Mortgages in Spain in 2026

Spanish banks give mortgages to non-residents too: you do not need a residence permit to buy property. The difference is not in the right to borrow but in the terms. For a resident the bank finances up to 80% of the property price, for a non-resident usually 60–70%, with a shorter term and a higher rate.

The average rate on new home mortgages in Spain is 2.96% a year, the average term is 25 years and the average loan is €178,365 (INE, June 2026). But the national average says little about your case: the bank calculates the loan-to-value not from the property price but from its own valuation of the property, and it limits the term by your age.

Below we cover what decides the outcome: the rate and what it depends on, how much cash you need on top of the deposit, which property in Spain the bank will finance and which it won’t, which documents it must give you before signing and what it checks about the borrower.

Mortgage rates in Spain in 2026

The average interest rate on new property mortgages is 2.96% a year. This is the official figure from Spain’s National Statistics Institute for June 2026, published on 26 August. It is calculated across all deals of the month, that is, mainly for residents: the INE does not publish a resident/non-resident breakdown.

Source: INE, Estadística de Hipotecas, June 2026.

A fixed rate is currently cheaper than a variable one

Articles about mortgages usually say the opposite: a fixed rate is more expensive because the bank charges a premium for predictability. In June 2026 in Spain it was not so. The average at signing was 2.89% for fixed-rate loans and 3.07% for variable-rate loans — the fixed rate turned out 0.18 percentage points cheaper.

Hence the split: 61.7% of borrowers buying property chose a fixed rate. When a variable rate gives no advantage at the moment of signing, there is no point paying for uncertainty.

Euribor: what a variable rate depends on

A variable-rate mortgage in Spain is made up of Euribor plus a fixed margin set by the lender. The index is reviewed every six or twelve months, and the monthly payment for the property changes with it.

The twelve-month Euribor on 4 September 2026 was 3.108%. The monthly average was 2.727% in July and 2.939% in August. The index has risen for the third month in a row, and this is exactly the figure the bank will use to recalculate your payment at the next review.

What your personal mortgage rate depends on

The national average is not yours. These factors matter:

• Status. Non-residents get a higher rate: for fixed-rate loans usually 3.5–5% versus 2.8–3.8% for residents.
• Currency of income. The bank may treat income in a currency other than euros as a risk and either raise the rate or lower the loan-to-value.
• Loan-to-value. The larger the deposit, the lower the rate.
• Term. A short loan has a lower rate but a higher monthly payment.
• Linked products. Life and home insurance, salary paid into the same bank, an alarm system: each product lowers the rate. The discount is real, but the products cost money, so compare the total cost, not the rate.

The rate and Euribor are what changes most often in this topic. We cover them in a separate channel: “Mortgages in Spain” on Telegram — on rates, bank terms and the housing market.

Buying a flat in Spain with a mortgage: what you pay on a €250,000 price

Rates on their own say little, so here is a full calculation for a non-resident buying property in Spain. The terms are market averages; yours will differ.

• Flat price — €250,000
• The bank finances 65% — that is €162,500
• Deposit — €87,500
• Term — 25 years, i.e. 300 months
• Fixed rate — 4% a year

On these terms the monthly payment will be €858. Over the whole term you will repay about €257,300, of which about €94,800 is interest.

The payment should not exceed 30–35% of net income. At €858 a month this means a verified income of roughly €2,500 to €2,900 after tax, depending on the share a particular lender allows. It will count your existing loans as well.

You can plug in your own numbers right here — the payment is recalculated instantly.

What you need on top of the deposit

The deposit is not the only cash you will need on the day of the property purchase:

• Property transfer tax (ITP) on resale homes — from 6 to 11% of the price depending on the region. On a new build, instead of it, IVA at 10% plus stamp duty (AJD) of 0.5–1.5%.
• Property valuation (tasación) — €300–600.
• Notary and registration — usually €2,000–3,000 for a deal of this size.
• Costs of the mortgage itself — bank fee, notary for the loan agreement, insurance: roughly another 1–2% of the loan amount.

