Nota simple in Spain: Catastro, Land Registry and cadastral references

Catastro vs Land Registry: what is the difference in Spain?

The Catastro, under the Ministry of Finance, describes properties mainly for tax purposes. The Registro de la Propiedad, or Land Registry, records rights presumed to exist and to belong to the registered holder. Compare both before buying.

The law presumes cadastral data accurate unless proved otherwise, but on legal matters the Registry prevails. The area recorded at the Registry is not necessarily based on a survey.

A parcela catastral is a parcel on the cadastral map; an inmueble catastral is a property with its own reference, such as a flat within that parcel. A finca registral is the property registered at the Land Registry and may cover several cadastral parcels. Collect all matching finca numbers and cadastral references before comparing areas.

Álava, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Navarre run their own cadastres; ask the relevant office there.

How do I find and read a Spanish cadastral reference?

The referencia catastral, or cadastral reference, is the official, compulsory property identifier. The Catastro's reference guide shows urban and rustic examples. In both, the first 14 characters identify the parcel and the last six identify the individual property and the control characters. TerrenoCheck works with the parcel reference.

The drawing shows the rustic pattern: 13 077 A 018 00039 0000 FP. The groups give the province, municipality, sector, polígono (cadastral block number), parcel, property within the parcel and control characters. The sector letter marks a former municipality merged into the current one, or a land-consolidation zone, where one exists. If the plot comes from land consolidation (concentración parcelaria), ask the seller for the consolidation title (título de concentración) and compare it with the cadastral plan. Search with the municipality, polígono and parcel number.

The urban example 9872023 VH5797S 0001 WX uses different groups: 9872023 identifies the parcel; VH5797S, the map sheet; 0001, the property within the parcel; WX are the control characters.

Searching without the complete reference

The Catastro property search needs no sign-in. Pick a tab: RC (the reference), CALLE/NÚMERO, POLÍGONO/PARCELA, COORDENADAS or CRU (the Registry's unique property code), type the data and click DATOS. The result shows the class, main use, Superficie gráfica (the area of the cadastral outline) and a sketch. CONSULTA DESCRIPTIVA Y GRÁFICA prints them as a PDF, which states that it is not a cadastral certificate. Walk the boundary with the seller, ask them to point out the boundary markers (mojones) and compare them with the cadastral outline on your phone. A matching address says nothing about the area on offer.

The cadastral description covers area, use, crops and the georeferenced plan, but the public only sees non-protected data. The holder's name, identity details and address are protected, as is the cadastral value. To access these details, you need express, specific written consent or another legal basis for access. Wanting to buy is not enough.

Does an urban cadastral classification mean I can build?

No. Cadastral class serves a tax purpose. Whether you can build depends on the planning classification, detailed planning rules and restrictions affecting the parcel. Before pricing it as a building plot, ask the ayuntamiento, or town hall, about all three, and read about rustic, urban and developable land.

What is a nota simple, and how do I order one online?

A nota simple is a Land Registry extract supplied for information only. First ask the seller for the CRU/IDUFIR or the datos registrales (the Registry, finca number and holder’s name), which appear in the deed. Then use the Colegio de Registradores’ electronic office: choose “Nota simple” then “Solicitar”; the search form opens without signing in. Search with those details and state that the extract is for a purchase, which is how you show the legitimate interest the registrar requires. A cadastral reference identifies the finca only if it is coordinated with the Catastro or identified on its map, and it does not replace that interest. You can request an English translation at an extra charge; check the total.

The College of Registrars charges €9.02 plus VAT per nota simple on its online platform and quotes an average delivery time of under two hours, though this is not guaranteed.

Check the property, each registered holder, their right and their percentage share. “50 % del pleno dominio” or “cuota indivisa” means a share in the property, not the whole plot or a defined physical half. If buying the whole property, check that the sale covers every share.

