Mortgages in Spain for Non-Residents

Loan-to-value on a non-resident mortgage in Spain is set by each lender as its own commercial policy, and no Spanish authority fixes a figure for it. The loan comes from a Spanish bank secured against Spanish property, open to EU and non-EU buyers who are not Spanish tax residents. Bankinter publishes two figures of its own, up to 60% of the value on its non-resident products for a second home and at most 70% of the price for a foreign buyer in its FAQ, against up to 80% for Spanish buyers, and Banco de Espana names Euribor as the reference rate for variable loans. This guide covers how much non-residents can borrow, the documents and income checks banks apply, how the FEIN/FiAE offer and notary signing work, what gets an application rejected, and where a solicitor’s role starts and stops.

What Is a Non-Resident Mortgage in Spain, and Who Qualifies?

A non-resident mortgage in Spain is a loan from a Spanish bank secured against Spanish property, open to EU and non-EU buyers who are not Spanish tax residents. Each lender sets the loan-to-value it will offer as its own commercial policy, and both Bankinter and Banco Sabadell publish a non-resident position below the 80% Banco de Espana describes as normal for a main home.

Ley 5/2019, Spain’s mortgage-credit law, applies to a loan secured by mortgage over residential property wherever the borrower is a natural person, and it sets no condition on the borrower’s tax residence or nationality. Its protections attach to the loan and the property, regardless of where the borrower lives.

EU and non-EU applicants can both qualify, but the two groups do not always face identical terms. Bankinter states that a borrower’s nationality affects the criteria a bank applies, and names a further factor for a non-EU applicant: the bank cannot seize assets held outside the EU, so the mortgaged Spanish property is the security it can enforce against. The sections below work through the loan-to-value, income and documentation differences in turn.

Getting a mortgage is step four of buying a property in Spain as a non-resident. It comes before the reservation and arras contract, and well before completion at the notary.

Can a Solicitor Help You Get a Mortgage as a Non-Resident Buyer?

Yes, but not by finding or negotiating the loan itself. A mortgage broker or the bank’s own advisor does that; a solicitor’s role sits on the legal side of the purchase.

A property solicitor working on your purchase reviews the FEIN and the FiAE, the binding offer documents Ley 5/2019 requires a lender to hand over at least ten calendar days before signing, and checks them against the purchase contract. The solicitor can also coordinate the loan completion date with the notary appointment so the mortgage deed and purchase deed can be signed on the same visit when the lender, notary and purchase timetable allow it.

This is legal review and timeline coordination. It carries no promise of loan approval or a better rate.

How Much Can Non-Residents Borrow? LTV Limits Explained

No Spanish authority fixes a loan-to-value limit for non-resident buyers. Banco de Espana’s own consumer guide describes institutions not normally lending above 80% of the valuation for a habitual residence, and it names the lender’s own commercial policy as one of the factors that moves that figure. The guide predates Ley 5/2019 and describes ordinary bank practice; it sets no legal ceiling of its own.

Named banks publish their own non-resident figures directly:

• Bankinter. Its published non-resident products cover up to 60% of the value for a second home, and its FAQ separately states that a foreign buyer’s loan covers at most 70% of the price, against up to 80% for Spanish buyers.
• Banco Sabadell. Its own non-resident mortgage guidance states that this limit is usually lower than the 80% a conventional mortgage can reach, without giving a figure of its own.
• CaixaBank. Its published criteria finance a maximum of 80% of the valuation or price, the same general ceiling it states for a habitual residence; its pages carry no separate non-resident figure.

Loan-to-value on a non-resident mortgage is set by each lender as commercial policy. Spanish law and Banco de Espana fix no figure of their own; the figure that applies to your own case comes from the lender you approach, and it moves with the property type and with the bank’s own view of your finances.

What Income and Affordability Checks Do Spanish Banks Apply?

No debt-to-income ratio is written into Spanish law. Ley 5/2019 obliges a lender to assess a borrower’s creditworthiness in depth, weighing employment situation, present income, income expected over the life of the loan, assets, savings, fixed outgoings and existing commitments, and it states that the assessment cannot rest mainly on the value of the property offered as security.

Named banks publish the ratio they apply to that income. Banco Sabadell states the mortgage instalment should not exceed 30% of income as a general rule; CaixaBank recommends the instalment stay under 35%; Bankinter caps total debt service, the instalment plus other repayments, at 35% of normal income. The three figures are bank policy, and they do not all measure the same thing.

Banco de Espana also states that a bank consults CIRBE, its own register of a borrower’s debts at other banks, and the usual arrears registers. A non-resident with no borrowing history in Spain has no CIRBE record, a point the supervisor’s own process page leaves unaddressed. Ask a tax professional how income earned outside Spain gets treated by the lender you approach.

What Documents Do You Need for a Non-Resident Mortgage in Spain?

A non-resident mortgage application asks for identity and tax documents, information about your finances, and details of the property itself. No single Spanish authority publishes one national checklist, so the table below draws only on what named banks and the law state directly; confirm anything beyond it with the lender you approach.

