Tips, guides and news about the Costa del Sol real estate market
Four different services are sold under one name, with commissions from 8% to 30%. We separate key holding, long-term letting, holiday-let management and the building administrator: what each contract covers, who is liable for a leak or unpaid rent, which duties no manager can take over, and the year’s figures for a Fuengirola flat.
Manilva shows an estimated 7.5% gross yield and Nueva Andalucía 4.5%: the priciest, most desirable area is the worst earner. But gross yield misleads twice. All twelve areas with yield and absorption, the seven costs that eat it, and a euro-by-euro Fuengirola case falling from a published 6.5% to a real 1.6% net.
In a Spanish traspaso you are not buying a business: you are buying a lease, an administrative title to trade, a fit-out and goodwill, and each one can fail on its own. How to price all four, which debts you inherit by law, and why most expensive-looking traspasos are expensive because the lease is about to expire.
Manilva is the cheapest entry on the Costa del Sol at €3,000/m² and a €307,000 average, with the highest estimated gross yield (7.5%) and the slowest turnover bar Málaga: 15.2 months of stock. What €200,000, €300,000 and €400,000 buy, why the discount is in flats and not houses, and when paying more in Estepona wins.
You no longer live in Spain and want to sell without flying over. Which powers the deed must contain so the Spanish notary accepts it, where to sign and what each route costs (consulate €30.05 versus local notary plus apostille, €150–400), when a fiscal representative is really required, and how you get paid into a foreign account.
You sell for €294,000 what you bought for €180,000, and the taxable gain is not €114,000 but €80,567. How non-resident capital gains tax is calculated in 2026, which costs add and which deduct, which invoices the Spanish tax office accepts, and why the 24% rate everyone talks about does not apply to the sale.
The industry promises 6% to 15% uplifts, but that figure comes from surveys of home stagers, not from transactions. What is actually documented, what each format costs on the Costa del Sol in 2026, and two cases broken down euro by euro: one where staging loses money and one where it makes money.
The two-bedroom apartment is 36.2% of all Costa del Sol supply and the dominant size band in nine of the twelve zones in the SolProp index. How much it weighs and what it costs in each municipality, where it turns over fast and where it stalls, and why liquidity matters more than yield on the day you sell.
The buyer withholds 3% of the price and pays it over on Form 211 within a month of the deed; you declare the gain on Form 210 within four months and claim back the excess. Exact deadlines, a euro-by-euro case, what happens if the buyer fails to withhold, how long refunds really take and what to do when you sell at a loss.
Torremolinos absorbs 104% of its listings in a year; Málaga city, 74%. Absorption rates and months of inventory for the 12 Costa del Sol markets, and what they mean for your asking price.
€300,000 buys 100 m² in Manilva and 49 in Nueva Andalucía: the same money, twice the home. How many square metres fit in each municipality, what kind of property that means, and how much of your budget goes on taxes before you hold the keys.
What a Spanish residential tenancy really commits you to, how much deposit a landlord can ask for, and why the income-tax relief fell from 60% to 50% in 2024. With a worked example for a two-bedroom flat in Fuengirola and what non-resident owners actually pay.
Appraisal, market valuation and cadastral value are not the same. Which one you need to sell, to get a mortgage, or for an inheritance or divorce.
Three opinions on the same apartment can be €110,000 apart. How property value is really calculated on the Costa del Sol: the comparison method, the adjustment coefficients that move prices here, and a complete case broken down comparable by comparable to the asking price.
The SolProp Price Index’s year-on-year ranking holds two surprises: number one has been telegraphing it for years, and the best-yielding area costs €3,000/m². The data, area by area.
Commission, plusvalía, capital gains tax and the 3% withholding: every cost of selling on the Costa del Sol, worked through with real figures.
Real numbers comparing holiday, seasonal and long-term rental returns on the Costa del Sol, with tax treatment for UK, EU and Spanish resident owners.
Inheritance tax in Andalusia for foreign owners in 2026: how the 99% rebate works, who qualifies, deadlines and worked examples in euros.
Quick answer Yes, you can buy a property in Spain without setting foot in the country. The key is granting a specific power of attorney to your lawyer in Spain, who signs the deed before the notary on your behalf. You can grant it at a Spanish consulate in your country (no apostille or translation […]
Selling on the Costa del Sol as a non-resident: the 3% retention, capital gains tax, plusvalía and the exact steps and deadlines for 2026.