Can I get a mortgage in Spain as an EU citizen?

Yes, but do not assume 70 or 80 percent of the price. With income in a currency other than the euro it is realistic to plan for around half of the value the bank sets, and the offer varies by applicant according to income, existing commitments, age, the currency you are paid in and the bank. That is why we check what you can realistically borrow before you start choosing a property.

How much of my own money will I need?

It depends on whether you are buying a new build or a resale property. On a new build, have roughly 20 to 40 percent of the price ready for payments that can fall due before the project is finished, plus your own money for taxes and purchase costs including the 10 percent VAT. On a resale property, plan for the bank financing around half of the value it recognises, with the rest of the price and all the costs from your own funds. On a 500.000 € property that often means considerably more than 100.000 or 150.000 € in cash.

Why does the bank lend on its valuation rather than on the price?

Because the property is what secures the loan, so the bank lends against what its own valuer says the property is worth, and never more than the price you actually paid. If you agree 500.000 € and the valuation comes in at 470.000 €, the loan is calculated from 470.000 €, and the difference is added to the cash you need.

How long does approval take?

Four to eight weeks from a complete application. Missing documents and untranslated ones are the usual reason it runs longer, so the documents are worth starting before you need them.

When should I start arranging the mortgage?

Not straight away, and not last. Get the feasibility answer before you start choosing properties. The application itself belongs near the end: on a new build the bank approves the loan roughly two months before completion and earlier is not useful, while a resale property allows a little more time. What you do not want is to start choosing without knowing what you can borrow.

Is a pre-approval a guarantee?

No. It is an informed read on what you can expect, which is exactly what you need before choosing a property, but the bank checks your situation again before it pays out. Taking on new debt or changing job between the two can change the offer, so keep things steady in between.

Who pays the fees related to the mortgage?

Since 2019 the bank pays most of the mortgage’s own set-up costs in Spain: the stamp duty on the mortgage, the notary, the land registry entry and the gestoría. The buyer pays the property valuation. This is about the mortgage only. The taxes and fees on the purchase itself are unchanged and are still yours.

Is it better to borrow money in your home country?

Often, yes. Securing the money against a property at home and buying here for cash is frequently faster and cheaper, which is why we recommend looking at it first. If it is not available to you, a Spanish mortgage as a non-resident is entirely possible, just slower and with a smaller share of the price.

Services

Mortgage in Spain for foreigners

Yes, a foreign buyer can get a Spanish mortgage. What is commonly published is 60 to 70 percent of the price, and with income in a currency other than the euro what we see is closer to half, calculated not from the price you agreed but from the bank’s own valuation. And before any of that: if you can borrow against a property at home, that is usually the cheaper and simpler route, so it is the first thing we ask about rather than the last.

If you can borrow at home, borrow at home

This page is about arranging a Spanish mortgage, so start with the case against one. If you can raise the money against a property you already own in Czechia and buy here for cash, that is usually faster and usually simpler, and we recommend it as the first option to look at.We say it first rather than last because the order matters. Someone who finds out about the Czech route after four weeks of Spanish paperwork has lost four weeks. The comparison below is the one we would actually walk you through on a first call.

Speed: Borrowing at home is normally the quicker of the two. Your bank already knows you, the paperwork is in your language and nothing has to be translated or apostilled. A Spanish approval runs four to eight weeks from a complete application, and on a new build it usually cannot even start until roughly two months before completion.
What the money is secured against: A Czech mortgage is secured against a property in Czechia, so the Spanish purchase is a cash purchase and behaves like one. A Spanish mortgage is secured against the property you are buying, which is why the bank’s own valuation of it decides the size of the loan.
The currency you earn in: This is the whole difference. A lender at home is lending its own currency against income in that currency, and the question does not arise. A Spanish bank is lending euros against income that is not in euros, and it prices that risk.
How much of the price it covers: A Czech mortgage is limited by the property you already own and by what your lender will advance against it. A Spanish one is limited by the bank’s valuation and by its view of your income. Neither is automatically the larger number, which is exactly why it is worth pricing both.
Who runs the process: At home, you and your own bank, in your own language. Here, a broker we introduce you to, several banks at once, and documents that have to arrive translated and in the right order. We coordinate that side. We do not run it.
What happens if it falls through: A purchase that was never financed here does not collapse because a Spanish bank changed its mind in week seven. A purchase that depends on a Spanish mortgage can miss a contractual deadline, and a deadline missed for financing can cost you the property and the reservation with it.