For a €250,000 flat this adds up to roughly €25,000–40,000 on top of the deposit. A full breakdown of the payments is in the article on property taxes in Spain.

How much banks lend and what income you need, by region of Spain

The average mortgage in Spain is €178,365, but behind this figure is a spread of almost three times. In the Balearic Islands the average loan is €314,623, in La Rioja €107,240. The income you will have to prove differs accordingly.

In the table below, the payment is calculated on the national average term of 25 years and the average rate of 2.96%, and the income on the condition that the payment does not exceed 35% of net income. This is a rough guide: your term and rate will be different, and a non-resident will almost certainly be lent less than the average.

Source: INE, Estadística de Hipotecas, June 2026. The average amount is calculated by dividing the capital lent by the number of mortgages in each region — the INE does not publish it as a separate line.

Where exactly to buy property is a separate question from how much you can borrow. Cities are compiled and compared in the ranking of Spanish cities, and the one most popular with Russian-speaking buyers is covered in detail: Torrevieja.

Map: incomes and rents by province

A property mortgage is calculated from income, and income in Spain varies by province more than lenders’ terms do. Below is an interactive map: household incomes, rents and the ratio between them.

Map didn’t load? Open it in a separate window. A detailed breakdown by province is in the article where to live in Spain.

Terms for residents and non-residents of Spain

The terms differ, and noticeably: the bank finances a smaller share of the price, gives a shorter term and sets a higher rate. Non-residents are more often approved for 20–25 years, residents for up to 30. With a high income you can ask for a shorter term — down to five years. The bank usually finances 60–70% for a non-resident, calculated not from the price in the deed but from the lower of two figures: the purchase price or its own valuation of the property.

An important point about loan-to-value. The bank calculates it not from the price in the contract but from the lower of two figures: the purchase price or its own valuation of the property (tasación). If the valuation comes in below the price, you will have to make up the difference with your own money.

Official statistics do not publish this breakdown — the INE does not split borrowers into residents and non-residents. The ranges in the table are based on lending practice; a particular lender will have its own, and you should find them out through a pre-approval, not from advertising.
Requirements are softer for foreigners from the EU and from countries with stable economies. Investors from Russia face the strictest requirements.

There are three types of mortgage rate:

• Fixed. It does not change for the entire repayment period of the home loan, so it is not affected even by major economic crises. A fixed rate used to be almost always more expensive than a variable one, but in 2026 this stopped being the rule: in June the average rate at signing was 2.89% for fixed-rate loans versus 3.07% for variable-rate loans.
• Variable. Payments can go down as well as up. The payment is recalculated against the Euribor index every six or twelve months. The index can fall or rise: the twelve-month Euribor is currently 3.108% and has risen for the third month in a row.
• Mixed. Combines fixed and variable periods. For the first three to five years the payments are fixed, after which the loan switches to a variable rate.

The decline seen in 2025 is over. The index has risen for the third month in a row, and the average rate on new home mortgages is back at 2.96% (INE, June 2026). For those choosing between fixed and variable, this is an argument for fixed.

For a resident, the terms look like this:

• Amount. A resident can borrow up to 80% of the property price; others noticeably less — see the figures in the table above.
• Term. The maximum at most banks is 30 years, the national average is 25 (INE, June 2026), and 20–25 is most often approved.
• Rate. It is lower for residents, but the difference is usually 0.7–1.2 percentage points rather than two or more: 2.8–3.8% versus 3.5–5% for fixed-rate loans.
• Payment. The payment should not take more than 30–35% of net income, and it is calculated together with existing loans.

There can be several co-borrowers, and they do not have to be related. Everyone’s incomes will be added together, but so will their debt burdens, and each will have to gather their own documents.

About the figures in this section. The ranges are based on bank practice and follow Euribor rather than the calendar: they change noticeably over a quarter. Before the purchase, confirm them with a pre-approval, not with the text of an article.