Look for mortgages, embargo (an entry recording a creditor’s seizure), usufruct (a right to use and enjoy the property), condiciones resolutorias (conditions allowing an earlier sale to be cancelled, for example for unpaid purchase money) and servidumbres (easements), especially access rights. Also check any afección fiscal: this statutory charge can leave the property liable for transfer tax, but does not automatically mean an unpaid bill. Agree with your lawyer which charges you accept, which must be cancelled, who handles cancellation and what protects you until cancellation is registered. Include those conditions in the deposit agreement before paying.

Also ask about asientos de presentación vigentes and documentos pendientes de despacho: current entries recording documents submitted to the Registry but not yet dealt with. An earlier submission can block registration of an incompatible document. Have your lawyer assess their effect before paying.

Obtain a fresh nota simple before paying arras and check its date. Have your lawyer or notary re-check the Registry information before signing the escritura, the public deed.

The extract summarises current entries and is purely informative: it does not attest to their contents. For formal proof, request a certificación, a Registry certificate. Registry information is issued electronically; a nota simple carries an electronic seal and a código seguro de verificación (CSV, a verification code).

What does graphic coordination with the Catastro mean?

Since November 2015 a nota simple must give the cadastral reference and say whether the property is graphically coordinated with the Catastro, and from what date (Law 13/2015). Look for that statement: the reference alone is not enough.

Where there is coordination and the georeferenced plan has been registered, the property is presumed to have the location and boundaries shown in that cadastral plan. The presumption can also cover a registered alternative plan under the conditions in article 10.5, set out in the FAQ. A cadastral reference merely noted in the margin under the pre-2015 rules does not count as coordination.

If the property is not coordinated, read the written location, boundaries and area. An alternative plan may exist in the cases the law allows. Have your surveyor or lawyer check that the deed, the cadastral plan and the land describe the same plot; a mismatch is common and does not by itself mean a dispute.

What should be settled before paying arras?

Ask the seller for the deed, the descriptive and graphic cadastral certificate and the latest IBI property-tax receipt. That receipt does not show whether earlier years are unpaid, so also ask for a certificate of IBI debts on the property from the town hall or the body that collects the tax. Unpaid IBI stays with the property after the sale. If the council cannot collect it from the seller, it can claim it from you as the new owner, and the property can be seized to pay it. The notary must request information and warn in the deed about those debts (Local Finances Act, art. 64.1; General Tax Act, art. 79.1). Obtain a fresh nota simple and compare the documents with the land.

Have your lawyer agree these written arras terms with the seller before payment:

• The document or result the purchase depends on, including agreed cancellation of charges.
• The deadline for obtaining it.
• Who pays its cost.
• When and how the deposit is returned if it cannot be obtained.

These are terms to negotiate, not a guarantee of a refund. The safest course is to have the correction finished, or the document in hand, before you pay anything. If you pay the deposit anyway, the written contract must make it refundable if the document is not obtained, or the agreed result is not reached, by the agreed date.

Also specify the type of arras. With arras penitenciales under Civil Code article 1454, a buyer who withdraws loses the deposit; a seller who withdraws returns double. Do not pay counting on getting the money back later.

Galicia, Catalonia, Aragón, Navarre, the Basque Country and the Balearics have their own civil law; ask your lawyer whether it affects your sale. If you need a loan, agree a financing condition in writing, including what happens to the deposit if finance is refused.

What if the Catastro shows different square metres from the deed?

The advertised area does not, by itself, establish the plot's area or boundaries: ask what it is based on. Cadastral data are presumed accurate until proved otherwise, and the Registry presumes location and boundaries only for a registered plan that meets article 10.5 (coordinated, or a protected alternative plan; see the FAQ); the nota simple tells you whether there is one. Neither shows that the boundaries you were shown are the legal ones. A survey compares the documents with the ground, but does not settle who owns a disputed strip. Establish which land each document describes, and do not value a strip of land until you know whose it is.

Invented example: listing 8,000 m², nota simple 6,500 m², Catastro 7,000 m². The 500 m² gap is 7.7% of the registered area, above the 5% the registrar can accept without a cadastral certificate. The simple route then needs a certificate showing that parcel and finca fully match, provided the registrar has no reasoned doubts (article 201.3); otherwise the seller needs article 199 or 201.1. Until a survey and a registered correction say otherwise, negotiate on the registered 6,500 m², not on 7,000 m², and treat the 8,000 m² in the listing as unproven until the agent shows its source.

