Spain · Mortgages for non-residents
Spanish banks lend to buyers who live abroad, on tighter terms than residents get: CaixaBank publishes a non-resident limit of 70% of the home's value over 20 years and Bankinter 60% over 25, against up to 80% over 30 years on a resident's main home. New home mortgages averaged 3.01% in July 2026 (INE). Under the 2019 mortgage law and a 2018 tax change, the bank covers the notary, the Land Registry entry, the gestoría and the stamp duty on the loan, and you pay for the valuation.
Looking at a home in Spain? Four quick questions, then Rory tells you plainly what your budget reaches and whether the timing works.
See what fits →Only authorised lenders may grant mortgages in Spain: banks, savings banks, credit cooperatives, branches of foreign banks, specialist credit firms and registered property lenders. Several large banks publish loans for buyers abroad, and CaixaBank takes online applications from residents of 15 western European countries, the US and Canada. Ley 5/2019, the mortgage law, covers loans from professional lenders to individuals secured on homes and sets no residence condition (art. 2).
Banks are named only as examples of what they publish, not as recommendations.
Each lender sets its own ceiling, normally on the lower of the price and its valuation:
| Loan | Maximum loan | Maximum term | Other limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| CaixaBank, non-resident | 70% of the home's value | 20 years with income in euros, sterling, US or Canadian dollars, Swiss francs or Scandinavian crowns; 15 for some other currencies | Oldest borrower's age plus the term: 80 at most |
| Bankinter, non-resident | 60% of the lower of price and valuation, second home | 25 years | Fixed rate only with income or assets in euros, or residence in the euro area |
| Sabadell, non-resident | Usually below its standard 80% | Usually under 30 years | Repaid by 75, as a rule |
| CaixaBank, resident's main home | 80% of the lower of valuation and price | Up to 30 years | Oldest borrower's age plus the term: 80 at most |
The rest of the price, plus the purchase taxes and fees, comes from your own money: CaixaBank puts those taxes and costs at about 12% to 15% of the value, so it reckons a buyer with its 70% loan puts in 42% to 45%. Our buying costs calculator gives the taxes for each region.
The law requires an in-depth check of your ability to repay, including your income after retirement if much of the loan will be repaid after you stop working; the decision may not rest mainly on the home's value, and a refusal must be explained in writing (Ley 5/2019, art. 11). Age limits are bank policy: Sabadell expects repayment by 75 and CaixaBank caps age plus term at 80, so at 60 you could borrow over 15 or 20 years respectively.
A loan is fixed, variable, or mixed: fixed at first, then variable. A variable rate is an index plus a margin, usually the 12-month Euribor, which the European Money Markets Institute publishes on each TARGET2 day; the official figure for mortgages is its monthly average, which the Banco de España publishes in the BOE. The index must be clear, objective and verifiable, and a variable rate may carry no floor and never go below zero (Ley 5/2019, art. 21).
| Measure | Period | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12-month Euribor, monthly average | September 2026 | 3.247% | Banco de España (BOE) |
| 12-month Euribor, monthly average | September 2025 | 2.172% | Banco de España (BOE) |
| New home loans of three years or more, average APR | August 2026 | 3.134% | Banco de España (BOE) |
| New home mortgages registered, average rate | July 2026 | 3.01%: variable 2.97% at the start, fixed 3.03% | INE |
| New home mortgages at a fixed rate | July 2026 | 62.3%, average term 26 years | INE |
On €150,000 over 20 years the monthly payment is €831.90 at 3% and €908.97 at 4%, so each point costs about €77 a month; the Euribor rose by 1.075 points in the year to September 2026.
Early repayment fees are capped (art. 23): on variable loans 0.25% of the sum repaid in the first three years or 0.15% in the first five, and on fixed loans 2% in the first ten years and 1.5% after. Switching from variable to fixed costs at most 0.05% of any capital repaid in the first three years, then nothing.
