Owners, workers and Torrevieja itself
Buying in Torrevieja: the NIE every buyer needs before signing
Each person whose name goes on the escritura, the deed, must hold a NIE, the foreigner’s identity number, before the notary signs. Buyers who keep living abroad ask for it on form EX-15: near Torrevieja, policia.es lists it at Orihuela and Alicante, and a Spanish consulate can take it too. Without it, the bank and the notary cannot record you.
Request helpOne number per name on the deed
If a couple buys together, each of them needs a NIE. Check that both certificates spell the names as the passports do. The notary compares the documents line by line, and a missing middle name can hold up a signing.
If you will keep living abroad
Buyers who will stay resident elsewhere request the NIE as non-residents, on form EX-15; the purchase is the reason they state. A deposit contract or a letter from your lawyer backs it up. Near Torrevieja, policia.es lists NIE assignment at the Comisaría de Orihuela and at the Brigada in Alicante.
Living abroad, you can also file through the Spanish consulate that covers your address, or Gestoraz can file it at a distance.
A power of attorney
With a poder notarial, a power of attorney granted in front of a notary, your lawyer or a person you trust can sign the escritura (the deed) and handle the bank and the utilities on your behalf. Granted outside Spain, it generally has to carry an apostille and be put into Spanish by a sworn translator.
Whether a representative can also file the NIE request for you depends on the office. Do not count on it without asking.
After the keys
- Electricity and water contracts moved into your name
- The comunidad de propietarios, the owners’ association of the building or the urbanisation
- The IBI, the yearly municipal tax on property
- Your yearly tax duties as an owner, resident or not, which a tax adviser can set out
A purchase is not a residence route
Buying a home gives no right to live in Spain. The golden visa that once linked property to residence ended in 2025. A non-EU buyer who wants to live here follows a route of their own, such as non-lucrative residence.
Questions
Can I pay a reservation before I have a NIE?
In most cases: a reservation is a private contract, so a passport often suffices at that stage. The number is needed for the bank account and for the deed.
We are buying from the UK and cannot fly out. What are our options?
You have three: a Spanish consulate in the UK, a request filed for you at a distance, or a short trip planned around an appointment in the province of Alicante. A power of attorney can cover the signing itself.
The seller lives abroad too. Does that change anything for me?
Not for your NIE. A non-resident seller has tax points of their own, which the notary and the lawyers deal with.
Will the same NIE serve if I sell one day?
Yes. A sale, a gift or an inheritance years from now uses the number you are given today.
The pages these facts come from
- policia.es, Unidades de Extranjería: every police office of the province of Alicante and the foreigners’ procedures it lists
- Booking an appointment with the administration (cita previa), on sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es
Read again, line by line, on .