Which property the bank will finance

In Spain the bank assesses not only the borrower but also the property: it stays pledged to the bank, and if you default the bank must be able to sell it quickly and without disputes. So for one property you may get a mortgage for 70% of the price, and for another 50% or a refusal.

Resale property and new builds: the difference is not only the tax

For resale property, a mortgage in Spain follows the usual procedure: valuation, approval, signing before a notary. The buyer pays the property transfer tax (ITP), and its rate depends on the region.

New builds are different. Instead of ITP you pay IVA at 10% and stamp duty (AJD), and the developer usually already has a loan on the whole building. The buyer can take over a share of that mortgage — this is called subrogation. The advantage is that the property has already been valued and approved by the bank, and the arrangement costs are lower. The drawback is that you cannot choose the terms: they are what the developer agreed in advance.

Bank-owned property

After defaults, homes in Spain pass to the lender, which then sells them. Mortgages on such properties are usually noticeably better: financing reaches 100% of the price, the rate is lower and fees are waived — the bank is more interested in getting the property off its balance sheet.

The price for this is choice. Bank-owned property is spread unevenly across the country, its condition varies, and some flats are occupied. Such property needs to be checked not only on paper but physically, together with its history: squatting and bank-owned properties overlap more often than you might think.

What the bank checks in the property itself

• Valuation (tasación). It is carried out by a company licensed in Spain, and the mortgage amount depends on the result: the bank calculates the share from the lower of two figures — the price or the valuation.
• Land registry extract. Who holds title, whether there are encumbrances, debts on the previous owner’s mortgage or seizures.
• Utility debts and owners’ association fees. They pass with the property for a certain period.
• Legal status. Unregistered extensions, discrepancies between the floor area and the land registry, and unauthorised buildings on rural land are a common reason why the valuation comes in below the price or the application is refused.

Checking the property is not a formality but your protection: property with an opaque history is equally hard to finance and later equally hard to sell.

Property prices in Spain and what they mean for your mortgage

Property in Spain is getting more expensive fast. According to the INE housing price index for the first quarter of 2026, prices rose 12.9% year on year and 3.5% quarter on quarter.

Source: INE, Índice de Precios de Vivienda, Q1 2026. Resale homes are rising in price faster than new builds — the opposite of what people usually expect.

Property prices are rising faster than mortgages, and that changes the calculation

Compare two figures from official statistics. Property prices in Spain rose 12.9% over the year. The average mortgage amount over roughly the same period rose 6.0%. The periods do not match exactly: prices are for the first quarter, mortgages for June. But the gap is too large to be explained by the difference in dates.

This means buyers are putting in more and more of their own money. The bank finances a share of the valuation, and on a rising market the valuation lags behind the sale price: the seller has already raised the price, while the valuer works from completed sales of previous months. The buyer covers the difference.

What this means in practice. On a rising market, set aside a buffer on top of the calculated deposit — 5–10% of the property price. You will need it if the valuation comes in below the price, and that is not a rare case but normal market behaviour with growth like this.

Documents for a mortgage in Spain

Do not submit an incomplete set of documents: in that case a refusal is inevitable. The paperwork must meet the Spanish lender’s requirements, and it is checked thoroughly.

To apply you will need:

• A tax return for the last one or two years — from the country where you pay tax. The documents must be translated into Spanish by a sworn translator (traductor jurado).
• A certificate from your employer and your employment contract. Employees will need to provide a document confirming their salary, length of service and position.
• Company registration documents. Business owners should provide the company’s registration documents and tax returns for 24 months.
• A bank statement. It must confirm a regular inflow of money from legitimate sources.
• NIE. Without a foreigner identification number you cannot get a mortgage on property in Spain.
• Details of existing loans. Having them does not mean a refusal: the bank will deduct these payments from your debt-to-income limit and reduce the amount it is willing to lend.
• Savings. Certificates proving savings deposits, other real estate, a car, precious metals, securities or other investments will help increase the chance of approval.

