# Spain’s 100% Property Tax Proposal: What British Buyers on the Costa del Sol Actually Need to Know (2026)
If you’ve been following the news since early 2025, you’ll have seen the headlines. “Spain to double cost of property for British buyers.” “100% tax could price out UK investors.” “Is it still safe to buy in Spain?”
The short answer: yes, it is still safe to buy. The longer answer is worth reading carefully, because the gap between what’s been reported and what’s actually happening is considerable.
Here’s the straight picture as of August 2026.
What Pedro Sánchez Actually Proposed
In January 2025, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that his government was considering a new purchase tax on residential property bought by non-EU, non-resident buyers. The framing was political: Spain’s housing affordability crisis, particularly acute in Madrid, Barcelona, and tourist coastal areas, had become a dominant domestic issue.
The proposal, as submitted to Spain’s parliament on 22 May 2025, would create an additional tax charged on top of the existing regional transfer tax (ITP). In Andalusia, where the Costa del Sol sits, ITP currently stands at 7% of the purchase price for resale properties. The new surcharge would match 100% of that existing rate , not 100% of the purchase price itself.
That distinction matters enormously and got lost in most of the press coverage.
To be precise: “100% tax” in this context means a surcharge equal to 100% of whatever ITP rate your region charges. On a €350,000 Costa del Sol apartment, the existing ITP is approximately €24,500. Under the proposal, a non-EU, non-resident buyer would pay an additional €24,500 on top , bringing total transfer taxes from around 7% to around 14% of the purchase price, not from 7% to 107%.
That is still a significant extra cost. But it is a very different proposition from the “buy a €350,000 flat, pay another €350,000 in tax” version that circulated widely online.
Where the Bill Stands Right Now
The bill was submitted to Congress in May 2025. As of August 2026, now fifteen months on, it has not been debated once in parliament.
This is not an accident. Spain’s Socialist-led government is a minority coalition. It relies on support from a fragmented group of smaller regional and left-wing parties, each with different priorities and different constituencies. Several of those coalition partners have publicly opposed the measure. Constitutional lawyers and EU law specialists have questioned whether the bill, in its current form, would survive a legal challenge: EU treaties generally prohibit discriminatory treatment of nationals from countries with which the EU has trade agreements, and the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains provisions that complicate this.
A Reuters report from March 2026 confirmed the bill had stalled, with parliamentary sources saying the government could not build the majority needed to advance it. The government’s own January 2026 housing package, which included a range of rental and affordability measures, left the non-EU property tax out entirely.
In plain terms: as of today, there is no 100% property tax. Buying a property on the Costa del Sol as a British citizen is subject to exactly the same costs it was subject to two years ago.
If the Bill Were Ever Passed
To be clear about what could change, if the bill were eventually to pass in something close to its current form:
- The additional surcharge would apply to non-EU, non-resident buyers of residential property.
- If you are a Spanish resident (holding a TIE card, registered on the padrón, making Spain your primary country of residence), you would likely be exempt as a resident taxpayer regardless of nationality.
- Purchases completed before any new law enters into force would be protected. Under general Spanish tax principles, a new tax does not apply retroactively to transactions that closed before it became law.
- The measure would not affect properties already owned. It is a purchase tax on new acquisitions, not an annual levy on existing holdings.
If you are planning to buy in 2026 and the bill were somehow to pass before completion, the practical answer is that your notary and abogado would advise you at the point of signing. There is no credible scenario in which a buyer is ambushed by a surprise tax on the day of completion without any prior notice.
The bill could also be amended substantially before any vote; the current draft is the starting position for a negotiation, not the final word.
The Golden Visa: Gone Since April 2025
Separate from the 100% tax debate, there is a change that is already in force and worth understanding clearly.
Spain’s investor residency programme, the Golden Visa, was abolished on 3 April 2025 under Organic Law 1/2025. This removed the provisions (Articles 63 to 67 of Law 14/2013) that allowed non-EU nationals to obtain a Spanish residence permit by investing €500,000 or more in residential real estate.
No new applications have been accepted since that date. Existing Golden Visa holders and those who applied before the cut-off are subject to transitional protections, but the route is closed for anyone starting from scratch now.
How much does this affect most British buyers on the Costa del Sol? Less than the headlines suggest. The Costa del Sol’s core British buyer market sits broadly in the €150,000 to €600,000 range, with most transactions in the €200,000 to €450,000 band. The Golden Visa threshold was €500,000 in real estate, so it was relevant only at the upper end of the market and was primarily used by buyers from China, Russia, and the Middle East , not the UK.
British buyers were never the primary users of the Golden Visa. Residency, when sought, came through the Non-Lucrative Visa or, for remote workers, the Digital Nomad Visa. Neither of those has been affected.
