Completion day in Spain: what actually happens at the notary

Completion in Spain (la firma) happens in one room, in one appointment, in front of a public official who represents neither of you. That’s the single biggest adjustment for a UK buyer used to a conveyancer acting purely in their corner: a Spanish notary (notario) is an impartial state-appointed lawyer whose job is to verify the transaction is lawful and properly documented for both sides — not to negotiate, advise tactically, or push your interests over the seller’s. Here’s the sequence, the paperwork, and what happens once you’ve signed.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice — see the note at the end before relying on any figure here.

Final checks before you sign

Your lawyer should pull a fresh nota simple in the days immediately before completion — separate from the one obtained during due diligence weeks earlier — specifically to catch any charge, embargo or new mortgage registered against the property since. The notary does the same independently, requesting its own updated registry check on the morning of signing. Neither check is optional in practice: a lien registered the week before completion is exactly what this second look is designed to catch.

Community fees and IBI (local property tax) are usually apportioned between buyer and seller by private agreement, not by law. Legally, whoever owns the property on 1 January is liable for that year’s full IBI bill to the town hall — but Spain’s Supreme Court has confirmed that a seller who pays it can reclaim a pro-rata share from the buyer for the part of the year after completion, and community fees are customarily split the same way. This isn’t enforceable against the town hall or the community itself, so it’s worth agreeing the split explicitly in the arras contract rather than assuming it’ll sort itself out at the notary.

Who needs to be there

Buyer, seller, both lawyers, and often the estate agent typically attend. If you can’t be in Spain that day, your lawyer can sign on your behalf under a power of attorney — a routine and widely used option, not a red flag.

What the notary actually checks, in sequence

Per the Spanish Notary Council’s own published process, the notary verifies both parties’ identity and legal capacity, checks the sufficiency of any powers of attorney, confirms the property description against the Catastro, reviews charges on the property and community-fee payment status, requests the municipal IBI report, and requires the energy performance certificate — mandatory on every sale since 2013. Consumer guidance adds the previous title deed, a community-debt certificate signed by the administrator, and recent IBI receipts to the pile your lawyer should already have assembled. In the Comunidad Valenciana specifically, a resale property’s occupancy status is evidenced by a declaración responsable de segunda ocupación — the equivalent, in this region, of what other parts of Spain still call a cédula de habitabilidad. If the seller has an outstanding mortgage still registered, they’ll need a certificado de deuda cero from their bank confirming it’s cleared, or being cleared simultaneously from the sale proceeds.

Notary fees for the purchase deed aren’t negotiable — they follow a regulated tariff set by law, scaled to the property’s price and the deed’s complexity, and commonly run to somewhere in the €600–1,500-plus-VAT order of magnitude at Costa Blanca price points. The Civil Code’s default rule (Article 1455) actually puts the cost of executing the deed on the seller and leaves only the copies to the buyer, but in practice — here and across Spain — the buyer typically ends up covering the notary and registry fees in full, usually by explicit agreement in the arras contract rather than by relying on the statutory default; the full cost breakdown, including who typically pays what, is in our costs-and-taxes guide.

If you’re financing: the mortgage deed signs first

Where a mortgage is involved, the Notary Council itself confirms the mortgage deed and the purchase deed are usually authorised the same day, in the same appointment — the mortgage first, since the funds need to exist before the purchase can complete. The lender is represented at signing, whether by an in-person representative or its own power of attorney.

Paying: banker’s draft or same-day transfer

The traditional route remains the banker’s draft (cheque bancario), issued by your bank in advance — allow one to three working days — and handed over physically at the table, which lets both sides complete with certainty of payment. Increasingly, notaries and banks instead use a same-day confirmed transfer sometimes called an OMF transfer (Orden de Movimiento de Fondos), settled through the Bank of Spain’s connection to the eurozone’s real-time payment system, provided it’s placed before each bank’s cut-off time (commonly around 4pm) — it avoids the draft’s issuance lag, though it isn’t instantaneous either, and Banco de España’s own consumer guidance now refers to the modern version of this route simply as a “transferencia” rather than by the older OMF label.

The two routes carry fee structures that differ in kind, not just in size. A banker’s draft’s issuance fee is typically flat — commonly quoted at €100–500 regardless of the sum involved. An OMF-style transfer’s fee is typically percentage-based instead — commonly cited in the 0.2–1% range of the amount transferred (some sources cite up to 1.5%), often charged by both the sending bank and the receiving bank, each subject to a small flat minimum of a few tens of euros. On an €800,000 completion, that structural difference is the gap between a few hundred euros for a draft and potentially several thousand for a percentage-based transfer — worth working through with your bank in advance, not assuming the two routes cost roughly the same.

What you walk out with

You’ll leave with a copia simple — a working copy of the signed deed — on the day itself, enough to register utilities and start using the property immediately. The copia autorizada, the certified copy proving registration is complete, follows once full inscription at the Land Registry has gone through.

After the signature: registration and the tax deadline

The notary files the signed deed with the Land Registry the same day, by telematic notice, which blocks any competing claim immediately. Full inscription in your name typically takes two to four weeks, though it can run to one to three months depending on the registry’s workload.

Separately — and on a much tighter clock — you have 30 working days from the date the escritura is signed to file and pay the transfer tax (ITP on a resale, or IVA/AJD on a new build), via self-assessment on Modelo 600. This is a national deadline applied uniformly across Spain, including by the Valencian tax agency for Costa Blanca purchases, and missing it triggers surcharges and interest. The thirty-working-day period (“treinta días hábiles”) is set in Article 102 of the ITP y AJD regulations (Real Decreto 828/1995). In practice, your lawyer or gestoría will normally have this filed within days of signing, well inside the deadline.

Utilities and direct debits

Switching electricity, water and gas into your name isn’t handled automatically as part of the notary appointment — it’s your responsibility (or your lawyer’s or a gestoría’s, if you pay for the service) to contact each supplier directly afterwards with the escritura, your ID, the meter reading or supply reference (CUPS code), and your Spanish bank details for direct debit. Timing varies by provider — commonly one to two weeks for electricity, up to two to three weeks for gas — and a small administrative fee sometimes applies. First-year ownership obligations that follow from here — the annual non-resident tax return, IBI, community fees — are covered in full in our costs-and-taxes guide.

Frequently asked questions

What happens on a property completion day in Spain? Buyer, seller and lawyers meet at the notary (or attend by power of attorney); the notary checks identities, charges and payment, then reads out and both sides sign the escritura de compraventa. A mortgage deed, if any, is usually signed in the same session first.

How is payment actually made at a Spanish completion? Either a banker’s draft, handed over physically at signing, or an increasingly common same-day confirmed bank transfer settled through the Bank of Spain’s system. The fees differ in kind, not just size: a draft is typically a flat €100–500, while an OMF-style transfer is typically percentage-based (roughly 0.2–1% of the sum, sometimes charged by both banks) — on a large completion that can mean thousands rather than a few hundred euros, so confirm both banks’ terms in advance.

What do you get given at the notary on completion day? A copia simple the same day, sufficient to register utilities; the certified copia autorizada follows once Land Registry inscription is complete.

How long does it take to register a property after completion in Spain? The notary blocks competing claims the same day by filing with the registry immediately; full inscription typically takes two to four weeks, sometimes longer.

Not legal advice

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, financial or tax advice. Completion procedures, fees, and timelines vary by notary, bank, region and individual circumstances, and can change without much notice. Always take advice from an independent Spanish lawyer before relying on any figure or deadline in this piece for your own purchase. Facts in this piece current as of 7 July 2026.