Interactive guide for foreign buyers and investors

Your Journey to Spain

Separate the four questions buyers often mix together: can I invest, can I buy property, can I form a company, and can I live or work in Spain? Choose your situation and the workflow below adapts.

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Build your investor path

Select your nationality block and objective. The next section changes to show the relevant workflow, documents, risks and official resources.

Residency status

Main objective

Regulated or strategic sector involved

Your route logic

Can I invest?

Generally yes, subject to bank/KYC, tax, FDI and sector checks.

Can I buy property?

Generally yes. Buying property is separate from residence rights.

Can I form a company?

Generally yes, but tax, banking, licences and Social Security must be mapped.

Can I live and work in Spain?

No residence right is created by remote investment or property purchase alone.

Your workflow

1Define route: EU vs non-EU, relocating vs investing only, property vs company, regulated vs unregulated.
2Treat the project as transaction readiness, not residence readiness.
3Prepare NIE, bank/KYC file, proof of funds, lawyer review and property due diligence before signing.
4Model acquisition costs, regional property taxes, ongoing ownership costs and rental assumptions.
5Confirm no municipal, tourist-rental, community or sector restrictions affect your plan.
6Use Billy to convert your answers into a property or investment shortlist, then validate with your legal and tax advisors.

Document pack

Passport or EU ID, proof of address and civil-status documents where relevant.
NIE path or EU registration certificate where applicable.
Proof of funds, source-of-funds and source-of-wealth file for bank and AML checks.
Property brief, nota simple, Catastro reference, reservation/deposit draft and lawyer checklist.
Tax residence and non-resident ownership analysis.
Municipality or community checks for property use and rental rules.

Official resources for this route

This is general information, not legal, tax, immigration or investment advice. Final answers depend on nationality, municipality, transaction structure, sector and timing.

BOE Law 14/2013 BOE Organic Law 1/2025 UGE entrepreneur residence NIE identification Property Registry Catastro reference value AEAT non-residents

Core buyer and investor guide

Use this page as a routing hub. The official resources below anchor the legal steps; Verida and Billy help translate the route into property and market decisions.

NIE, TIE and identification

Most foreign investors need an identification path before tax, banking, notary, company or property steps can move.

NIE identification EU residence registration

Property purchase and due diligence

Check registry title, Catastro data, reference value, encumbrances, notary steps and non-resident seller withholding before completion.

Property Registry Catastro reference value AEAT Model 211 Find a notary

Company formation and registrations

Company name, notarial deed, tax ID, census registration, VAT, employer setup and licences are separate steps.

Create a company in Spain AEAT Model 036 AEAT VAT Social Security employer registration Licences and permits

Tax and residence are separate

Immigration residence, tax residence, non-resident taxation, rental income and company tax must be analysed independently.

AEAT non-residents Double tax treaties

Make the numbers real

Before you view, estimate purchase costs, stress-test rental yield and compare Costa del Sol areas through a market-profile lens.

Property Cost Calculator

Estimate purchase costs before you fall in love with the wrong budget.

Open tool

Rental Yield Estimator

Check income assumptions, seasonality and operating costs before treating a home as an asset.

Open tool

Costa del Sol

Compare market profiles, beaches, restaurants, infrastructure and area fit through a buyer lens.

Open tool

Common red flags

Assuming a property purchase gives residence rights.
Using Golden Visa marketing as if it were still a live route.
Waiting too long to prepare NIE, bank/KYC and proof-of-funds documents.
Signing before checking registry title, Catastro, community issues and seller status.
Forming a company before checking licences, VAT, payroll and Social Security.
Confusing immigration residence with Spanish tax residence.
Ignoring foreign-investment screening or sector approvals for strategic assets.

EU compliance updates to monitor

Relevant if you are buying or operating a regulated target, fintech, crypto business, financial entity, critical-sector company, ICT provider or in-scope large group.

EU AML package

DAC8

NIS2

MiCA

DORA

CSRD

FDI screening

Sector licences

EU AML package MiCA DORA FDI screening Licences and permits

Primary source bank

This is general information, not legal, tax, immigration or investment advice. Final answers depend on nationality, municipality, transaction structure, sector and timing.

Download checklist

Verida AI advisor

Let Billy turn this route
into a property brief.

Share your status, goals, budget and lifestyle priorities. Billy can turn legal readiness into a focused property search across Marbella, Estepona and the wider Costa del Sol.

Start with Billy

No pressure. Start with your situation and let Billy build the first shortlist.

Your Journey to Spain

Build your investor path

Your route logic

Your workflow

Document pack

Official resources for this route

Core buyer and investor guide

NIE, TIE and identification

Property purchase and due diligence

Company formation and registrations

Tax and residence are separate

Make the numbers real

Property Cost Calculator

Rental Yield Estimator

Costa del Sol

Common red flags

EU compliance updates to monitor

Primary source bank

Residence and identification

Property and tax

Company and operations

Regulated activities

Professional directories

Let Billy turn this routeinto a property brief.

Let Billy turn this route
into a property brief.