Buying property in northern Spain: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country

Buying property in northern Spain: what is different

Buying property in northern Spain is legally the same as buying anywhere else in the country. You need an NIE, you sign an arras contract, you complete in front of a notary and you register the deed. Our step-by-step guide to buying property in Spain covers that core process. This page covers what changes when you cross from the Mediterranean to the green north: the tax rates, the foral system in the Basque Country and Navarre, rural land, and the growing limits on holiday lets.

The four regions most foreign buyers look at are Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country (Euskadi). Navarre is inland, but it shares the Basque foral tax system, so we include its rates for comparison.

Purchase tax by region

On a resale home you pay transfer tax (ITP) on the price, or on the tax office's reference value if that is higher. On a new build from a developer you pay IVA at 10% instead, plus stamp duty (AJD) on the deed. The rates below are the general rates for 2026; reduced rates exist for young buyers, large families, rural villages and some primary homes, but most foreign second-home buyers pay the general rate.

Worked example: a €400,000 resale house in Asturias. The Asturian scale applies one rate to the whole value based on the band it falls in, so the tax is 9% of €400,000, or €36,000. The same house in Cantabria costs €36,000 at 9%, in Galicia €32,000 at 8%, and in Bizkaia €16,000 at 4%. For the other costs (notary, registry, lawyer), see our cost of buying property in Spain guide.

Buying property in the Basque Country: the foral system

The three Basque provinces and Navarre are the only parts of Spain with their own fiscal regime. This matters to a buyer in three practical ways.

Your tax goes to a different office

You file and pay transfer tax with the Diputación Foral of Álava, Bizkaia or Gipuzkoa, or with the Hacienda Foral de Navarra, not with a regional agency under the common system. Each province writes its own rules, so Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa charge 6% instead of 4% when the buyer already owns more than five homes, and each territory sets its own conditions for the reduced 2.5% rate on a primary home (for example, in Gipuzkoa a limit of 120 m² built area). Don't assume a rule from Bizkaia applies in Gipuzkoa.

A separate cadastre

In the rest of Spain the Catastro is run nationally by the Dirección General del Catastro, and you can look up a referencia catastral on the national website. In the foral territories each Diputación Foral and Navarre keeps its own cadastre, with its own online viewer and its own reference numbers. Your lawyer should pull the record from the right one. The Land Registry and notaries, by contrast, are national and work exactly as elsewhere, so a nota simple is requested in the same way.

Ongoing taxes

Local taxes such as IBI and plusvalía are set by the town hall everywhere, but in the foral territories they follow foral rules. If you are not resident, ask your adviser which administration your annual non-resident income tax goes to, as it can differ from the rest of Spain.

Tourist lets in the north

If you plan to let the property to holidaymakers, check the rules before you buy, not after.

• Basque Country: Basque Law 6/2025 amended the Tourism Law so that new tourist homes and rooms are automatically suspended in any area declared a tensioned residential market, for as long as the declaration lasts. By the end of 2025 eleven municipalities were declared, including Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Barakaldo and Irun, with more in progress. San Sebastián's own plan already limits tourist use. A draft new Basque tourism law published in February 2026 would add a five-year renewal; it is a draft, not law.
• Galicia: tourist homes must be registered in the Registro de Empresas y Actividades Turísticas (REAT) before advertising. Some cities, such as A Coruña, have added local zoning limits.
• Asturias and Cantabria: registration with the regional tourism register is required, and town halls can restrict the use through planning.
• Everywhere: since 3 April 2025, a flat in a community building can only start tourist letting if three-fifths of the owners, holding three-fifths of the shares, approve it.

Property in Galicia and Asturias: rural land checks

Much of the appeal of the north is stone farmhouses and land. That is also where most problems sit. Rural plots in Galicia and Asturias are often small, split between heirs and described differently in the Land Registry, the cadastre and on the ground. Some old houses were never registered at all.

• Compare the registered area, the cadastral area and a survey. Differences of hundreds of square metres are common on rural land.
• Check the land class (urban, developable or rústico). Building or extending on rústico land is heavily restricted. See our guide to buying land in Spain.
• Confirm that all heirs are signing. A missing co-owner can block a sale for years.
• Check access rights, water sources and septic systems, which are often informal.

You can start with our free property check: enter the address or referencia catastral and we'll reply by email.

Buying a house in northern Spain: prices

We only quote official statistics. INE's Housing Price Index shows prices rising in every region in the year to the second quarter of 2026: 15.0% in Asturias (the highest of any region), 13.5% in Cantabria, 12.9% in Galicia, 10.0% in the Basque Country and 9.5% in Navarre, against 12.2% for Spain. The index measures change, not price levels, so use a local valuation (tasación) to judge the price of a specific house.

Cantabria property and the coast

The national Coastal Law (Ley de Costas) applies along the whole northern coast. Property close to the shore may sit in the public domain or its protection zone, which limits works and extensions. Ask for the coastal boundary (deslinde) to be checked on any seafront purchase.

Comparing the north with the Costa del Sol, the Balearics or Madrid? See our best places to buy property in Spain comparison.