Sworn translation for buying property in Spain as a foreigner

Buying in Spain: the full circuit

Buying a home in Spain runs through the same stations every time. First comes the NIE, your foreigner identification number: without it there is no deed to sign, no purchase taxes to pay, and nothing gets registered in your name. Next, in most deals, the arras contract — a private deposit agreement with the seller that takes the property off the market. The big day is signing the public deed before a Spanish notary, and the finish line is the Land Registry: registration is what protects your title against third parties.

Along that chain, the legal work — checking charges, drafting the deposit contract, settling taxes — belongs to the notary and, if you have hired one, your lawyer. We are neither an estate agency nor a law firm: we are the link that turns your foreign paperwork into official Spanish when the notary asks for it. If you are buying from the UK, the guide for British buyers on our blog walks the whole route; this page is the general map.

Which foreign documents may need a sworn translation

Straight answer: not every purchase needs one. If you attend the signing in person, pay from a Spanish account and your civil status is simple, there may be nothing to translate. Sworn translation enters the picture when part of the file comes from abroad — and each notary sets their own bar. The cases we see most:

• Power of attorney granted abroad. If you will not be at the signing and grant a POA before a notary in your country, it arrives apostilled and in another language. The Spanish notary must rule on its sufficiency — check that it expressly empowers your representative to buy that property — and for that they want it in Spanish, apostille translated too. We covered the details in our power of attorney guide. If you would rather skip the translation, a POA granted at a Spanish consulate is issued in Spanish from the start.
• Civil status and matrimonial property regime. The notary is required to ask which regime governs your marriage, because it determines how the property is registered. If yours is the default legal regime of your country, your own statement is usually enough; if there is a marital agreement, or the notary asks for proof, those documents — marriage certificate, pre- or post-nuptial agreement — go in translated.
• Bank paperwork and source of funds. Spain's anti-money-laundering rules (Law 10/2010) oblige notaries and registrars to identify the means of payment. When the money comes from an account in London or New York, the notary, your Spanish bank or your own lawyer may ask for bank certificates, statements or a certificate of funds in Spanish.

One distinction that saves confusion: the interpreter on signing day is a different figure. If you do not understand Spanish, Spain's notarial rules provide for an interpreter — appointed by you and, since a 2007 reform, not required to be sworn — to convey the content of the deed out loud. That interpreter does not replace the sworn translation of the documents attached to the file, and the sworn translation does not spare you the interpreter if the notary considers one necessary.

How we do it at Textualia

Everything online, no travelling:

1. Upload your documents as a PDF or a sharp photo; the price shows instantly.
2. We confirm the turnaround against your signing date. If the notary's diary is tight, there is a rush option.
3. A sworn translator authorised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAEC) signs and stamps the translation, faithful to the original, apostille included.
4. You receive an electronically signed PDF, valid before any Spanish notary. If someone insists on paper, we issue it on official stamped paper and post it to you.

Your statements and personal data travel encrypted and are shared with no one — we know what it means to send your financial life across the internet.

Why Textualia

Because we know the purchase file from the inside. We know the apostille is translated with the document, that the notary's review of your POA will not wait, and that a fixed completion date leaves no room for delays. You get a clear turnaround from minute one, a fixed price before you commit, and a real person to talk to when the notary asks for something unexpected at the last minute.

We will not tell you which marital regime suits you or review your deposit contract: that is your lawyer's and the notary's territory. Our job is getting every foreign paper in your folder to the notary in official Spanish, done properly and on time.