Spain describes every plot of land twice. The land cadastre (Catastro) draws it on a map. The Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) describes it in words and, increasingly, with a set of coordinates. When you buy a house with land or a building plot, the deed has to reconcile the two, and if they disagree with each other or with the fence on the ground, the gap lands on you as the new owner.
A real case from Altea, on the Costa Blanca, shows how. The owner of registered property no. 32.659 asked the Land Registry to record a surveyed boundary that reduced the plot from 6,802 m² to 6,362 m²: 440 m² less, or 6.47 % (440 / 6,802). Asking to own less land sounds uncontroversial. During the notification procedure the town council objected that the new line ran over a public track, and the neighbour on registered property no. 7.546 objected too. The registrar refused, and the Directorate General for Legal Certainty and Public Faith (DGSJFP), which hears appeals against registrars, upheld the refusal: the doubts were well founded and the survey did not respect the cadastral map (resolution of 8 January 2025, BOE-A-2025-2639).
The problem was not the number of square metres. It was where the coordinates put the line. This guide is for foreign buyers of land or of a house with a plot: where the coordinates come from, what the technical documents are called, what the notary and registrar will ask, and what you can do, from abroad, before you pay a deposit.
The vocabulary, in one table
| Spanish | English | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Certificación catastral descriptiva y gráfica | Cadastral certificate | Official cadastral description of the plot, with a list of boundary coordinates |
| Coordenadas georreferenciadas | Georeferenced coordinates | The X, Y position of each corner of the plot |
| Representación gráfica georreferenciada alternativa (RGA) | Alternative boundary survey | A surveyor's own drawing of the plot, used when the cadastral map is wrong |
| Fichero GML | GML file | The digital file format (INSPIRE cadastral parcel) the survey must be delivered in |
| Informe de validación gráfica (IVG) | Graphic validation report | The Catastro's automated check of that GML file |
| Coordinación Catastro–Registro | Cadastre–Registry alignment | When the Registry's boundary and the Catastro's are the same |
| Cabida | Registered area | The area written in the Land Registry entry |
Where the coordinates come from
Each cadastral parcel is a polygon, and the cadastral certificate lists its corners with X and Y coordinates. Certificates published by Zaragoza city council, for example, use the ETRS89 datum, UTM zone 30 (EPSG:25830), and carry a warning worth reading twice: the coordinates "are calculated from [the parcel's] representation on the cadastral map drawn by the Directorate General for the Cadastre, and inherit its metric precision."
In plain terms, the coordinates in the certificate describe the cadastre's drawing. If the drawing is a few metres off, so are the coordinates. They are good for locating a plot and comparing it with aerial imagery. They are not a survey you can set fence posts from.
As a prospective buyer you cannot yet obtain the certificate yourself: it needs a Spanish digital certificate or Cl@ve login as owner or authorised representative. You can, without logging in, see the parcel's outline and mapped area, print the descriptive and graphic report (which has no certificate value), and get the X, Y position of a parcel from its cadastral reference. For most pre-purchase decisions that is enough. Ask the seller to send the certificate itself; it costs them nothing when issued through the cadastre's e-office.
When the cadastral drawing is wrong: survey, GML file, validation report
If the parcel on the cadastral map does not match reality, a surveyor draws a new boundary, the alternative representation. The rules come from Law 13/2015, which reformed the Mortgage Act and the Cadastre Act, and from joint resolutions of the DGSJFP and the Directorate General for the Cadastre of 26 October 2015 and 23 September 2020 (the latter published as BOE-A-2020-12111):
- The survey is delivered as a GML file in the INSPIRE cadastral parcel format.
- It is checked by an automated service on the cadastre's e-office, which issues the graphic validation report (IVG). A positive report contains the resulting cadastral representation, the corner coordinates and the area. The Catastro states that the report does not validate the legality of whatever legal transaction lies behind the new boundary.
- Since 2020 the report contains both the surveyor's technical coordinates and the cadastral coordinates, with the transformation parameters between them, so anyone can check how the survey was fitted to the map.
- A separate certificate of graphic identity is issued only when the answer is yes: the GML matches a single cadastral parcel within the tolerance margin.
A negative report usually means the new drawing overlaps neighbouring parcels or was made on a different map base. The Catastro will not take the change on board as submitted, and alignment with the Registry stays pending.
