Foreigners in Spain

International buyers are now the main force behind the luxury housing market on the Costa Blanca, accounting for 72% of premium property transactions, according to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Spain. Most demand comes from Northern and Western Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany, highlighting the area's enduring appeal among overseas buyers seeking high-end homes in Spain.

Spain was the second most visited country in the world last year, with 97 million tourists. It’s a beautiful country to visit or live in. Gorgeous weather, delicious food, affordable prices, great amenities, easygoing natives, and ultra-low taxation (in some regions) appeal to foreigners at large.

Looking for a rental in Spain can mean competing in places where overseas searches form a sizeable part of the market.

The Spanish housing market remained resilient in the first quarter of the year – despite a slight year‑on‑year slowdown. More than 178,000 homes were sold, the third‑best quarterly result since late 2007, although transactions fell 1.9%, according to the Property Registrars. Average prices climbed to a new high of €2,429 per square metre, up 8.9% year on year. Foreign buyers also stayed active, with almost 25,000 purchases recorded – the fourth‑highest figure on record, despite a 3.2% annual decline.

Foreign demand for homes in Spain remained strong in 2025. In fact, foreigners purchased 97,500 properties across the country, the highest figure ever recorded by the Property Registrars, although their market share decreased slightly to 13.82% of all annual transactions. However, in seven provinces, foreign buyers are more apparent, exceeding 20% of all transactions, with Alicante, Málaga and Santa Cruz de Tenerife leading the way. British buyers remained the primary source of foreign purchases, followed by Germans, Dutch and Moroccans.

British and German buyers remain Spain’s top foreign property purchasers, now joined by a surge in Dutch investors, according to Property Registrars data. In 2025, these three nationalities dominated the country’s residential property transactions.

Foreign buyers have been a driving force in Spain’s coastal housing market for years, but fresh idealista data from late 2025 shows in detail who is looking, where, and how international some stretches of coastline have become.How much foreign interest is there in Spanish coastal property?Which nati

Rental properties in the Balearic Islands (29.1%), Alicante (27.4%), Málaga (25.7%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (21.9%) are seeing strong international demand, each accounting for more than 20% of total rental interest in Q1, according to a study by idealista.