What Residency Routes Still Exist for British Buyers
If residency in Spain is what you’re after, the options open to British nationals in 2026 are:
Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV): For retirees and those with sufficient passive income. The income threshold is approximately €2,400 per month (400% of Spain’s IPREM for 2026), plus private health insurance and a clean criminal record. You must spend more than 183 days per year in Spain. This is the standard route for British retirees buying on the Costa del Sol. Full guide to Spain’s Non-Lucrative Visa.
Digital Nomad Visa: For remote workers employed by a non-Spanish company, or self-employed professionals with clients predominantly outside Spain. Income threshold is roughly €2,268 per month (200% of Spain’s SMI for 2026). Comes with the option to apply for Spain’s Beckham Law flat 24% income tax rate. Full guide to the Digital Nomad Visa.
Autónomo (Self-Employed) Route: If you plan to run a business in Spain, registering as autónomo and making Spain your tax base is a path to full residency, though it requires genuine business activity in the country.
No visa needed, for holiday home buyers: If you plan to use your Costa del Sol property as a second home rather than a primary residence, you do not need a visa at all. Under the current EES/90-day rules, British passport holders can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in Spain without any visa requirement. For a holiday home used two or three times per year, that is more than sufficient. Guide to the EU Entry/Exit System.
The Honest Picture for British Buyers in 2026
I speak with British buyers every week who have seen the headlines and are genuinely unsure whether to proceed. Here is what I tell them.
The fundamentals have not changed. The legal process for buying property in Spain as a British national is the same as it was before the January 2025 announcement. The taxes you will pay , ITP at 7% in Andalusia, plus notary, Land Registry, and legal fees adding roughly another 3 to 4% , are the same. The purchase protections are the same. The currency risk is the same.
What has changed is political noise. Spain’s government has a housing crisis to manage and an election cycle to navigate. The rhetoric around foreign buyers is real, but the gap between announcement and law is wide, and Spain’s parliamentary arithmetic makes meaningful action in this space genuinely difficult in the short to medium term.
The Costa del Sol in particular, an area where foreign buyers account for a significant share of all transactions and where the property market is a major economic driver , has historically been more resistant to punitive buyer measures than the urban markets of Madrid and Barcelona, where the affordability crisis is most acute.
Foreign buyers purchased more than 87,000 properties across Spain in 2024, accounting for roughly 15% of all transactions. That demand continued even after the January 2025 announcement, which tells you that serious buyers are looking at the evidence rather than the headlines.
If You Are Weighing Up Whether to Buy Now
A few practical points worth holding onto:
Any tax that passes will not be retroactive. If you exchange contracts and complete before a new law enters into force, you are protected under the existing legal framework. This is settled Spanish tax principle, not a loophole.
Residency exempts you. If you are buying with the intention of relocating to Spain and obtaining a TIE card, the proposed non-resident buyer tax would not apply to you as a resident, regardless of nationality.
Get proper legal advice now. An experienced Spanish abogado can structure your purchase to maximise your protection under current law and flag any developments that become relevant before your completion date. The cost , typically €1,500 to €3,000 for a standard purchase , is negligible against the uncertainty you would eliminate. Read our guide to choosing a Spanish property lawyer.
Watch, but do not freeze. The bill could advance, be amended, or be dropped entirely. Waiting for legal certainty in a rising market has its own costs. The sensible position is to proceed with due care rather than to pause indefinitely on a hypothetical.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Spain’s 100% property tax for British buyers in force in August 2026? No. The draft bill was submitted to Spain’s parliament in May 2025 but has not been debated or voted on. It is not law, and no implementation date has been set.
Would I pay double the purchase price to buy a Spanish property? No, and this was a misreading of the proposal from the start. The 100% figure refers to a surcharge equal to 100% of the existing regional transfer tax (ITP), not 100% of the property’s purchase price. In Andalusia, with ITP at 7%, the surcharge would take total transfer taxes to around 14% , significant, but not what most of the headlines implied.
Does the proposed tax affect EU citizens? No. The bill targets non-EU, non-resident buyers specifically. EU citizens buying in Spain are not affected.
What if I become a Spanish resident? Does the tax apply to me? The proposal, as drafted, targets non-resident buyers. If you purchase as a resident of Spain, you would not fall within the scope of the tax.
Is it still worth buying on the Costa del Sol in 2026? That depends entirely on your situation, budget, and timeline. This is exactly the kind of conversation worth having with someone who knows the local market. The legal and political picture is not a reason to rule it out.
Thinking about making a move to the Costa del Sol? Tell us what you are looking for: budget, area, whether you want a holiday home or a permanent base , and we will put together a shortlist of properties that fit, including options you will not find on the main portals. Get in touch here.
