing, the power has to say so expressly, and it should cover the meeting with the notary that the mortgage law requires. The bank has to give you the loan documents at least ten calendar days before the signing (Ley 5/2019, article 14). The borrower, or whoever represents them for this purpose, then attends the notary no later than the day before the deed, and that meeting carries no notary’s fee (article 15). Borrowing as a non-resident is covered in Spanish mortgages for non-residents.
Route one: a notary in Spain
If you are in Spain at any point, on a viewing trip or for the reservation, you can sign the power before any Spanish notary. Notaries can send the authorised copy of a power to each other electronically and at once, so it reaches the notary who will authorise the deed without a courier (Notariado). Every notary works to the same official tariff, set by Real Decreto 1426/1989, and the notaries’ council says that all notaries charge the same for the same service (Notariado).
By video call. Since 9 November 2023 the Notaries Act has allowed some documents to be granted by videoconference through the notaries’ electronic office, and powers for specific acts are among them. General powers are not (article 17 ter). You identify yourself with one of the electronic identities the Spanish administration accepts, and if you have no electronic signature, one can be provided free of charge, limited to that single document. Whether it works for you depends on the identity you hold, so ask the notary early.
Route two: a Spanish consulate in the UK
The Consulates General in London, Manchester and Edinburgh authorise powers of attorney in their notarial sections. A consul acting as notary produces a Spanish public document, and Spanish public documents are drawn up in Spanish (Notaries Act, article 25), so the power needs no translation and no apostille in Spain.
The three consulates list the same papers:
- your valid passport
- your NIE, if you are a foreign national
- a copy of the identity document, DNI or NIE, of each person you are appointing
- a description of the powers to be granted, for which a draft from your lawyer can be provided
- the fee, which depends on the length of the document, the number of people granting it and the number of copies
You attend in person on the day you sign, with your original passport. In Edinburgh the appointment is requested with an application form sent by email and confirmed once the fee has been received (Consulate General in Edinburgh), and Manchester publishes the same list (Consulate General in Manchester). The London consulate’s price list for 2026 sets the fee for a power of attorney at £26.40, with authorised copies charged by the page on top (London consulate fees).
The NIE on that list matters. If you do not have one yet, ask the consulate before you book. The other route is a power signed before a UK notary that lets your lawyer apply for the NIE for you.
Route three: a UK notary, the apostille and a translation
You can also sign before a notary public in the UK. The power then needs two things before a Spanish notary will use it.
The first is an apostille, the certificate that confirms a UK official’s signature for use abroad. The FCDO’s Legalisation Office issues it for documents certified by a UK notary or solicitor, and gov.uk gives a power of attorney as an example. The standard paper service costs £45 per document plus courier, and usually takes up to 25 working days. An e-Apostille, for a PDF the notary has signed electronically, costs £35 and takes up to 2 working days (gov.uk). gov.uk suggests checking with whoever asked for the document whether they need the paper version, which here means your Spanish lawyer.
The second is a Spanish translation. The Land Registry rules let a document not written in Spanish be translated by the foreign ministry’s interpretation office, by an official authorised to do so, or by a notary (Reglamento Hipotecario, article 37). A sworn translator, a traductor jurado appointed by the Spanish foreign ministry, produces a translation with official standing that courts and public bodies accept (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
Spanish law accepts a foreign public document for the registers where the foreign official carried out functions equivalent to those of a Spanish one (Ley 29/2015, article 60). On the day, the Spanish notary who authorises the deed records the power and states that, in their judgment, it is sufficient for the purchase (Ley 24/2001, article 98). That judgment is the one that counts, so ask your lawyer to show the draft to the notary who will authorise the deed before you sign it in the UK.
The three routes side by side
| Notary in Spain | Spanish consulate in the UK | Notary public in the UK | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where you sign | Any notary in Spain, or by video call for a specific power | London, Manchester or Edinburgh, by appointment | A notary public near you |
| Language | Spanish | Spanish | English, translated into Spanish |
| Before it can be used | Nothing further | Nothing further | Apostille, then translation |
| On the consulates’ list | Not applicable | Your NIE and the appointee’s identity document | Not applicable |
| Published price | The national notarial tariff | £26.40 in London in 2026, plus copies | The notary’s own fee, plus £45 or £35 for the apostille |
A lasting power of attorney is something else
A lasting power of attorney made in England and Wales is a different document with a different purpose. gov.uk describes it as a legal document that lets you appoint people to help you make decisions, or make them for you, about your health and welfare or your property and financial affairs, and notes that it is legally binding only in England and Wales (gov.uk). A purchase in Spain uses a power drawn up for the purchase.
How a power ends
You can revoke a power at any time and require the authorised copy to be handed back (Civil Code, article 1733). If it is not returned, the notaries’ council suggests a deed of revocation, notified to the person you appointed through a notary, who need not be the one who authorised the power. The consulates in the UK can authorise a deed of revocation too, wherever the original was granted. A power also ends on the death of either of you (article 1732).
Tell the person when you revoke. What someone does under a power without knowing of its revocation, or of a death, stays valid for anyone who dealt with them in good faith (article 1738). A specific power for one purchase has done its work once the deed is signed and registered. If yours reaches any wider than that, revoking it then keeps things tidy. The same three routes serve an owner who later sells from abroad, as selling property in Spain as a non-resident explains.
The order to do it in
- Decide who will sign and which route suits you as soon as an offer looks likely.
- Ask your lawyer for the draft, and have it shown to the notary who will authorise the deed.
- Book the consulate or the UK notary, and allow for the apostille, up to 25 working days on the standard service.
- If you are borrowing, keep the bank’s ten days and the notary’s meeting in the timetable.
- Once the deed is registered, revoke anything wider than the purchase.
A power is also how a buyer abroad can sign for a home bought off plan, and the developments selling off plan are listed by price.
How I handle it
When a buyer cannot be here for the signing, I raise the power of attorney at the offer, not the week before completion. I agree the route with your lawyer to suit your diary, check that the draft covers every step from the NIE to the utilities, and keep the timetable so that the apostille or the consulate appointment is done before the notary’s date. How that work sits alongside your lawyer’s is set out in what a buyer’s agent does in Spain.
On the day, your lawyer signs under the power and I am in the room, so someone who has followed the purchase since the first viewing is there for you. If you are buying from the UK and want to talk through the order of things, book a call. Buying with me sets out how I work.
Common questions
Can I buy a property in Spain without being there?
What is the difference between a general and a specific power of attorney in Spain?
Does a UK power of attorney work in Spain?
How much does a power of attorney cost at the Spanish consulate?
Can I grant a Spanish power of attorney by video call?
How do I cancel a power of attorney in Spain?
What this relates to