What the Land Registry does with it
| Your situation | Route | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Cadastral map is right; registered area differs a little | Correction with the cadastral certificate, up to 10 % of the registered area (5 % under the other route) | Mortgage Act, arts. 9.b and 201.3 |
| Recording the cadastral boundary in the Registry | Registrar personally notifies registered owners and registered neighbours; 20 days to object | art. 199.1 |
| Cadastral map is wrong | Cadastral certificate plus alternative survey; cadastral neighbours are notified too | arts. 10.3 and 199.2 |
| Difference above 10 % | The simplified route is not available; art. 199 procedure | art. 201.3; DGSJFP 24 June 2025 |
| A neighbour or the council disputes the line | Boundary agreed by both owners, formal boundary procedure (art. 200), registry conciliation (art. 103 bis) or court | DGSJFP 8 January 2025 |
What this means in practice, according to recent DGSJFP decisions:
- A neighbour's objection is not an automatic veto. Under article 199.1, a bare objection from someone who has not shown that they own the plot or a neighbouring registered plot does not necessarily lead to refusal. The registrar decides with reasons and may ask the objector to say, with their own drawing, where they think the line runs.
- Late objections still count. A January 2026 resolution confirmed that the 20-day period is not a hard cut-off: a late objection that matters must still be considered.
- Public land changes the picture. In Altea the council was the objector. In Moralzarzal, near Madrid, a plot's recorded area had gone from 600 m² to 900 m² on the basis of a cadastral certificate, and the registrar required proof from the regional government that it did not overlap a public livestock route (BOE-A-2025-15553). When the gap touches a road, track, watercourse or livestock route, the administration is a party and the process slows down.
The notary's question
At the signing, the notary asks buyer and seller whether the description in the cadastral certificate matches the property as it really is (article 18.2 of the consolidated Cadastre Act, Royal Legislative Decree 1/2004). If you say it does not, the discrepancy has to be proven by any means, usually a surveyor's report with its GML file; the notary then records the corrected description and it is passed to the Catastro. If it is not proven, or the other side disagrees, the notary records that and informs the Catastro. The DGSJFP has described this as voluntary for the parties and not a check on legality (BOE-A-2024-8446).
If you are signing through a lawyer under a power of attorney, this is the answer you most need to brief them on. Saying "yes, it matches" about a plot that does not match turns a fixable error into the agreed description.
Before paying a deposit, see the cadastral parcel on aerial imagery in a TerrenoCheck report, with land classification, hazards and nearby constraints, each with source and date (EUR 29, or EUR 39 in two languages) → · See a sample report
What to check from abroad, before the deposit
- Get the cadastral reference and the free cadastral report for every parcel in the sale. A house with land is often two or more parcels.
- Order a *nota simple* from the Land Registry and write down the registered area. Our nota simple guide explains how to order it from abroad.
- Do the arithmetic. (cadastral area − registered area) / registered area. Under 5 %: common and usually easy. Between 5 % and 10 %: still within the simplified route if the map is right. Over 10 %: expect the article 199 procedure and neighbours' notifications.
- Lay the cadastral outline over aerial imagery. Does it follow the walls and hedges, or is it shifted? Does it cut a track, a ditch or the neighbour's house? A shift across a whole block is a mapping problem; a single boundary in the wrong place is a dispute waiting to happen.
- Check the buildings. House, extension, pool and outbuildings should sit inside the parcel and appear in the cadastral record. A building that is missing may never have been declared, and the notary's correction under article 18.2 is not the route for adding it.
- If anything is off, write it into the deposit contract. Which area you are buying and per which document, who commissions and pays for the survey and GML file, and what happens if the registrar refuses: price adjustment, extension, or the right to walk away with the deposit returned. See our guide to the arras deposit contract.
- Talk to the neighbours, or have someone do it. An alternative boundary agreed by the neighbouring owner is the shortest route the DGSJFP offers when there is doubt.
You will need an NIE, a foreigner's identity number, to sign the deed; our NIE guide covers it. A survey and its GML file can be commissioned while you are still abroad, but agree in writing what the surveyor delivers: the GML file and the validation report, not just a drawing.
For what happens at the boundary itself, walls and the neighbour's side of the argument, see our guide to boundaries in the Catastro and the Land Registry.
What the report shows and what it does not
The TerrenoCheck report shows the cadastral parcel on aerial imagery with its reference, the land classification in the local plan, flood and other hazard layers and nearby protected areas, each with its source and date. It helps you see whether the cadastral outline crosses a track or a stream before you commit. It is not a survey, does not produce the GML file or the validation report, does not value the property and is not legal advice.
Pin your plot on the map and see where its cadastral outline runs on aerial imagery: TerrenoCheck report (EUR 29, or EUR 39 in two languages) → · See a sample report