How to get a mortgage in Spain: step by step

To get a mortgage in Spain you need to go through several steps, and the first is taken before you choose a home. First comes not the property search but a pre-approval: it shows how much you can count on and protects your deposit from a refusal.

Finding a property through estate agents and the purchase itself are a separate procedure with its own timelines and risks: it is covered step by step in the article on how to buy a house in Spain. If you are buying a building plot, the rules are different — see our guide to buying land.

Arranging a fixed, mixed or variable-rate mortgage involves the following stages:

1. Opening a bank account. Look at mortgage offers from different lenders to compare lending terms and rates. At the chosen bank, open the account from which you will pay the deposit and other costs. Not every branch will open an account for a non-resident, and not in a single visit — the procedure and document list are covered separately: a bank account in Spain.
2. Application. The client needs to fill in the application correctly and sign a preliminary agreement.
3. Valuation. A licensed company assesses the true value of the property and its technical condition. The specialists take various factors into account, including location and type of building.
4. Gathering documents. The applicant must collect the documents, have them apostilled and translated into Spanish. The completed set is sent to the bank. After submission, all that remains is to wait for the decision on approval and the loan amount.
5. Final contract. If the decision is positive, the final contract is drawn up; once it is signed, the deposit is transferred. Each transaction is then entered in the register.
6. Repayment. The investor must make all payments on time.

Specifics for buyers from Russia are covered separately below: there the issue is not citizenship but transferring money, the source of funds and the currency of income.

The contract: what is signed at completion and what the bank must give you in advance

Buying property in Spain with a mortgage involves not one contract but three different documents, signed at different times. Confusing them costs the most in terms of deadlines.

The property purchase contract and deposit

First comes a preliminary contract with the seller of the property — usually with a deposit (contrato de arras). The deposit is most often about 10% of the price. The refund terms depend on the type of deposit and must be read in the contract itself: the types differ in what happens if the purchase falls through because of the buyer or the seller.

The main risk here is timing. The deadline written into the preliminary contract is often shorter than the time needed for approval. That is why a financing clause is added to the contract: if the mortgage is refused, the deposit is returned. Without such a clause, a refusal means losing the deposit.

FEIN and FiAE: two documents the bank must give you

Before the mortgage agreement on the property is signed, the borrower must be given two documents. This is required by Spanish law Ley 5/2019 on real estate credit agreements.

• FEIN (Ficha Europea de Información Normalizada) — the European Standardised Information Sheet. The key point: it counts as a binding offer and commits the lender for at least ten days before signing. That is, the terms in the FEIN can no longer be worsened, and those ten days are your time to look for a better offer from competitors.
• FiAE (Ficha de Advertencias Estandarizadas) — the standardised warnings sheet. It must set out the risky terms of the contract: which official index is used for the rate, whether there is a rate floor and other material clauses.

Visiting the notary before signing

No later than the day before the mortgage is signed, the borrower visits a notary in Spain separately. The notary must explain every point of the FEIN and FiAE item by item, not in a general phrase, record this in a formal act and ask the borrower questions about the content of the contract. This meeting is free for the borrower.

It is not a formality but your protection when buying property: this is exactly where you can ask about a term you do not understand and walk away if the answer does not satisfy you.

Do you need a mortgage broker?

For a non-resident buying property, a broker is useful for one reason: they know which Spanish banks currently work with your profile — with income from abroad, in another currency, from your country. Going round branches on your own for a mortgage takes weeks, and a refusal at one bank does not mean a refusal at another.

There is one thing to ask: who pays the broker. They receive either a fee from you or a commission from the lender. In the second case their interest is not necessarily your best option, and you should know this before, not after.

Costs of buying property in Spain

Taking out a mortgage involves some costs:

• Mortgage arrangement fee. Up to 2% of the loan amount.
• Property valuation. You cannot complete the purchase without a property valuation. It is carried out by an independent expert who takes the relevant factors into account. The service costs €300–600.
• Insurance. The home you buy must be insured throughout the loan term. It costs about €30 a month. You can insure the house or flat with any insurance company, including the bank where you take the loan.
• Life insurance. It is not required by law, but the bank almost always offers it together with the loan and lowers the rate for it. Declining it usually means a higher rate. Before deciding that the payment is affordable, add it to your other essential spending — the calculations of the cost of living in Spain give a guide.

