Mortgage in Spain for non-residents: the deposit, the rate and what the bank asks for

How a non-resident mortgage in Spain works. This guide covers the questions a buyer living in another country asks before applying: how much of the price a Spanish bank will lend, how much money you need yourself, how the interest rate is set, what documents the bank wants to see, what the mortgage itself costs and the steps from application to signing. The figures are taken from the banks’ own published pages, from the Banco de España and from the 2019 mortgage law, and each is linked where it appears. The taxes and fees you pay on the purchase are a separate sum, worked line by line in what a €350,000 apartment really costs.

Who counts as a non-resident

A non-resident, for a Spanish bank, is a person whose tax home is outside Spain. Banco Sabadell puts it plainly: anyone who does not spend at least 183 days a year living in Spain is treated as a non-resident (Banco Sabadell). If you live and pay tax in another country, whether in Europe, North America, the Middle East or anywhere else, and are buying a holiday home or a future retirement home on the Costa del Sol, you are a non-resident buyer, and the bank will offer you its non-resident mortgage.

The product itself is an ordinary mortgage. It can be fixed rate, variable rate or a mix of the two. What changes is how much the bank will lend, how long it will lend it for, and how closely it looks at your income.

How much a Spanish bank will lend to a non-resident

Spanish banks lend against the lower of two numbers: the price you have agreed to pay and the bank’s own valuation of the property. The valuation, called the tasación, is carried out by a valuation company supervised by the Banco de España, and you pay for it (Banco de España, guide to mortgage loans).

For a resident buying a main home, the ceiling is normally 80% of that lower figure. The Banco de España’s guide states it, and Banco Sabadell states it on its mortgage page, adding that the percentage is lower for second homes (Banco Sabadell). For a non-resident the ceiling is lower again. Bankinter’s guidance for foreign buyers puts it at a maximum of 70% of the price (Bankinter). In practice, the offers non-resident buyers receive sit between 60% and 70%, and the figure the bank offers you depends on your income, your credit history and the property itself.

Two other limits apply. The term is usually shorter than the 30 years a resident can have, and banks generally want the loan repaid by the time the oldest borrower turns 75 (Banco Sabadell). A buyer of 55 should therefore plan on a term of 20 years or less.

The money you need yourself, on a €400,000 purchase

Take a €400,000 resale apartment, valued by the bank at the same figure.

• At 70%, the bank lends €280,000. You put in €120,000 towards the price.
• At 60%, the bank lends €240,000. You put in €160,000.

The buying costs come on top. On a resale in Andalucía the transfer tax, lawyer, notary, land registry and administration agent come to about €35,000 here. So the money you need in your own account is about €155,000 with a 70% mortgage, or €195,000 with a 60% mortgage. The valuation fee and any arrangement fee the bank charges sit on top of that. I suggest budgeting 10% to 11% of the price for costs, €40,000 to €44,000 here, which leaves room for these. If you are buying a new build, the taxes are higher, and new build or resale sets out the difference.

None of this money can be borrowed against the Spanish property. The bank will ask where it comes from, and savings, the sale of another property or a gift with a paper trail are all normal answers.

The income test

A Spanish bank checks that the repayment fits comfortably inside your income. Banco Sabadell recommends that your total borrowing, meaning the mortgage together with any other loans, takes no more than 35% of your income, and that the mortgage alone takes no more than 30% (Banco Sabadell). Bankinter applies the same 35% limit to non-residents (Bankinter). The income counted is your income after tax, and the loans counted include a mortgage at home, car finance and credit cards.

An illustration, using a rate chosen only to make the arithmetic visible. On the €280,000 loan above, a fixed rate of 3.5% over 20 years gives a repayment of about €1,620 a month. For that to be 30% of your income you would need about €5,400 a month after tax, or about €4,640 a month at the 35% limit. A longer term lowers the monthly figure, and a shorter one raises it. If your income is in pounds, dollars or another currency and the repayment is in euros, the cost of the repayment in your own currency moves with the exchange rate, and it is sensible to leave room for that.

How the interest rate is set

There are three kinds of rate, and every Spanish bank offers all three to non-residents.

• Fixed. The rate, and the monthly payment, stay the same for the whole term.
• Variable. The rate is the 12-month Euribor plus a margin the bank sets, and it is reviewed once or twice a year. Euribor is the average rate at which European banks lend to one another, and the Banco de España publishes the official monthly figure. For August 2026 it was 2.954% (Banco de España).
• Mixed. A fixed rate for the first few years, then a variable rate for the rest of the term.

Banks advertise a headline rate that assumes you take other products with them, usually home insurance, life insurance and having your salary paid into an account with the bank. Each product knocks a little off the rate. The 2019 mortgage law says a bank cannot force you to take products as a condition of the loan, and that while it may require the property to be insured, you can bring your own policy from another insurer (Ley 5/2019, article 17). A non-resident cannot usually have a salary earned abroad paid into a Spanish account, so compare banks on the rate you would actually get, not on the lowest figure in the advert.