What we cannot tell you is which is cheaper in your case, because that depends on your Czech lender, the property you would pledge, and the offer a Spanish bank makes you. What we can tell you is that we would rather you asked the question before you started, and that we do not earn anything either way.If the Czech route is not open to you, everything below is the Spanish one, in the order it actually happens.

Why recommend the option that does not involve you?Because our fee comes from the seller side of the purchase, not from the financing. Whether you pay cash on a Czech mortgage or borrow here makes no difference to us, and it makes a large one to you.

Can I combine the two?Buyers do. Some raise part of the money at home and finance the rest here, and some start with a Czech mortgage and refinance in Spain later. Both are questions for a broker rather than for us, and the feasibility call is where they get answered.

What a non-resident applicant actually gets

The figure published almost everywhere is 60 to 70 percent of the price for a non-resident. It is not wrong. It is just not what we see for buyers with income in a currency other than the euro, and telling you the published number and renting you discover the real one at week six is how budgets break.Spanish banks lend against income, and income in a currency other than the euro is the problem. They are comfortable with most currencies, but each bank keeps a list of the ones it is wary of, and the crown is on those lists. A non-resident applicant is examined more strictly as a result, so plan for around half rather than the 60 to 70 percent that gets quoted. An applicant with income in euros has a visibly easier time of it, and Polish buyers, despite also being outside the euro, usually get the ordinary range.Around half is what we see, not a rule anybody publishes. Some clients are offered better and some worse, and the offer is per applicant. These are the things that move it.

Your incomeHow much, how stable, and how easy it is for a Spanish bank to verify from abroad. Employed with two or three years of years of tax returns is the straightforward case; company accounts take longer to read.
What you already oweEvery existing loan is counted, including your Czech mortgage, car finance and cards. A bank is deciding what monthly payment you can carry on top of everything else, not what you could carry in isolation.
Your age at the end of the termThe loan has to be repaid within a working lifetime, so the term available to you shortens as you get older, and a shorter term means a larger monthly payment for the same loan.
The currency you are paid inThe heaviest factor for a non-resident applicant, and the one nothing else compensates for. It is what separates the published range from the number you are offered.
The property and its valuationThe bank lends a share of what its own valuer says the property is worth. A location the bank is unenthusiastic about, or a valuation below the agreed price, reduces the loan without anybody changing their mind about you.
Which bankAppetite for non-resident lending differs between banks and shifts over time. One bank saying no is one bank saying no, which is the entire argument for approaching several at once rather than walking into the branch nearest the property.

None of this is a reason to give up on a Spanish mortgage. It is a reason to find out your number before you choose a property rather than after, because the difference between half and seventy percent of five hundred thousand euros is a hundred thousand euros of your own money, and that is not a detail you want to discover during a reservation period.

I have income in euros. Does the Czech figure still apply to me?No, and it is the single biggest thing in your favour. Applicants paid in euros are assessed more easily and generally see the ordinary published range. Where you live matters less than what you are paid in.

Could I be offered more than half?Yes. Some clients are and some are offered less. It depends on your income, your existing commitments, your age, the currency and the bank, which is why the honest answer to "how much will I get" is a feasibility check rather than a number on a website.

The bank lends on its valuation, not on your price

A Spanish bank does not lend a percentage of what you agreed to pay. It lends a percentage of what its own valuer says the property is worth, and that figure is often lower than the purchase price. The gap between the two does not come off the price. It is added to the cash you have to find.This is where budgets break, and it breaks them late, because the valuation happens after you have chosen the property and agreed the price. The numbers below are the same ones on the homepage.

