Buying on Castellón’s coast from abroad
A flat in Peñíscola, a house near Benicàssim, a home in Brussels or Rotterdam. How a buyer who lives abroad gets the NIE and signs without moving yet.
You do not have to live in Spain to buy a home on the Costa del Azahar. Some buyers move in years later, others only come for the summer. For the purchase itself, Spain asks one thing first: a NIE for each buyer before the deed is signed.
The NIE is the foreigner’s identity number. For someone who does not live in Spain, it comes alone, without a residence card, through form EX-15. The request shows a reason; for a buyer, a reservation or deposit contract does the job.
There are three ways to file it. In person in Castelló, at the police address your cita previa confirmation names. At the Spanish consulate for your area, without travelling. Or through a service that files it for you at a distance.
The deed itself is signed before a notary. If you cannot be there, you can sign a poder notarial, a power of attorney, and someone you trust signs the deed for you. A power signed abroad needs an apostille and a translation into Spanish.
After the purchase come the owner’s tasks: a Spanish bank account, the yearly local property tax, and the tax that owners who live abroad usually declare as non-residents. A tax adviser can explain which forms apply to you.
One point people still ask about: owning a home here gives no right of residence. The golden visa, which linked residence to investment, ended in 2025. If you later move here, you follow the rules of your passport: registration for EU citizens, a visa for everyone else. And if you would like the EX-15 prepared with you, send us your case.