What Is a Nota Simple? How British Buyers Read One, Line by Line (2026)
A nota simple is a brief extract from Spain’s Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad). It shows who legally owns a property, a precise physical description of what is registered, and every mortgage, embargo or other charge registered against it. It costs €9.02, takes 24-48 hours to obtain online, and is the single most important document you will read before signing anything in Spain.
Request one before you pay a reservation fee. Request another on the morning of completion. This guide walks through every section so you know exactly what you are looking at.
What Does a Nota Simple Actually Show?
The full name is a nota simple informativa. It is not a title guarantee. It is a snapshot of the registry record at a specific moment in time. Think of it as a credit report for a property rather than a clean bill of health.
It shows four things:
- A description of the physical property: size, catastral reference, floor, building block.
- Who the registered owner is and the legal basis of their ownership.
- Every mortgage, embargo (court seizure order), or other encumbrance registered against the property.
- Any restrictions on how the property can be used or transferred.
What it does not show: community fee arrears (you need a separate certificado de deudas for that), IBI (council tax) arrears going back up to four years, planning breaches where an illegal extension has never been registered, or unresolved inheritance claims that have not yet reached the registry.
Your Spanish property lawyer will cross-check all of those separately. The nota simple is the starting point, not the finish line.
How Do You Get a Nota Simple?
You can order one yourself online at registradores.org, or your abogado can request it on your behalf. You need the property’s:
- Full address and municipio
- Catastral reference number (shown on the IBI receipt, the property listing, or the Catastro website at sedecatastro.gob.es)
- IDUFIR or CRU number if available (a 14-digit unique registry identifier that appears on any previous escritura)
Cost: €9.02 per extract (2026 rate, set by the Colegio de Registradores). Most abogados include this in their standard due-diligence process with no mark-up, but ask them to share the actual document with you rather than just summarise it.
Turnaround: 24-48 hours for an online request; same day at the registry counter. Always check the issue date on the document. A nota simple older than 30 days is stale for any serious decision-making.
How to Read a Nota Simple: The Four Sections
A nota simple is issued in Spanish. The language is notarial and can feel opaque. Here is what each section contains and what you need to check.
Section 1: Descripción del Inmueble (Property Description)
This section describes the physical property as registered. Check:
Superficie construida (built area in square metres). Compare this to what the estate agent’s listing states. A meaningful mismatch means an extension was built without a building licence and never registered with the registry or the catastro. On a 90m² flat, that is not unusual. On a villa where the listing says 350m² and the registry says 200m², you have a real problem: the unlicensed portion will not appear in your mortgage valuation, may not be insurable, and can complicate any future resale.
Referencia catastral (catastral reference). This links the registry entry to the separate cadastral record maintained by the Dirección General del Catastro. Cross-check it at sedecatastro.gob.es. The catastral surface area and the registry surface area frequently differ by a few square metres due to differing measurement standards. Small gaps are normal; large ones warrant investigation.
Planta (floor). Confirm it matches the unit you are buying. In a large complex with multiple phases and similar addresses, it is not unheard of for the wrong unit to end up in a sales contract.
Cuota de participación (ownership share of the total building, as a percentage). This is used to calculate your share of community fees and determines your voting weight at owners’ meetings.
Section 2: Titularidad (Ownership)
This section names the registered owner or owners. Check every line.
Is the seller the registered owner? The person signing the reservation agreement should be the same person named in the titularidad. If the names differ, you need a clear explanation before proceeding. Common legitimate reasons: a power of attorney, a recently completed inheritance not yet registered, or a divorce settlement still being processed through the courts. All of these can be resolved. None should be glossed over.
Título de adquisición (how they acquired it). The entry will say compraventa (purchase), herencia (inheritance), donación (gift), or adjudicación (awarded by court). Properties acquired by inheritance or gift can carry undisclosed liabilities from the prior owner, which is why your lawyer will trace the title back at least two transfers.
Fecha de inscripción (registration date). If the current owner registered the title very recently before putting the property up for sale, ask why. It is not necessarily suspicious, but understanding the chain of ownership is your abogado’s job.
Proindiviso (shared ownership). If multiple owners are listed with percentage shares, every one of them must sign the escritura at completion. Missing a co-owner is one of the most common causes of a delayed or collapsed completion in Spain.
Section 3: Cargas y Gravámenes (Charges and Encumbrances)
This is the section that can kill a purchase. Read it slowly.
Hipoteca (mortgage): Most Spanish properties being resold have an outstanding mortgage. This is normal. The seller’s mortgage is typically cancelled at the notary on completion day, with the lender present or represented, and the outstanding balance settled directly from the sale proceeds before the remainder transfers to the seller. Your abogado should confirm the exact cancellation figure (outstanding capital plus the lender’s comisión de cancelación, typically 0-0.5%) before you exchange arras. If the mortgage balance exceeds the agreed sale price, the deal requires restructuring or the seller needs to bring cash to the table.