Purchase priceYou agree 500.000 € with the seller. This is the number everyone quotes and the only one you have any control over.
Bank valued itThe bank sends its own valuer, who comes back at 470.000 €. Nothing is wrong with the property. The valuer works for the bank and is answering the bank’s question, not yours.
Bank lends 50 %Half of the valuation, so 235.000 €, not half of the price. The 30.000 € difference between price and valuation has quietly become yours to fund.
Own funds265.000 € plus the purchase costs, which run to roughly 13 percent on a new build and 9 percent on a resale property, and are never lent to you. Not the 250.000 € the headline percentage suggested.

Illustrative example. The mortgage is calculated from the bank's valuation, not the purchase price.One practical consequence worth knowing early: a Spanish valuation is only valid for around six months. That is why a mortgage on a property still being built cannot sensibly be arranged years in advance, and it is the mechanical reason behind the timing further down this page.Calculate approximately how much of your own money you will need.

Work it out

Purchase price

500.000 €

Bank valuation

470.000 €

94 % of the purchase price. The bank lends from its valuation, not from the price.

How much they lend

50 %

With income outside the euro, plan for about half.

Interest rate

3 %

Indicative. Rates change.

Term

20 years

Monthly payment

1.303 €

Mortgage amount235.000 €

Own funds265.000 €

Purchase costs (new build)64.839 €

You will need329.839 €

Own funds plus purchase costs. Over the whole mortgage you pay 312.793 € in 20 years.

The result is indicative. How much the bank really lends depends on its own review of your income and its own valuation of the property.

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What happens if the valuation comes in below the price?Your loan is calculated from the lower figure, so you need more of your own money for the same property. The options at that point are to find the difference, to renegotiate the price, or to walk away, and which of those is available depends on what you signed. It is a much better conversation to have before a reservation than after one.

Can I use my own valuer instead?Not for the loan. The bank lends against a valuation from a valuer it accepts, and that valuer is working for the bank. It is also not a survey: it does not look for defects and it is no substitute for a technical inspection.

What you will have to document

A Spanish bank wants a complete picture of finances that sit in another country, in another language, under another tax system. Nothing on this list is unusual. What catches people out is how long it takes to assemble, and that a missing or untranslated document is the most common reason an application drags.

What you provide	Why the bank wants it	When you will need it
Your income
Two or three years of tax returns	It is how a foreign bank verifies income it cannot see in its own system.	For the feasibility check, so before you start choosing properties. Order them early if you do not have them to hand.
Payslips, or financial statements	Recent pay confirms that the tax returns still describe your situation. Company accounts do the same for a business owner.	With the application, and refreshed if the process runs long.
Official translations, and sometimes an apostille	Czech documents have to arrive in a form a Spanish bank can accept. An apostille is the international stamp confirming a document is genuine abroad.	Before the application is submitted. This is the step that quietly adds weeks when it is left late.
What you already owe
Check in the debtors' register	Your credit record, the same check any lender runs.	With the application.
Statements for existing loans	Every existing commitment counts against what you can carry monthly, including your Czech mortgage.	With the application. Clearing a small loan first can change the answer.
You, and your side in Spain
NIE	Your Spanish tax identification number. Nothing can be signed without it.	Before completion, and it takes long enough that it is worth starting as soon as you are serious.
Spanish bank account	The account the monthly payments will be collected from, and the one the utilities and community fees will run through afterwards.	Before the mortgage deed is signed.

From a complete application, count on four to eight weeks to approval. "Complete" is doing the work in that sentence: the clock does not start on the day you decide to apply, it starts on the day the last translated document arrives.

NIE and administration

Do I need the Spanish account before I apply?Yes. Before signing the mortgage, you will need an account with a Spanish bank, from which the monthly payments will be paid. It does not have to be with the bank lending you the money, and opening it is one of the things we help arrange.