The early repayment fee is capped by Ley 5/2019 and depends on the type of rate. For a variable rate it is no more than 0.25% of the amount repaid in the first three years or 0.15% in the first five — the bank chooses one of the two options, and after that there is no fee at all. For a fixed rate it is no more than 2% in the first ten years and 1.5% after that. In all cases the fee cannot exceed the bank’s actual loss, so the percentages above are a ceiling, not a tariff. Additional payments are made when buying the property. For example, you have to pay VAT and stamp duty. When buying resale property you pay ITP — from 6 to 11% of the price depending on the region. One-off payments are not the end of it: the owner pays IBI every year and, if a non-resident, also tax on deemed income — all the rates are collected in the overview of property tax in Spain.

Approval: what the bank checks about the borrower

Loan approval in Spain is not automatic: checks are thorough and cover several criteria at once. Below is what exactly is examined when lending for property and why applications are refused.

Reliability of income

When granting a mortgage, a Spanish bank looks not at the size of your earnings but at their stability. The usual requirements: at least two years of total work experience and at least six months in your current job.

For a business owner, the age of the company counts: applications from businesses younger than twelve months are more often rejected. For income from abroad the checks are stricter — you will need tax returns from the country where you pay tax and bank statements for six to twelve months. Currency matters too: income not in euros is considered a risk.

Debt burden

In Spain the mortgage payment should not exceed 30–35% of net earnings, and it is calculated together with existing loans. The absolute amount is secondary: someone earning €4,000 with two active loans will be approved for less than someone earning €2,500 with no commitments.

Age

Spanish banks lend to borrowers from the age of 25, but the limit works from the other end: by the time of the last payment the borrower usually must not be older than 70–75. Hence the maximum term: at 55 you will not get a thirty-year property loan, whatever your income.

Credit history

A long credit history without late payments lets you get a large loan without difficulty, because such a borrower is trusted. Approval may be a problem if you have been late with monthly payments in any country where you are resident. Lenders check your credit rating carefully, taking into account how previous loans were repaid. Borrowers who have repaid small and medium obligations on time over the last 5 years can expect a positive answer in Spain.

A lender may also refuse if you have no credit history, since in that case the potential client has not yet proved their reliability. Approval is possible with a high, stable income and a large deposit. If you are planning to buy property in Spain with a mortgage, take care of your credit rating in advance to improve your chances of a positive answer.

The property

Which property the bank finances and what it checks in the property is covered above in a separate section. One thing matters here: the valuation affects not only approval but also the loan amount, and you learn its result only after you have paid the deposit.

A mortgage lets you buy property without paying the full amount at once: a non-resident will need 30 to 40% of the price in their own money, plus taxes and fees on top. Spain really does lend to foreigners — but not on the same terms as residents, and you should plan for the upper end of the deposit range, not the lower. Buying property in Spain does not in itself give the right to live there: the “golden visa” was abolished on 3 April 2025.

Spanish banks’ terms: a guide based on public data

How quickly this goes out of date is visible from the data itself. In March and April 2026 several banks raised their rates at once: Unicaja from 2.80% to 2.90%, Banco Santander from 2.81% to 2.96%, ABANCA from 2.70% to 2.85%, BBVA from 2.70% to 2.85% on 30-year loans, Openbank from 2.46% to 2.90% on the same term. So in two months the market moved 0.1–0.45 percentage points in one direction.

Fixed-rate mortgages

Variable-rate mortgages

With Euribor at 3.108%, a margin of 0.50% gives a rate of about 3.6% a year — noticeably higher than the fixed 2.45–2.60% in the table above. This is why 61.7% of property buyers are now choosing a fixed rate.