Embargo (seizure order): An embargo is a court order or a tax authority charge registered against the property. It means a creditor has secured their claim against this specific asset. An embargo does not automatically prevent a sale, but it does not automatically disappear at completion either. If it is not cleared before or at the escritura, it attaches to the property and becomes your problem as the new owner. Do not proceed without your lawyer obtaining a written clearance plan, including the amount needed to discharge it and the timeline.
Anotación preventiva (precautionary note): A note attached by a court during active litigation relating to the property. Treat this as a serious red flag until your lawyer has obtained and read the underlying court filing.
Servidumbre (easement): A registered right of use by a third party over part of the property. Common examples: a utility company’s right to access an electricity substation or water metre, or a right-of-way across the driveway. Some servidumbres are benign. Others can restrict how you use the garden or access the plot. Read the full wording.
Condición resolutoria (contractual unwinding clause): A condition under which ownership can revert to the previous owner. Rare in straightforward residential purchases, but serious if present.
If this section reads “libre de cargas” (free of encumbrances), the property has no registered mortgages or charges. That is the ideal result.
Section 4: Inscripción (Latest Registration)
The closing lines confirm when the entry was last updated, the volume and folio reference in the physical registry book, and the registry code. Note the date and time of the extract. When your abogado requests a fresh nota simple on completion morning, they are checking that nothing new has been registered since the last check.
What a Nota Simple Cannot Tell You
Understanding the limits is as important as reading the document itself.
A nota simple will not reveal:
- Community fee arrears. Request a certificado de deudas con la comunidad directly from the community administrator. Under Article 9 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law, unpaid community fees stay with the property and transfer to the new owner for up to three years of arrears.
- IBI arrears. The local council can pursue the new owner for up to four years of unpaid council tax. Request three years of IBI receipts from the seller before signing the arras.
- Planning breaches. An extension built without a licence will not appear in the registry unless it has been legalised (via an AFO certificate in Andalusia) or formally registered. Your abogado should obtain a certificado de legalidad urbanística from the local council for any rural or older property.
- Pending inheritance claims. If the registered owner recently inherited the property, there may be forced heirs (children, a spouse) who have not yet accepted or renounced their legítima share.
Red Flags at a Glance
| Issue | What to do |
|---|---|
| Seller’s name differs from the registry | Ask for a written explanation before signing anything |
| Surface area mismatch above 5% | Ask for a catastral update or legal opinion on the gap |
| Any embargo, however old | Get a written discharge plan from your lawyer |
| Anotación preventiva | Do not sign the arras until the litigation is explained |
| Nota simple older than 30 days | Request a fresh one |
| Multiple owners listed | Confirm all are available and willing to sign the escritura |
The Nota Simple and Off-Plan Purchases
If you are buying off-plan, the individual apartment will not yet have its own registry entry. Check the nota simple for the land plot or the development phase instead. Confirm:
- The developer is the registered owner of the land.
- There is a planning annotation (nota de afección al plan parcial or licencia de obras) confirming the development is approved.
- Any bank guarantee requirement under Ley 57/1968 (which protects your stage payments) is referenced.
For a full breakdown of the off-plan process and what the bank guarantee actually protects you against, see our guide to buying off-plan on the Costa del Sol.
How the Nota Simple Fits Into the Wider Buying Process
The nota simple is one of several searches your Spanish property lawyer runs before you exchange the contrato de arras (the private purchase contract where you commit 10% of the price). The others include a community fee certificate, IBI receipts, confirmation of the occupation licence, and a catastral check.
For a full explanation of the arras and what happens at each stage of the purchase, see our contrato de arras guide. For the complete step-by-step buying process from search to keys, see our guide to buying property in Spain as a UK citizen.
What Does It All Cost?
For context, here is what you are paying when you buy through a lawyer in Spain and how the nota simple fits into the total picture:
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Nota simple | €9.02 |
| Spanish property lawyer (abogado) | 1-1.5% of purchase price + 21% IVA |
| Notary fee | €600-1,500 |
| ITP (purchase tax, resale, Andalusia) | 7% of purchase price |
| Land Registry registration | €300-700 |
| Gestoria | €300-600 |
On a €350,000 resale property, total acquisition costs including taxes come to approximately €40,000-45,000 on top of the purchase price. A full breakdown is in our real cost of buying guide.
Ready to Find Your Property?
A nota simple costs €9 and 48 hours. It is the cheapest form of due diligence you will do in Spain. Get one early, get a fresh one on the day of signing, and make sure your Spanish lawyer explains every line of the cargas section before any deposit changes hands.
If you are searching for property on the Costa del Sol and want introductions to vetted, English-speaking abogados in Marbella, Estepona, Mijas or Sotogrande, tell us what you are looking for. We have worked with the same legal teams for years and can point you to the right person for your area and budget.
