Buying or selling a home in Nerja: what I check before you sign
The Nerja market moves fast and you are often asked for a deposit within a few days. Before any money changes hands, I check what really decides the deal: who the owner is according to the Registro de la Propiedad (Land Registry), what charges the property carries (mortgages, attachment orders or easements) and whether the floor area and description match the Catastro (the cadastre, Spain’s property survey register).
If it is a flat in a building with a community of owners, I ask for the certificate of debts to the community. The Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (the Spanish law on owners’ communities) requires the seller to declare whether they are up to date with payments, and that document stops you inheriting arrears. I also check whether any special levies (derramas) have been approved and who will pay them, because it is worth putting that in writing in the contract.
The deposit contract (arras) deserves special attention. With arras penitenciales, the most common type, if the buyer pulls out they lose the deposit, and if the seller pulls out they pay it back twice over (article 1454 of the Código Civil, the Spanish Civil Code). Drafting them well, with clear deadlines and conditions, saves a lot of trouble. I explain the whole process in buying and selling property.
Letting in Nerja: choose the right type of contract
Three ways of letting a property coexist in Nerja, and each has its own rules:
- Main residence. Governed by the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (the Spanish Urban Leases Act). The tenant can extend the contract for up to five years if the landlord is an individual, or up to seven if it is a company.
- Seasonal let. For stays due to work, study or another genuine temporary reason. If in practice the tenant lives there permanently, a judge may treat it as a main-residence let.
- Holiday let. In Andalusia the property must be entered in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (the Andalusian tourism register) and meet the requirements of Decreto 28/2016. In addition, the community of owners can restrict or set conditions on this activity and, since the 2025 reform, in many cases its prior approval is needed before you start.
Choosing the wrong contract is behind many disputes: unpaid rent that is hard to recover, disputed deposits or tenants who won’t leave when the season ends. There is more detail in rentals.
Inheritance in Nerja: two taxes and a clock that is ticking
When you inherit a property in Nerja there are two separate taxes. Inheritance tax (impuesto de sucesiones) is managed by the Junta de Andalucía (the regional government) and must be filed within six months of the death; you can ask for an extension within the first five months. The municipal tax on the increase in land value (plusvalía municipal) is charged by Nerja Town Council (Ayuntamiento de Nerja) and has its own deadline.
One useful point about the plusvalía: if there has been no real increase in the value of the land, there is no tax to pay. And when there has, the law lets you choose the more favourable calculation method. I check this against the title deeds before filing anything.
Before accepting an inheritance, it is worth knowing whether it carries debts. If you simply accept it, you are liable for them with your own assets too; accepting with the benefit of inventory (aceptación a beneficio de inventario) limits that risk. And if there are several heirs who cannot agree about the property, there is a way out: a negotiated division, a joint sale or, as a last resort, division through the courts.
How I work from the Nerja office
I see clients by appointment at Avenida del Mediterráneo, Edificio Toboso II, local 8. You can call or WhatsApp me on +34 678 89 21 51, or email diego@montosa-abogado.com, and we will find a slot. Bring whatever documents you have (title deeds, contracts, letters from the bank or the insurer) and we will go through them together.
If you are away or would rather not travel, you have two alternatives. The written online consultation costs €75 including VAT and I reply within 12 to 72 working hours. The 30-minute video call costs €75. In both cases I study your documents before I reply.
