The checks that are specific to buying a property in Marbella

Buying in Marbella is procedurally the same as buying anywhere in Spain. What is different is what the checks turn up, and how often they turn something up. This page is about the second part.

If you want the process itself — NIE, reservation, private contract, notary — that is covered in our guide to what a Spanish purchase costs and how it runs. Here we deal with the questions that are specific to this municipality.

The short version of a long planning story

Marbella’s general plan of 2010 was annulled by the Supreme Court in 2015. The effect of that annulment was to return the municipality to its previous general plan, approved in 1986 — a document roughly thirty years old at the moment it came back into force.

The court’s reasoning is on the public record and it is unusually blunt for a planning judgment: it referred to a generalised situation of urban irregularity in the municipality, arising from development carried out outside or against what the 1986 plan provided for.

A replacement has been in preparation. The PGOM — the general municipal plan under Andalusia’s newer planning law — was the first in the region drawn up under that framework, and received a favourable report from the Junta de Andalucía before returning to the town hall for final approval. Behind it comes a second document, the POU, which is the one that settles what may be done at the level of an individual plot, and which is expected later.

We are deliberately not stating today’s exact procedural status, because it has been moving and a printed status goes stale without warning. The town hall’s own planning site is the place to check where it stands on the day you need to know.

What that means for an ordinary purchase

For a flat in an established, fully licensed development, most of this is background. For anything else, three questions follow directly from it.

Does what stands on the plot match what was licensed? Extensions, pool houses, closed-in terraces, converted basements and guest annexes are common on the coast, and they are not always declared. A building that differs from its licence is not necessarily a disaster, but it is always a fact you want before you commit rather than after.

Does what stands on the plot match what the registry says? The Land Registry description and the physical building can diverge — and the Cadastre can say a third thing. Reconciling them is routine work; discovering they diverge on completion day is not.

Where does the plot sit under the plan currently in force? For some plots this is a settled question with a clear answer. For others, particularly where future development potential is part of the pitch, the honest answer today is that the detailed instrument has not yet fixed it.

That last one is the one to be careful about. If a seller or agent is attributing value to what could be built, ask what that is based on. “It’s zoned for it” is a claim about a document, and documents can be named.

The licence of first occupation

Licencia de primera ocupación — the municipal licence certifying that a completed building matches the works licence it was granted and may be occupied.

Elsewhere in Spain this is a formality you confirm and move on from. Here it deserves a real look, for the reasons above. Ask for it. If it does not exist, that is not automatically fatal, but it is the point at which you need a lawyer looking at the specific history of that specific building, not general reassurance.

The related question for older properties is whether any irregularity has passed the point where the town hall can act on it, and what the consequences are for financing, insuring, extending or later selling. Those are legal questions with property-specific answers.

The documents to ask for, in order

1. Nota simple from the Land Registry — who owns it, what is registered, and what charges or mortgages sit on it.
2. Cadastral reference and record — the tax description of the property, which may not match the registry.
3. Licence of first occupation, and the works licence behind it.
4. Certificate of community debt, if it is part of a community of owners — unpaid community charges can follow the property.
5. IBI receipts, showing the municipal property tax is up to date.
6. Energy performance certificate, which the seller is required to provide.
7. Tourist letting registration, if letting is part of your plan — see below.

A seller who produces these without friction is telling you something useful. A seller who cannot is also telling you something.

Letting it out: Andalusia has its own system

If holiday letting matters to your plans, do not carry over what you have read about other parts of Spain. Andalusia runs its own regime: letting a home to tourists requires a declaration to the regional tourism register, which issues a registration number that must appear in any advertising of the property.

This is a different mechanism from the capped licences used in some other Spanish regions, and the difference matters. It also is not the whole question, because the rules of the community of owners can restrict tourist letting independently of what the region permits.

The order to check it in: what the regional register requires, then what the community’s statutes say, then what the property itself would need. Assuming the answer works out has been an expensive assumption for a lot of buyers.

Prices and what “Marbella” means in a listing

Marbella is not one market. The Golden Mile, Nueva Andalucía, the old town, San Pedro de Alcántara and the eastern beaches differ in supply, in buyer profile and in what the planning framework allows. A municipality-wide average price describes none of them, and a comparison drawn from asking prices on portals describes what sellers hope rather than what buyers paid.

Registered sale prices are a matter of public record through the Land Registry and are the basis we work from.

One further caution on geography: Benahavís and Estepona are separate municipalities routinely marketed as “Marbella area”. Their town halls set their own planning rules and local taxes. Check which municipality a property is actually in before you draw any conclusion from what you have read about Marbella.

What a purchase does not give you

It does not give you residency. Spain’s investor residence route through property purchase has been closed, and anyone presenting a purchase as a residency strategy is working from a rule that no longer applies. Residence runs through separate permits and belongs with an immigration lawyer.

It does not make you tax resident either — that follows from where you actually live. But if the purchase is part of a plan to spend substantial time here, the 183-day threshold is a conversation to have with a tax adviser before you cross it rather than after.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreigners buy property in Marbella?

Yes. There is no restriction on foreign ownership of property in Spain. You will need an NIE number, the transfer is executed before a notary, and the purchase is recorded at the Land Registry. Each buyer named on the deed needs their own NIE.

What is the situation with Marbella’s general plan?

The 2010 general plan was annulled by the Supreme Court in 2015, which returned the municipality to the plan approved in 1986. A replacement, the PGOM, has been working through approval — it was the first in Andalusia drawn up under the region’s newer planning law — and the detailed plan that settles matters at individual plot level comes after it. Because the position has been moving, the town hall’s planning site is the right place to check the status on any given day.

Why does the licence of first occupation matter more in Marbella?

Because the municipality’s planning history means a building differing from what was licensed is a realistic possibility rather than a remote one. The licence certifies that the completed building matches the works licence and may be occupied. Its absence is not automatically fatal, but it is the point at which the specific history of that specific building needs a lawyer’s attention.

What documents should I ask for before committing?

A nota simple from the Land Registry, the cadastral record, the licence of first occupation and the works licence behind it, a certificate of community debt if there is a community of owners, recent IBI receipts, the energy performance certificate, and — if you intend to let — evidence of tourist registration. How readily a seller produces these is itself informative.

Can I rent my Marbella property to holidaymakers?

Andalusia requires a declaration to the regional tourism register, which issues a registration number that must appear in any advertising. That is a different mechanism from the capped licences operating in some other Spanish regions. Separately, the rules of the community of owners may restrict tourist letting regardless of what the region allows, so both need checking before you rely on letting income.

Does buying in Marbella give me Spanish residency?

No. Property ownership confers no right of residence in Spain, and the investor residence route linked to property purchase has been closed. Residence runs through separate permits with their own requirements and belongs with an immigration lawyer.

Are Benahavís and Estepona part of Marbella?

No. They are separate municipalities with their own town halls, planning rules and local taxes, although properties in both are frequently marketed as “Marbella area”. Confirm which municipality a property is in before applying anything you have read about Marbella to it.

How should I judge whether a price is reasonable?

From registered sale prices for comparable properties in the same urbanisation, which are a matter of public record through the Land Registry — not from asking prices on portals, which record what sellers hope for, and not from a municipality-wide average, which describes none of Marbella’s individual markets.