Case Study: Property Sale in Spain for Non-Resident Client (Japan)🇯🇵🇪🇸

At Luxton Legal, we recently assisted a client residing in Japan with a property sale in Spain for non-resident owners — a highly complex case involving legal, fiscal, and banking obstacles.

The client owned an apartment in the Madrid region that had been rented out for years. However, the person managing the property stopped doing so, and the tenant remained in the home without any legal title, creating an unauthorised occupation issue.

The owner wanted to sell the property remotely, but faced several challenges typical in a property sale in Spain for non-residents:

• She did not reside in Spain and had no Spanish bank account.
• Spanish banks refused to open one due to her nationality being classified as “restricted” under anti–money laundering (AML) compliance rules.
• The account was needed solely to receive the proceeds from the sale and pay non-resident taxes (capital gains tax and municipal plusvalía).
• She had no other economic ties to Spain, making it difficult to comply with local financial institutions’ requirements.

👉 Our Legal Solution for the Property Sale in Spain for a Non-Resident

To overcome these obstacles, the client granted Luxton Legal a power of attorney, allowing us to represent her in Spain.

We managed every aspect of the process to ensure a secure and successful property sale for a non-resident:

• ✅ Legal regularisation of the property, ensuring it could be sold free of occupation.
• ✅ Coordination with a trusted real estate agent experienced in complex or occupied properties.
• ✅ Negotiation and review of the purchase contract, protecting the client’s interests.
• ✅ Full conveyancing service, covering all legal and notarial steps.
• ✅ Representation at the notary, signing the deed on behalf of the client.
• ✅ Tax filing and payments: capital gains tax, municipal plusvalía, and non-resident withholding.
• ✅ Coordination of payment and international transfer, guaranteeing AML and tax compliance.

Thanks to careful planning and cross-border expertise, we successfully completed the property sale in Spain for a non-resident, without the client ever needing to travel to Spain.

Why Non-Residents Choose Luxton Legal for Property Sales in Spain 🔑

Although the situation initially seemed impossible, our international legal team helped the client avoid abandoning the property and achieve a smooth transaction.
We specialise in property conveyancing in Spain for foreign and non-resident clients, ensuring peace of mind from start to finish.

We offer a free initial consultation for non-residents who want to:

• Sell property in Spain from abroad
• Grant a power of attorney remotely
• Manage Spanish taxes for non-residents
• Resolve occupation or ownership disputes
• Complete a full conveyancing process in Spain

Our cross-border legal team assists clients worldwide — from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and beyond — with secure, tax-compliant property transactions in Spain.