A successful transaction starts before publication.

Yes. An outstanding mortgage does not prevent you from selling the home. You need to agree how the loan will be repaid and the charge cancelled, or whether the buyer will take over the debt with the bank’s consent. The sale alone does not release you from your obligation to repay the loan.

The sale can be coordinated with repayment of the outstanding balance. Repaying the debt to the bank is different from cancelling the mortgage at the Land Registry: repaying the loan does not automatically remove the registered charge. The mortgage cancellation deed is exempt from stamp duty (AJD), but the related formalisation and processing costs still apply.

Official sources: BOE — Llei hipotecària, art. 82 i 118 · ATC — Cancel·lació d’hipoteca

Arres are an amount the buyer pays the seller as part of the sale. Their effects depend on the type agreed: not every deposit lets you cancel the purchase simply by forfeiting the amount paid.

Under Catalan civil law, amounts paid are presumed to be confirmatory deposits (arres confirmatòries): they evidence that the contract has been concluded and count towards the price. On their own, they do not give a free right to withdraw.

Penitential deposits (arres penitencials) must be expressly agreed. They allow withdrawal: if the buyer withdraws, the deposit is forfeited; if the seller withdraws, it must be returned twice over. If the contract provides for bank financing, a documented refusal may allow withdrawal with a refund when the requirements of article 621-49 of the Catalan Civil Code are met. Not every mortgage refusal leads to an automatic refund.

Official sources: BOE — Codi civil de Catalunya, art. 621-8, 621-37 i 621-49 (Llei 3/2017)

Yes, but selling the apartment does not automatically end the tenancy or require the tenant to leave. The buyer must respect the lease on the terms set by the law applicable to the contract.

The tenant may have a right of first refusal (to buy before a third party on the notified terms) and a right of redemption (to acquire after the sale in the cases provided by law). You need to check whether there is a valid waiver or an exception. Even where the right has been waived, the Urban Leases Act requires the landlord to give at least 30 days’ notice of the intention to sell before completion. Older contracts may follow different rules.

Official sources: BOE — Llei d’arrendaments urbans, art. 14 i 25 · BOE — Reial decret llei 7/2019, disposició transitòria primera

Yes, but first the inheritance must be regularised and it must be shown who can transfer the home. In successions governed by Catalan law, the inheritance is acquired upon acceptance; if the apartment belongs to an undivided estate, selling it requires the unanimous agreement of all co-heirs.

For tax purposes, inheriting and later selling are separate transactions. The inheritance is subject to inheritance tax, with any applicable reliefs; the general deadline to file and pay is six months from the date of death, not from the sale. The later sale may give rise to a capital gain or loss for income tax (IRPF), and the municipal land value tax (plusvàlua) must be reviewed for both the inheritance and the sale.

Official sources: BOE — Codi civil de Catalunya, llibre quart, art. 411-5 i 463-5 · ATC — Termini de l’impost sobre successions · BOE — Llei de l’IRPF, art. 33–36 · BOE — Llei d’hisendes locals, art. 104–110

For a main-residence tenancy, the mandatory legal deposit is one month’s rent. It must not be confused with an additional guarantee or with payment of the first month.

In Catalonia, the landlord must lodge the deposit with INCASÒL within two months of signing the contract. Any additional guarantees must be kept separate from the legal deposit and respect the legal limits.

Official sources: BOE — Llei d’arrendaments urbans, art. 36 · INCASÒL — Dipòsit de fiances

Additional guarantees can be agreed, but within a limit. For residential contracts of up to five years, or up to seven if the landlord is a legal entity, the additional guarantee cannot exceed two months’ rent. This limit is separate from the one-month legal deposit.

For example, an additional deposit or a bank guarantee of a limited amount can be used, provided this cap is respected. Nor can the limit be avoided by demanding several months’ rent in advance: the Urban Leases Act does not allow more than one month’s rent to be required in advance.

Official sources: BOE — Llei d’arrendaments urbans, art. 17.2 i 36.5 · BOE — Reial decret llei 7/2019, art. 1, apartat catorze

Yes. The municipality of Girona is included in the declaration of a stressed residential market area, effective from 16 March 2024 for an initial period of three years. It covers the municipality, not the whole province.

Renting a main residence: if there has been a contract in the last five years, the limit is the previous rent as updated, subject to legal exceptions. If the landlord is a large holder, the state reference index limit also applies, and the lower of the two prevails. If there has been no contract in the previous five years, the Catalan declaration extends the index limit to small landlords as well. Listings and contracts must include the information required by law.

Selling: the declaration does not, on its own, cap the price of a non-subsidised home. However, restrictions and pre-emption rights must be checked: the Generalitat has rights of first refusal and redemption in certain transfers, including homes owned by corporate large holders in stressed areas.

Official sources: BOE — Resolució de 14 de març de 2024 (zona tensionada) · BOE — Llei d’arrendaments urbans, art. 17.6 i 17.7 · BOE — Llei catalana 18/2007, art. 59 i 66 · BOE — Decret llei 1/2015, art. 2 · Generalitat — Preguntes freqüents sobre la limitació de rendes