Buying property in Costa del Sol: taxes, tourist lets and legal checks

Buying property in Costa del Sol: what is different from the rest of Spain

Buying property in Costa del Sol follows the same national process as anywhere in Spain: NIE, bank account, legal checks, arras contract, notary, tax and registration. Our step-by-step guide to buying property in Spain covers that in full. What changes on the coast between Nerja and Manilva is the regional tax, a fast-moving set of tourist-let rules, and Andalucía's own planning law for homes built without a licence. Those three points decide whether a purchase works financially, so this guide concentrates on them.

The market is also unusually international. The Colegio de Registradores reports that foreign buyers made 32.8% of all home purchases in Málaga province in 2025, against 13.82% for Spain as a whole. Expect agents, developers and lawyers used to English-speaking clients, but don't let that replace your own checks.

Purchase taxes in Andalucía

Andalucía sets its own transfer tax. For most foreign buyers the figures are simple:

The reduced ITP rates (6% and 3.5%) only apply when the home becomes your main residence and the price is under €150,000 or €250,000, so they rarely help a buyer of a holiday apartment in Marbella or Estepona. Andalucía charges the same 7% on every price band; there is no higher luxury rate, which makes the region cheaper to buy in at the top end than Catalonia or the Balearics.

Worked example: a €400,000 resale apartment in Fuengirola

• ITP at 7%: €28,000
• Notary, Land Registry, lawyer and gestoría: typically a further 1.5–2.5% (market estimate, not a fixed tariff)
• Total on top of the price: roughly €34,000–€38,000

If the seller is not tax resident in Spain, you must also withhold 3% of the price (€12,000 here) and pay it to the Tax Agency on form 211. That comes out of the price, not on top of it. See our cost of buying property in Spain guide for a full breakdown.

Tourist lets: registration, moratoria and community bans

Many people buying property in Málaga, Spain, plan to cover costs with holiday lets. Check this before you buy, not after. In Andalucía a home let to tourists is a vivienda de uso turístico (VUT), and it must be entered in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía by a declaración responsable before you advertise it. The register number (VUT/MA/…) must appear on every listing.

Three layers of rules now apply:

1. The Junta's decree. Decreto 31/2024 lets town halls set limits on the number of tourist homes per building, area or zone. Decreto-ley 1/2025 goes further: a town can suspend new tourist-housing authorisations from the moment it agrees to draft a planning change, and you now need a municipal licence or declaration that tourist use is allowed before registering.
2. The town hall. Málaga city published its planning change in the provincial bulletin (BOP) on 22 August 2025. From the next day new tourist homes are suspended across the whole municipality for up to three years, or until the planning change is finally approved. Applications made before publication are not affected. Other Costa del Sol towns are considering their own limits, so ask the ayuntamiento in writing.
3. The community of owners. Since 3 April 2025 (article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Law, as amended by Ley Orgánica 1/2025), anyone starting a new tourist let in a flat or complex needs the express approval of three-fifths of the owners, and the community can ban or restrict tourist lets by the same majority. Ask for the community's minutes and statutes before you sign.

Since July 2025 there is also a national single rental register: short lets advertised on platforms need a registration number from the Land Registry on top of the regional VUT number.

Buying a house on rustic land: the AFO question

If you want to buy a house in Costa del Sol inland, around Alhaurín el Grande, Coín, Mijas campo or the hills above Estepona, planning status is the biggest risk. Tens of thousands of Andalusian homes on rustic land were built without a licence, or bigger than the licence allowed.

Andalucía's land law, Ley 7/2021 (LISTA), and its regulation, Decreto 550/2022, deal with these homes in Title VIII. When the time limit for the town hall to order demolition has passed, the owner can apply for recognition as asimilado a fuera de ordenación (AFO). An AFO resolution:

• allows the home to be registered at the Land Registry and connected to water and electricity (or to have its own supply);
• allows repair and maintenance works needed for safety and habitability;
• does not make the house fully legal: you usually cannot extend it, and it may be harder to mortgage.

AFO is not available for homes on specially protected land, homes still within the six-year enforcement period, or homes with a court order against them. Illegal subdivisions (parcelaciones) are also treated differently, often through a special plan for the whole area.

What to ask for on a rural property

• The AFO resolution or the building licence and first-occupation licence;
• a town hall certificate that no planning proceedings are open;
• a match between the house on the nota simple, the Catastro and what is actually built, including pools and extensions;
• a survey; our guide to buying land in Spain explains the planning categories.

You can also start with our free property check: enter the address or referencia catastral and we'll get back to you by email.

Buying property in Marbella and the western coast

Marbella has a long history of disputed planning licences, and some developments built in the 1990s and 2000s went through years of court cases. In Marbella and Benahavís, ask your lawyer to check the licence history of the building, not just the current Registry entry. For a new build, check the licence and the bank guarantee for your stage payments, and that the developer has a first-occupation licence (or equivalent) before completion.

Costa del Sol property prices: official figures

Use official statistics, not asking prices, to judge the market. Two sources are useful:

• Registradores (Estadística Registral Inmobiliaria): in 2025 the average registered price in Málaga province was €3,101 per m², the sixth highest in Spain. The national average was €2,284 per m².
• INE housing price index: prices in Andalucía rose 11.9% in the year to Q2 2026: 12.5% for resale homes and 9% for new builds.

These are province and region averages. Prices on the Golden Mile and in central Málaga are far above them, and inland villages are far below. Ask for a bank valuation (tasación) if you're taking a Spanish mortgage.

Is Costa del Sol the right region for you?

Costa del Sol combines a flat 7% transfer tax, Málaga airport's year-round flights and a large English-speaking community. The trade-off is high prices and tighter tourist-let rules. Compare it with the other regions in our guide to the best places to buy property in Spain, or look at Costa Blanca for lower average prices. Once you own the property, remember annual non-resident income tax and IBI.