Who arranges it, and what we are not

We do not lend money, we are not a bank, and we are not mortgage brokers. What we do is introduce you to a broker on this coast who specialises in non-residents and approaches several banks at once, and then keep the financing and the purchase moving in step with each other.We work with Fluent Finance Abroad, who specialise in mortgages for non-residents. You are free to bring your own mortgage broker or go direct to a bank, and that costs you nothing with us either way.The most useful thing the broker does happens before any of the paperwork. They review your situation and tell you straight whether you will get a mortgage and roughly how much, before you start choosing properties. Send us the basics and you normally have that answer the next day.

Who is involvedWho they represent

Mortgage broker: You. They assess your situation and put concrete financing options in front of you, and because they approach several banks at once you get more than one answer to compare. Relevant only if you are financing the purchase.
Bank: Itself. It holds your Spanish account and may provide the mortgage. You will need the Spanish account regardless of the mortgage, for utilities, water and community fees.
Bank valuer: The bank, not you. Its job is to put a value on the property for lending purposes. Its job is not to look for defects in the property. It is not a technical inspection and does not replace one.
Arevont: You, and only on the buying side. We arrange the introduction, keep the financing aligned with the reservation and completion dates, and tell you when the numbers do not work. We never see your money and we never touch the loan.

Opening a bank account

Can I bring my own mortgage broker?Yes, and some buyers do. You can also use your own mortgage broker. We will work with whoever you choose, and the rest of the service is unchanged.

Can I repay the mortgage early?In most banks, yes, but early repayment terms vary. It is worth asking about early repayment terms while you are still comparing offers, not after you have signed one.

What the broker puts in front of you, and what to read in it

An offer from a Spanish bank is not one number. Two offers with the same headline rate can cost very different amounts across the life of the loan, and the difference is usually in what the bank asks you to buy alongside it.

The offers side by side, in writingBecause several banks are approached at once, what comes back to you is a written comparison rather than one verbal quote: the rate and its type, the term, the fees at the start, the early-repayment terms and what each one costs in total. A single offer is a price. Several offers are information, and it is the only way to tell an ordinary offer from a poor one.
Vinculaciones, the products tied to the rateSpanish banks routinely cut the rate in exchange for taking products with them: life cover, home insurance, an income paid into the account, a card, sometimes an alarm contract. The discount is real and so is the cost of the products, so the rate is worth having quoted both ways, with the bundle and without it. Asking for that comparison is the most useful thing anybody does with a Spanish mortgage offer, and it is a large part of what an intermediary is actually for.
What happens if you drop them laterThose products are usually tied to the rate for the life of the loan, so cancelling the insurance in year three can put the rate back up. Whether it does, and by how much, is written into the offer, and it is worth reading before you sign rather than when the letter arrives.
The pre-approval is also a negotiating documentMost buyers read it as reassurance for themselves. It is more than that. A seller or a developer choosing between two buyers is choosing between two risks, and being able to show that a bank has already looked at your file carries weight at the table, particularly when what you are asking for is a completion date or better terms rather than a discount.

None of it is a guarantee, and we would rather say so here than let you find out later. A pre-approval is issued before the property is valued and before the file is fully checked, and it can still move. What it does is bring the uncertainty forward to the point where it is cheap to deal with.

When the money is actually needed

A mortgage does not spread the cost evenly from day one. On a new build in particular, most of what you pay before completion comes out of your own funds, and the bank arrives at the end. This is the sequence, both ways.

When	New build	Resale property
Reservation	Usually 6.000 to 11.000 €, from your own money. This is the only payment outside the system of guarantees, which is why it should be small and why the contract terms around it get read before it is sent.	Reservation deposit, usually 6.000 to 11.000 €, and for more expensive properties, 1 % of the price. Also your own money.
The contract	Typically 20 to 40 percent of the price plus VAT on signing with the developer. Your own funds. The mortgage does not cover this.	Usually 10 to 20 percent in the private purchase contract. Your own funds again.
During construction	Further payments follow the project’s own payment schedule. Some projects take instalments as the building goes up, others take one more payment and the rest at the end. All of it is yours.	Does not apply. A resale property goes from contract to notary without a construction period, which is why the whole thing is shorter.
The mortgage application	The bank approves the loan roughly two months before completion, because its valuation is only valid for around six months and it wants to value the finished home.	There is more room here, so the application can start earlier in the process.
Completion at the notary	The bank pays out against the finished property and covers the final balance. This is the first moment the loan does any work.	The bank pays out at the notary and the balance is settled in one step.