Mixed-rate mortgages

A mixed-rate mortgage in Spain is a fixed period at the start followed by a switch to Euribor plus a margin. People take it when they expect to repay most of the property debt early on. The fixed period is the first five years unless the line says otherwise.

• Ibercaja — 1.75%, then Euribor + 0.65%
• Cajamar — 1.79%, then Euribor + 0.50%
• Banco Sabadell — 2.00% for the first 3 years, then Euribor + 0.75%
• ABANCA — 2.10%, then Euribor + 0.50%

Three caveats without which the tables above are misleading

• These are discounted rates. They are given when you buy the bank’s products: life insurance, home insurance, salary paid into the account, sometimes an alarm system. Without them the mortgage costs 0.5–1.3 percentage points more. Compare the full cost including these products, not the rate.
• These are terms for residents buying property. No Spanish bank publishes a separate price list for non-residents. They get a higher rate, a lower loan-to-value and a shorter term, and the specific figures can only be obtained through an application.
• The maximum term does not mean “you will get it”. The term is also limited by the borrower’s age — the limit is covered above in the section on approval.

Spain’s major banks — Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter, Abanca — advertise financing of up to 80% of the property value and terms of up to 30 years. That is the upper limit for a resident with a good profile, not a typical offer.

Mortgages in Spain for Russians

Citizenship as such plays no role in Spain. What matters is tax residence, the source of the money and whether it can be transferred. Hence three specifics.

Transferring money. The main difficulty is usually not approval but getting the deposit and property costs into an account in Spain. Direct transfers from Russian banks are restricted, and the route has to be set up in advance — before a preliminary contract with deadlines is signed.

Source of funds. Money arriving from outside the EU is checked especially carefully. You need documents explaining where the sum came from: sale of assets, dividends, savings from verified income. A single bank statement is usually not enough. If the money comes from selling a flat in Russia, our guide to tax on the sale of a flat by a non-resident will be useful: it affects how much reaches your account in Spain.

Income in roubles. Income in a currency other than euros is considered a currency risk. In practice this means a higher rate, a lower loan-to-value or a requirement for a bigger income margin.

Banks in Spain may refuse a non-resident, and this is not rare: it is better to find out before paying the deposit. That is why the first step is a pre-approval, not a flat search.

Frequently asked questions about mortgages in Spain

What is the mortgage interest rate in Spain in 2026?

The average rate on new home mortgages is 2.96% a year according to INE data for June 2026. The average for fixed-rate loans was 2.89% and for variable-rate loans 3.07%. Non-residents are usually charged more: 3.5–5% for fixed-rate loans.

How much will a bank lend to a non-resident?

As a rule, 60–70% of the lower of two figures: the purchase price or the bank’s own valuation. So you need to cover 30–40% of the property price with your own money, plus taxes and fees. A 50% limit does occur, but it is a special case, not the norm.

Which mortgage is better — fixed or variable?

In June 2026 a fixed rate was cheaper: 2.89% versus 3.07%. While this holds, a variable rate gives no advantage at signing, and the risk of Euribor rising remains. The twelve-month Euribor on 4 September 2026 was 3.108%, and it has risen for the third month in a row.

Can a foreigner get a mortgage on property in Spain?

Yes. Mortgages on property in Spain are also given to non-residents; you do not need a residence permit. You need an NIE (foreigner identification number), an account with a Spanish bank and proof of income.

What income do you need for a mortgage in Spain?

The bank looks not at the absolute amount but at the payment’s share of net income: it must not exceed 30–35% including existing loans. For a payment of €858 a month this means an income of roughly €2,500 to €2,900 after tax.

How much money do you need on top of the deposit?

Allow roughly another 10–15% of the property price for taxes and fees. The largest part is ITP on resale homes, from 6 to 11% depending on the region. For a €250,000 flat this is €25,000–40,000 on top of the deposit.

Does buying property give the right to live in Spain?

No. Neither buying property nor a mortgage gives such a right in itself.