What the bank asks a foreign buyer for

Each bank has its own list, but the documents are much the same everywhere. Banco Sabadell publishes its list for residents and Bankinter states what it adds for non-residents (Banco Sabadell, Bankinter). Wherever you live, expect to be asked for:

• Your passport and your NIE. The NIE is the identification number every foreign buyer needs in Spain. How to get a NIE number covers the routes.
• A certificate of tax residence from the tax authority in the country where you live, confirming that you pay tax there.
• Proof of income. If you are employed: your last two or three payslips, your latest annual tax statement or tax return, and your employment contract. If you are self-employed: two years of accounts and tax returns.
• Six months of bank statements from the account your income is paid into.
• A credit report from a credit reference agency in your own country, showing how you have handled borrowing.
• A statement of your existing debts. Your mortgage at home, any loans, car finance and credit card balances.
• Proof of where the deposit comes from. A savings statement, a completion statement from a sale, or a letter confirming a gift.

Documents that are not in Spanish may need to be translated by a sworn translator, which is a translator officially approved to certify translations, and the cost of that is yours. Ask the bank which documents it needs translated before you pay for any. The Banco de España guide is clear that paying for the valuation does not by itself mean the loan will be granted, so gather the documents first and have the bank confirm in principle that it will lend before the valuation is ordered.

What the mortgage itself costs

The 2019 mortgage law, Ley 5/2019, fixed who pays for what when a Spanish mortgage is set up (article 14).

• The bank pays the notary’s fee for the mortgage deed, the land registry fee for registering the mortgage, and the administration agent who files the paperwork.
• You pay for the valuation of the property, and for any copies of the deed you ask for.

The stamp duty charged on the mortgage deed is also paid by the bank, under a change to the tax law made in 2018 (article 29 of the stamp duty law). The one cost that varies is the arrangement fee. Some banks charge one and some do not, and where it exists it must be a single fee shown on the binding offer, so it is easy to compare.

The law also caps what a bank can charge if you repay early (article 23). On a variable rate the cap is 0.25% of the amount repaid in the first three years, or 0.15% in the first five, and nothing after that. On a fixed rate the cap is 2% in the first ten years and 1.5% after. In every case the bank can charge no more than the loss it actually suffers.

The steps from application to signing

1. The general information sheet. Before you apply, the bank gives you a short document called the FIPRE, which sets out the mortgage’s general terms.
2. The application and the checks. You send the documents above. The bank studies your income and credit history and confirms in principle how much it will lend.
3. The valuation. The bank orders the tasación. The loan is set as a share of the lower of the valuation and the price.
4. The binding offer. The bank issues the FEIN, a standard European document showing every term of your loan, together with a warnings sheet called the FiAE. By law you must have both at least ten calendar days before you sign, so that you can read them and ask questions (Ley 5/2019, article 14). Use those ten days to raise any doubts with the bank.
5. The visit to the notary. Before signing day, you meet the notary you have chosen, at no cost, and the notary confirms that you understand the terms and records this in a short deed (Ley 5/2019, article 15).
6. Signing. The purchase deed and the mortgage deed are signed together at the notary. The bank pays the seller, and the keys are yours.

With a Spanish mortgage, allow eight to sixteen weeks from an accepted offer to signing, against six to twelve for a cash purchase. The Spanish buying process sets out where the mortgage fits among the other stages.

The order to do things in

Three points of timing make the difference between a smooth purchase and a stressful one.

• Get the bank’s decision in principle before you agree a price. You then know exactly what you can offer, and the seller knows you are a serious buyer.
• Do not pay the deposit until the mortgage is agreed in principle. The deposit contract in Spain, the arras, normally commits you to 10% of the price, and the arras contract explains what happens to that money if a sale does not complete. Where the timing cannot be avoided, the arras can be written so that it depends on the mortgage being granted.
• Open a Spanish bank account early. The bank collects the repayments from a Spanish account, and the account is also where your funds for completion arrive. Your NIE is needed to open it, so the NIE comes first, and the Spanish bank account guide covers the proof of non-residence, the documents and the fees. Getting your money to Spain covers the exchange rate, the checks on the money and how the funds are handed over on the day.

How I handle it

My approach is the same on every purchase. Before the search begins, I work out with you what a Spanish bank is likely to lend on the property you have in mind and what that leaves for you to fund, so that the budget is real from the first viewing. Once a bank is chosen, I keep the valuation, the binding offer and the ten-day period in step with the seller’s timetable, so that the mortgage never holds up the purchase. That sits within the buying service, and if you are still settling the budget, what you need to buy, area by area works the sums at four price points. To talk through your own numbers, book a call.

General guidance, not financial advice. The lending limits, income limits and document lists are as published by the banks named, the Euribor figure is the Banco de España’s official figure for August 2026, and the cost and early-repayment rules are those of Ley 5/2019, all last checked 17 September 2026. Banks change their terms, so confirm the current figures with the bank before you commit, and take independent legal and financial advice.

Common questions

The same subject, for buyers abroad

Pages written for buyers in other countries, in their own language, covering what changes for them.

• United States: Buying a Costa del Sol home from the United States
• Sweden: Vad kostar det att köpa bostad i Andalusien?
• Norway: Finansiering og valuta når du kjøper bolig i Spania