The consequence, and it is the whole reason this table exists: on an off-plan purchase you are funding deposit-sized payments yourself for the entire construction period, and the mortgage only arrives at the end. A buyer who has planned for "half from the bank" from day one runs out of money in month eight.

When to sort the financing

Not immediately, and not last either. The feasibility answer belongs before you start looking. The application itself belongs near the end, and on a new build it cannot usefully happen earlier.

It covers steps 1, 8 and 13 to 14 of 15

The feasibility check, before anything elseReply usually the next day
Before the first shortlist. The broker reviews your income, your commitments and the currency you are paid in, and tells you what you can realistically borrow and how much of your own money you will need. This sits outside the fifteen steps on purpose: it is what stops the rest of them being built on the wrong number.
Choosing what to look atFrom the first call
Your real budget is the loan you can get plus the cash you have, minus the purchase costs. Search on that number rather than on the price you hoped for, and the shortlist is honest from the start.
ReservationWhen you have chosen
The reservation is your own money and it commits you to a timetable. This is the point at which a financing question stops being theoretical, because from here a deadline missed for financing can cost you the property.
New buildThe developer’s schedule sets the dates, and it does not move because a bank is slow.
ResaleThe private purchase contract sets them, and there is usually a little more room to agree a realistic date.
The application and the valuation4 to 8 weeks
The full application goes in with the documents translated, the valuer visits, and the bank issues its offer. Four to eight weeks from a complete file, and incomplete files are the main reason it takes longer.
New buildRoughly two months before completion. Earlier is not useful: the valuation would expire before the property exists.
ResaleCan start earlier, because the property is already there to value.
Signing at the notaryCompletion day
The purchase deed and the mortgage deed are signed together, and the bank pays its part directly. Keep your finances steady between the offer and this day: a bank re-checks before it pays out, and new debt or a job change in between can change the offer.

The entire purchase process, step by step

Arranging it yourself, or through us

The same mortgage, approached two ways.

	On your own	With Arevont
How many banks answer	You approach one bank, usually the one attached to the property or the nearest branch, and its offer has nothing to be compared against.	The broker approaches several at once, so you see more than one answer and can tell a poor offer from a normal one.
When you learn your number	Usually once you have found a property and applied, which is the worst possible moment to discover it is lower than you planned.	Before you start choosing. The feasibility answer normally comes back the next day.
The valuation gap	It surprises you late, and the difference between price and valuation lands on your own cash with no warning.	It is in your budget from the beginning, and the broker checks the likely valuation early so there is nothing to discover in week six.
Keeping the two timetables together	The purchase deadlines and the bank’s pace are two separate problems, both yours.	We hold the reservation and completion dates against the financing timetable, and raise it when they stop lining up.
Language	Spanish or English, with a bank, from another country.	We will guide you through the entire process and read the Spanish for you.
What it costs you	Nothing to us either way. The broker, if you use one, charges their own fee.	Nothing for our part. Our fee is paid by the developer or seller.

How much will it cost you?

Buyer0 €Our part is free to you: the introduction, the coordination and the honest read on whether the numbers work. That does not change if you decide against a mortgage, or against buying at all.
Mortgage brokerA third-party specialist with its own fee, a share of the loan plus VAT, quoted to you by the broker before you commit to anything. It sits outside what you pay for our own service, which is nothing. A broker earns the fee back by finding better terms and by stopping you spending six weeks on a bank that was never going to say yes.
BankIn Spain, since 2019, the bank has paid most costs related to the mortgage: mortgage stamp duty, the notary, the land registry entry and the gestoría. You pay only for the property valuation. The bank may not transfer these costs to you by contract.