An NIE is a separate application in its own right; applying for an NIE covers the form, the fee and the routes to file it, in Spain or from abroad. Opening a Spanish bank account as a non-resident is covered separately. The valuation fee and the other formalisation costs that sit alongside these documents belong to the full cost of buying a property in Spain.

How Do Mortgage Rates and Terms Compare for Non-Residents?

Spanish mortgages price off Euribor for a variable-rate loan, or a rate the bank sets itself for a fixed one. Banco de Espana names twelve-month Euribor as the index most mortgages use to revise a variable rate. Its published table put that rate at 2.855% for July 2026 as at 24 August 2026.

Five points separate a non-resident deal from a resident one, sourced bank by bank.

• Structure. A variable loan resets against Euribor plus the bank’s own margin; a fixed loan holds one rate for the whole term.
• Rate and fees. Banco Sabadell states a non-resident mortgage may carry a higher rate than other mortgages because the holder is not tax resident in Spain, and Bankinter’s FAQ names a lower maximum loan and a higher rate among the more demanding terms it applies again to a non-resident.
• Term. CaixaBank puts its usual maximum at 30 years, and Banco Sabadell says a conventional mortgage can reach the same figure; Sabadell also states a non-resident loan’s term is habitually shorter, and Bankinter’s own non-resident products run 5 to 25 years fixed, or a 25-year maximum on the variable product.
• Age at maturity. CaixaBank caps the oldest borrower’s age plus the term at 80 years; Banco Sabadell puts the age at final payment at 75. Two named banks publish two different rules.
• AJD stamp duty on the mortgage deed. The lender has been the taxable person for stamp duty on the mortgage loan deed since Real Decreto-ley 17/2018. That change reaches the mortgage deed only; the full cost of buying a property in Spain covers AJD on the purchase deed itself, which the reform left with the buyer.

What Is the Step-by-Step Process to Get a Non-Resident Mortgage?

Banco de Espana sets out the mortgage application in a fixed sequence, and Ley 5/2019 governs the two steps that protect the borrower.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Non-Resident Mortgage Approved?

No national figure exists for how long a Spanish mortgage takes to approve. Ley 5/2019 fixes only one period: the lender must leave at least ten calendar days between handing over the FEIN and the date you sign. That period is fixed by law; how long the bank itself takes to decide before that point depends on the bank and the case.

What has to happen before signing is fixed even where the timing is not: the bank’s creditworthiness assessment, independent valuation, CIRBE and arrears-register checks, then the FEIN, the free notary appointment and signature. Banco de Espana sets out those steps; their timing outside the ten-day FEIN window depends on the lender and case.

What Can Get a Non-Resident Mortgage Application Rejected?

Ley 5/2019 requires the lender to explain a refusal in writing, including whether the decision rested on an automated process or a database check, so a rejected applicant is entitled to know why.

Five points come up against a non-resident application.

• Affordability outside the lender’s own policy. Ley 5/2019 requires the lender to weigh existing outgoings and commitments alongside income. Banco Sabadell states that its mortgage instalment should generally stay within 30% of income, CaixaBank recommends an instalment below 35%, and Bankinter applies 35% to total debt service, including other repayments. These are separate lender policies using different measures, not one national cap.
• Savings or deposit funds the bank cannot document. The same creditworthiness assessment covers your assets and savings, and a source the bank cannot verify weakens the application.
• A credit check the bank cannot complete. Banco de Espana states the bank consults CIRBE and the usual arrears registers; a non-resident with no Spanish borrowing history has no CIRBE record either way.
• A registry or planning issue on the property. The independent valuation Ley 5/2019 requires can surface a problem a land-registry extract would also reveal.
• Missing identity or account arrangements requested by the lender. Confirm whether that lender requires a Spanish bank account and when it must be opened.

Can UK Residents Still Get a Mortgage for a Spanish Property After Brexit?

Yes. Spanish lenders define a non-resident by tax residence in their own published criteria, so a British buyer applies on the same basis as any other non-resident.

Banco Sabadell’s definition of a non-resident turns on tax residence and spending fewer than 183 days a year on Spanish soil. Bankinter’s FAQ states that nationality affects the criteria a bank applies, and names one reason a non-EU borrower can face tighter terms: the bank cannot seize assets held outside the EU, so the mortgaged Spanish property is the security it can enforce against.

American buyers follow the same non-resident process; buying property in Spain as an American covers the US-specific questions a purchase raises.

Do You Need a Mortgage Broker, a Solicitor, or Both?

A mortgage broker sources and negotiates the loan itself; a property solicitor reviews the offer once you have it and handles the legal side of completion.

A broker, or the bank’s own advisor, compares products, submits your application and negotiates rate and terms directly with lenders. A solicitor comes in once a lender has made an offer: reviewing the FEIN and FiAE alongside your purchase contract, coordinating the loan completion date with the notary appointment, and running the due-diligence checks a mortgage does not replace, from the nota simple to the property’s planning status.

A solicitor already working on your purchase covers the legal side of the mortgage as one part of that same engagement.