Investment approach
AML When Buying Property in Spain: What the Bank and Notary Ask For
Banks, notaries, registrars, agents and lawyers in Spain must check the buyer under Ley 10/2010. They will ask who you are, who stands behind the company and how the deal is paid for.
In Spain, no single authority runs the anti-money-laundering (AML) check on a buyer: every party to the deal does its own. Banks, notaries, registrars, lawyers and agencies are sujetos obligados (obliged entities) under Ley 10/2010. They establish identity, find the ultimate owner of a company (titular real, the beneficial owner), the purpose of the deal and the method of payment, keep the documents for ten years and, if they suspect something, report to Sepblac (Spain's financial intelligence unit) without warning the client.
Who exactly must check you
The circle of obliged persons is set by article 2 of Ley 10/2010 (consolidated text, checked on 12 October 2026). It includes entidades de crédito (credit institutions), notaries, registrars, lawyers taking part in transactions, those who professionally act as intermediaries in property sales, and promotores inmobiliarios (property developers).
| Party | What it checks in practice | Where the buyer sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | Identity, titular real, purpose of the account, source of funds before a large transfer | A questionnaire and a request for documents when opening an account or receiving a transfer |
| Notary | Identity of the parties, titular real of companies, method of payment | Documents for signing the escritura (deed) and the parties' statements in the text of the deed |
| Registrar | Information from the deed and documents | The buyer usually does not see it |
| Abogado and agency | Client identity, purpose of the transaction | A client questionnaire before signing the services contract or arras |
Notaries have a shared body: the Órgano Centralizado de Prevención at the Consejo General del Notariado, created by Orden EHA/2963/2005. Registrars have had their own since 2015. Under art. 27 of Ley 10/2010 such bodies analyse suspicious transactions themselves and pass reports to Sepblac, and notaries and registrars are required to take part in them.
What they will ask for: five blocks of the law
The law describes the check step by step, and each step has a document attached.
- Identity (art. 3): a passport or other identity document for an individual, and constitutional documents for a legal entity.
- Ultimate owner (art. 4): the individual who directly or indirectly holds more than 25% of a legal entity's capital or votes. Their identity must be verified before the relationship begins.
- Purpose and nature of the relationship (art. 5): why the property is being bought and where the money will come from.
- Ongoing monitoring (art. 6): the check continues for as long as the relationship with the bank lasts.
- Enhanced measures (art. 11) and politically exposed persons (art. 14): for higher-risk clients and for those who hold or have held a public office.
If you submit documents remotely, a separate article 12 applies: identity is confirmed by a qualified electronic signature, or the first payment must come from an account in your name at a bank in Spain, the EU or an equivalent third country, or the methods from the regulation are used. Within a month the bank still receives copies of the documents. The more complex the ownership structure and the more distant the jurisdictions, the more questions.
Worked example: who is the titular real here
Worked example, not a forecast and not a legal qualification. Investor A owns 60% of holding H. Holding H owns 50% of the SL that buys the property. Investor B owns the remaining 40% of holding H.
A's indirect share in the SL: 0.6 × 0.5 = 30%. That is above the 25% threshold, so A falls within the definition. B's share: 0.4 × 0.5 = 20%, below the threshold by capital. But the threshold in the law also applies to voting rights, so the notary may ask about shareholder agreements that give B influence. If nobody qualifies by capital, votes or other control, the law treats the company's administrator or administrators as the titular real (art. 4.2 b bis).
Money: what the notary sees and what you cannot do
In the deed the notary records the method of payment: article 24 of the Ley del Notariado requires stating whether the payment was made before or at the moment of signing, in what amount and in what form (cash, cheque, transfer). For a transfer, the account the money came from is usually named.
The cash limit: according to the Agencia Tributaria, you cannot pay in cash €1,000 or more if one of the parties acts as a businessperson or professional. For an individual payer with no tax domicile in Spain and outside professional activity, the threshold is €10,000. The fine is 25% of the amount paid in cash. How the threshold applies to your particular deal is a question for your abogado (Spanish lawyer).
What you cannot do, even if you agree
Obliged persons may not tell the client or third parties that they have filed a report (art. 24 of Ley 10/2010). So to the question "why is my transfer held up" you may not get a clear answer. The law also provides for abstaining from carrying out a transaction (art. 19) and for keeping documents for ten years (art. 25).
A practical rule: do not draw up documents after the fact. A loan agreement signed after the transfer looks worse than an honest gap that you can explain.
What to prepare before the first meeting with the bank
- Passport and NIE (how to get one).
- The ownership chart, if a company is buying, with percentages at each level and details of the ultimate owners.
- Documents on the source of funds: a detailed review is in the article on source of funds.
- Statements for the account the transfer will come from, in the buyer's name.
- A description of the purpose: the property, the term, the exit scheme.
For the transfer itself and currency issues, see the article on international transfers.
What changes from 2027
The single EU anti-money-laundering regulation 2024/1624 starts to apply in 2027 (per the European Commission page). It applies directly, without transposition into national law. For the exact new thresholds and deadlines, ask your abogado as of the date of the deal: I do not give them here because I have not confirmed them against the text of the regulation.
Limits of this article
The article describes general rules, not an assessment of your case. A particular bank may ask for more than the legal minimum: banks' internal policies are not public. Structures spanning several jurisdictions and clients connected with a public office need an abogado with AML practice. The next step on a deal: the full guide and investor roadmaps.
Questions and answers
Who in Spain checks where a buyer's money comes from?
The bank, notary, lawyer and agency each check along their own line, because all of them are sujetos obligados under Ley 10/2010. There is no single check by one agency.
What is a titular real?
It is the individual who ultimately owns or controls more than 25% of a legal entity's capital or votes (art. 4 Ley 10/2010). On the bank's questionnaire and at the notary, you will be asked about exactly that person.
Can I pay for an apartment in Spain in cash?
The limit depends on the parties: €1,000 when a professional is involved, €10,000 for a non-resident individual not engaged in professional activity. The notary records the method of payment in the deed in any case, so a large cash sum is risky even where it is formally allowed.
What happens if the bank holds up a transfer?
The bank must check and, if it suspects something, report to Sepblac, but it may not tell you so. Decide with your abogado what to do about the delay, without changing any documents.