For registering a plan (articles 9 and 199), the law treats the description and plan as matching if they cover essentially the same land, differ by at most 10% of the registered area and allow the property to be identified and distinguished from its neighbours. This test is separate from the 201.3 limits above. Once registered, the plan determines the registered area. A larger difference does not mean automatic refusal: it needs the appropriate procedure under article 199 or 201.1. Whether registration is possible depends on the checks required by that procedure. No percentage authorises taking a neighbour’s land.

Ask the seller, as registered holder, to arrange the necessary correction. If the difference matters to you, resolve it before paying arras. If you pay anyway, the contract must identify the land being sold and state the result required, the deadline and the refund of the deposit, as in the arras section above; you can also agree to link the price to the surveyed area. Before paying, obtain the relevant result:

Small area difference (article 201.3). No rectification procedure (expediente) is needed: up to 10% of the registered area with a cadastral certificate showing that parcel and finca are the same land, even though the areas differ; otherwise up to 5%. The registrar must state that there are no doubts; an earlier exact measurement, repeated corrections or a division or merger that fixed the area can be reasons to refuse this route. Registered holders of neighbouring properties are notified afterwards.

Registering the plan (article 199). The registrar notifies affected neighbouring registered owners, and any registered owners of the property who did not start the procedure; they have 20 days to object; with an alternative plan, neighbouring cadastral holders are also notified. An objection from someone without proven registered rights does not by itself force refusal.

Notarial correction (article 201.1). It needs the descriptive and graphic cadastral certificate and, if its plan does not match the description being registered, a georeferenced alternative plan. It cannot be used for buildings, flats or properties created by some administrative procedures; whoever handles the matter will say which route applies.

Correction in your purchase deed (article 18.2 TRLCI, Spain’s Cadastral Property Act). The notary asks whether the cadastral certificate matches the property. A proven difference is notified to affected neighbours, with 20 days to object. Without opposition, the notary includes the new description and informs the Catastro within 5 days of the deed. In practice: ask the notary before signing whether the cadastral description can be corrected in your purchase deed.

If the plan overlaps another registered plan or land in the public domain, registration is refused (Mortgage Law, article 199.1). A neighbour’s agreement cannot replace the deed and registration needed if land is actually being transferred. Resolve the issue before paying.

What does the TerrenoCheck report add?

The report starts from the parcel you confirm on the map: it records reference, municipality, province, area and the date the cadastral data were retrieved. The cover uses the 14-character reference and prompts comparison with the nota simple.

The plot chapter distinguishes the cadastral properties and compares Catastro buildings with base-map outlines. The new Torrox sample has 99 pages in Spanish and 100 in English, with ten chapters and pages to prepare the purchase. It reads the SIU land class; permitted uses and building rights still need the town hall’s certificate. It shows neither owner nor cadastral value.

View the sample report. Also read about flood zones and Spanish coastal law. If the buildings do not match your documents, see houses without a licence on rustic land.

What about the deed and taxes?

The escritura must include the reference; the parties provide it to the notary. A cadastral certificate, the public deed or Registry information, or the latest IBI property-tax receipt is accepted as proof of the reference. The receipt proves the reference, not ownership.

According to the Catastro, if the reference is given in the public deed, or registration is requested within two months of the transfer, you do not have to declare the purchase to the Catastro yourself. Ask the notary to confirm that the Catastro will be notified.

For ITP (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales, property transfer tax), this section explains only the State rules on the tax base, not the separate systems of the Basque Country and Navarre. The base is the valor de referencia (official reference value set by the Catastro) on the date the tax liability arises (normally the date of the sale), or the declared value or agreed price if either is higher. The valor de referencia is not the cadastral value on the IBI receipt. Where no valor de referencia can be certified, the base is the highest of declared value, price and market value. Before paying arras, ask your adviser for the valor de referencia, the resulting tax base and an estimate of the tax.

Each autonomous community sets its ITP rate. Check with your adviser whether ITP or VAT applies and at what rate.