14/06/2026
🏡 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.
Something is happening in the Spanish property market that very few buyers are warned about, and it is costing people their deposits, their dream homes, and, in some cases, far more than that.
When you buy a property in Spain, you need your own lawyer. Not the seller’s lawyer. Not a shared lawyer. Your own independent conveyancing lawyer whose only job is to protect you.
Here is why this matters more than most people realise.
In Spain, it is surprisingly common for buyers and sellers to use the same solicitor. On the surface, this can seem perfectly reasonable: one point of contact, less back and forth, a smoother transaction. What it actually creates is a situation where one professional is legally obligated to two opposing parties at the same time.
Think about that for a moment.
The seller wants the highest possible price with the fewest conditions. You want the lowest possible price with full legal protection. Those interests do not align, and a single lawyer cannot genuinely serve both.
This becomes critically dangerous when problems exist with the property.
And problems exist far more often than buyers expect.
In Spain, when you purchase a property, you do not just buy the building; you inherit its entire legal history. Outstanding mortgage balances, unpaid community fees, local authority charges, planning irregularities and undeclared extensions all transfer automatically to the new owner on completion. They do not stay with the seller. They become yours.
A shared lawyer has no obligation to dig deep for issues that could derail the transaction. They may not even be looking. An independent conveyancing lawyer working only for you will check every registered debt, obtain the Nota Simple from the Land Registry, verify all planning permissions, review the purchase contract clause by clause and advise you honestly if something is wrong.
That last part is the most important. Advise you honestly.
A lawyer who also represents the seller cannot tell you to walk away from a deal. An independent lawyer can and sometimes will, because their only obligation is to protect your interests and your money.
The deposit stage is where buyers are most vulnerable. The Contrato de Arras, the private purchase contract, is typically signed with a deposit of around ten per cent of the purchase price. Once you sign, if you pull out, you lose that deposit. If the property later turns out to have undisclosed legal issues that your shared lawyer was not actively looking for, you may have very little recourse.
People lose deposits in Spain every year because they trusted the process without having someone in their corner whose only job was to protect them.
Your conveyancing lawyer should be checking the property before a single euro of your money changes hands. They should be telling you what they find good or bad. And they should be the person who stands between you and a costly legal mistake in a country whose property law, language and bureaucracy are unlike anything most buyers have experienced before.
At Heniam & Associates, we act exclusively for buyers. We never represent both parties in the same transaction. Our job from the moment you instruct us to the moment you receive your keys is to protect you, your deposit and your investment in Spain.
If you are considering buying property in Murcia or anywhere on the Costa Cálida, speak to us before you sign anything.
📍 Based in Los Belones, Murcia, serving buyers across the Murcia region and Costa Cálida.