Keep the mortgage’s own costs separate from the cost of buying. The purchase itself still carries its taxes and fees whether you finance it or not: roughly 13 percent on top of the price for a new build and roughly 9 percent for a resale property, and none of it is lent to you. The valuation fee is the one line the mortgage genuinely adds, and it is also the one thing the cost calculator on this site deliberately leaves out.If an offer arrives with mortgage notary fees, mortgage stamp duty or the gestoría charged to you, that is worth questioning. Since 2019 those sit with the bank, and a contract cannot move them back onto you.

Our fee is paid by the developer or seller, even if you ultimately do not take out a mortgage.

Frankly

What we would tell you on the phone

If a Czech mortgage is available to you, take that conversation seriously before you take this one. It is usually faster, usually simpler, and it turns the Spanish purchase into a cash purchase, which removes an entire category of things that can go wrong late.Around half is what we see with income in a currency other than the euro. It is not a rule and nobody publishes it: the figure quoted almost everywhere is 60 to 70 percent, and for a buyer paid in euros that is broadly what happens. Some foreign clients are offered more than half and some less, depending on income, existing commitments, age, currency and which bank is asked. Treat our number as a planning assumption, not as your number.Sort the financing before you choose a property, not after. Not because it is tidier, but because the alternative has a real cost: a mortgage that misses a contractual deadline can lose you the property and the reservation money with it, and a valuation that comes in low after you have committed leaves you finding the difference in cash. Both are avoidable, and both are only avoidable in advance.And if the numbers say this purchase does not work, we will say so. A buyer who stretches to the last euro to complete has bought a problem, not a holiday home.

The most common questions about mortgages in Spain

Can I get a mortgage in Spain as an EU citizen?: Yes, but do not assume 70 or 80 percent of the price. With income in a currency other than the euro it is realistic to plan for around half of the value the bank sets, and the offer varies by applicant according to income, existing commitments, age, the currency you are paid in and the bank. That is why we check what you can realistically borrow before you start choosing a property.
How much of my own money will I need?: It depends on whether you are buying a new build or a resale property. On a new build, have roughly 20 to 40 percent of the price ready for payments that can fall due before the project is finished, plus your own money for taxes and purchase costs including the 10 percent VAT. On a resale property, plan for the bank financing around half of the value it recognises, with the rest of the price and all the costs from your own funds. On a 500.000 € property that often means considerably more than 100.000 or 150.000 € in cash.
Why does the bank lend on its valuation rather than on the price?: Because the property is what secures the loan, so the bank lends against what its own valuer says the property is worth, and never more than the price you actually paid. If you agree 500.000 € and the valuation comes in at 470.000 €, the loan is calculated from 470.000 €, and the difference is added to the cash you need.
How long does approval take?: Four to eight weeks from a complete application. Missing documents and untranslated ones are the usual reason it runs longer, so the documents are worth starting before you need them.
When should I start arranging the mortgage?: Not straight away, and not last. Get the feasibility answer before you start choosing properties. The application itself belongs near the end: on a new build the bank approves the loan roughly two months before completion and earlier is not useful, while a resale property allows a little more time. What you do not want is to start choosing without knowing what you can borrow.
Is a pre-approval a guarantee?: No. It is an informed read on what you can expect, which is exactly what you need before choosing a property, but the bank checks your situation again before it pays out. Taking on new debt or changing job between the two can change the offer, so keep things steady in between.
Who pays the fees related to the mortgage?: Since 2019 the bank pays most of the mortgage’s own set-up costs in Spain: the stamp duty on the mortgage, the notary, the land registry entry and the gestoría. The buyer pays the property valuation. This is about the mortgage only. The taxes and fees on the purchase itself are unchanged and are still yours.
Is it better to borrow money in your home country?: Often, yes. Securing the money against a property at home and buying here for cash is frequently faster and cheaper, which is why we recommend looking at it first. If it is not available to you, a Spanish mortgage as a non-resident is entirely possible, just slower and with a smaller share of the price.

Not sure how far your budget really goes?

Talk it through with us