The bank must say at the outset which documents and independently checkable evidence it needs (art. 12), and it checks your record with the Banco de España's risk register and a credit bureau. Sabadell and CaixaBank list these for non-residents:
The valuation must be made before signing by an approved valuer independent of the lender and of any broker (art. 13), and you pay for it. A report lapses six months after it is issued (Orden ECO/805/2003, art. 62). A valuation below the price means a bigger deposit.
| Cost | Who pays |
|---|---|
| Valuation (tasación) | You |
| Notary's fee for the mortgage deed | Lender |
| Copies of the deed | Whoever asks for them |
| Registering the mortgage | Lender |
| Gestoría, the paperwork agency | Lender |
| Stamp duty (AJD) on the mortgage deed | Lender, since 2018 |
| Arrangement fee, if any | You, charged once |
| Buildings insurance | You; lenders require it, and you choose the insurer |
CaixaBank's representative €150,000 non-resident example lists €2,378.91 of costs paid by the bank and a €289.06 valuation paid by the customer.
The lender may require insurance covering repayment as well as buildings cover, but it must accept another insurer's equivalent policy without charging to review it or worsening the loan (art. 17.3). Package deals are allowed if the products are also sold separately: CaixaBank's non-resident example is 3.80% fixed without its linked products and 2.80% with all of them.
At least ten calendar days before signing you receive the binding offer (FEIN), a standard warnings sheet (FiAE) and the draft contract with every cost itemised (art. 14). By the day before signing you must see a notary of your choice, who explains the terms, has you answer a test and records it in a free acta; without it the loan deed cannot be signed (art. 15). If you do not speak Spanish, the notary may translate, draw up the deed in two languages at your request, or use an interpreter you appoint (Reglamento Notarial, art. 150).
A euro mortgage counts as a foreign-currency loan when the income or assets you will repay it from are in another currency (Ley 5/2019, art. 4.27). You then have a right to convert it into that currency at the exchange rate on the day you ask, the ECB's unless the contract says otherwise (art. 20.1), and unless the contract caps the risk below 20% the FEIN must show the effect of a 20% move (art. 20.5).
Converting cannot undo a past move. In the ten years to September 2026, ECB monthly averages put a €1,000 payment between £828 and £916, or $983 and $1,235. At the official rate for 16 October 2026 it cost £843.85 or $1,125.30, and a 20% rise in the euro would make that £1,012.62 or $1,350.36. CaixaBank warns that converting its loans out of euros makes a fixed rate variable.
A mortgage broker (intermediario de crédito inmobiliario) must be on the Banco de España's register or a regional one (Ley 5/2019, arts. 27 and 28), and must tell you in writing, before starting, its registration, any lenders it is tied to, its fee and the commissions it receives (art. 35). With an unregistered intermediary, the Banco de España warns, you lose the transparency rules and its complaints service. UK mortgage regulation covers only loans secured on land in the UK (Regulated Activities Order 2001, art. 61).
We are an introducer for property developers, not a lender, broker or mortgage adviser, and we recommend no lender or loan: each lender's FEIN shows its full cost, and an independent Spanish lawyer can read the contract. The purchase is covered in buying property in Spain, and Americans have a guide to buying from the US.
Weighing up a home in Spain?
Rory speaks to every buyer before anyone is introduced: fifteen minutes, your budget and your timing, and a straight answer on whether it fits.
Talk to us about Spain →Yes. Authorised lenders lend to buyers who live abroad, and the 2019 mortgage law sets no residence condition. Terms are tighter: CaixaBank publishes a non-resident limit of 70% over 20 years and Bankinter 60% over 25, while a resident buying a main home can borrow up to 80% over 30 years.
With published non-resident limits of 60% to 70%, you need 30% to 40% of the price or the valuation, whichever is lower, plus the purchase taxes and fees. CaixaBank puts those extras at about 12% to 15% of the value, so it reckons a buyer with its 70% loan puts in 42% to 45%.
New home mortgages registered in July 2026 averaged 3.01%, and 62.3% of them were fixed (INE). The Banco de España's average APR on new home loans of three years or more was 3.134% in August. The 12-month Euribor, the usual index for variable loans, averaged 3.247% in September, against 2.172% a year earlier.
The lender pays the notary's fee for the mortgage deed, its registration, the gestoría and, since 2018, the stamp duty on the deed. You pay the valuation, any copies you ask for, any arrangement fee in the contract and the buildings insurance lenders require, which you may buy from an insurer of your choice.
The mortgage law sets none; banks do. Sabadell expects loans to be repaid by 75 and CaixaBank caps the oldest borrower's age plus the term at 80, so at 60 you could borrow over 15 or 20 years. Lenders must also weigh your retirement income if much of the loan will be repaid after you stop working.
Also in: Nederlands
Last checked 2026-11-02. Rules and rates change; this is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own position with an independent Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you act.