Budget roughly 10 to 12 percent on top of the purchase price for taxes and fees. Resale property carries transfer tax, new build carries VAT plus stamp duty. The golden visa route closed in April 2025 and is no longer available. The Costa Blanca's long shoulder season is what makes the rental maths work.
Spain is still one of the easier places in Europe for a foreign buyer to own property, and the Costa Blanca is still where a lot of that money lands. What follows is how the process actually runs and what it costs, written by people who manage the properties afterwards rather than people who sell them.
It is more predictable than people fear, as long as you take the steps in sequence.
This is where budgets go wrong. Expect roughly 10 to 12 percent above the purchase price in total.
These are indicative. Rates are set regionally and they change, so have your lawyer confirm the current figures for the exact property before you commit.
You will still find agencies advertising the Spanish golden visa, the residency route that used to come with a 500,000 euro property purchase. That programme closed in April 2025 and is no longer available. If buying property is part of a residency plan, talk to an immigration lawyer about the routes that do still exist rather than relying on anything written before then.
We would rather tell you that than let you find out later.
The Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol and the Balearics take most of the foreign money. Within the Costa Blanca, the northern towns of Altea, Calpe, Moraira and Javea are the prettier and pricier end. Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa and Guardamar del Segura sit further south at lower entry prices with stronger rental yields.
It is not the weather by itself, because plenty of places have weather. It is the length of the season.
Most Mediterranean rental markets live or die on July and August. Here the golf, the mild winters and the long stay market push demand into months that are dead elsewhere. Across the homes we manage we run at around 80 percent average yearly occupancy, and that number is only possible because the shoulder months carry real weight.
If you are modelling returns, model twelve months rather than three. A property that looks average on peak season rates can look very different once the shoulder is included, and the reverse is also true.
This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and we are not licensed advisers. Taxes, rates and rules change, and your own position depends on your residency and circumstances. Use a Spanish lawyer and a tax adviser before committing money.
We manage property here for a living, which means we see what rents and what sits empty. If you are weighing up somewhere specific, send us the details and we will tell you honestly what we think it does across a year. +34 658 235 481 or info@casacapitals.com.
A couple of the properties we actually manage on the Costa Blanca.
We have managed 50+ homes on the Costa Blanca from our base in Orihuela Costa. Ask us anything about yours.
Four ways we work with owners, buyers and guests across the Costa Blanca.
We run the whole letting operation for you: listings, pricing, guests, cleaning and clear reporting.
Buying or selling on the Costa Blanca, guided by a team that manages property here every single day.
Browse the homes we look after and book your stay direct with the people who run them.
Maintenance, seasonal checks and repairs for owners who cannot be here to handle them.
Send us the address and a few photos and we will come back with what we would expect it to earn, and what we would change to get there.
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