Power of Attorney
A Spanish power of attorney allows your lawyer to act on your behalf throughout the entire property purchase — from NIE application to notary completion.
A poder notarial — a notarially executed power of attorney — is a legal document that authorises another person (the apoderado, or attorney-in-fact) to act on your behalf in legal and administrative matters. In a Spanish property purchase, the buyer grants a power of attorney to their lawyer, allowing the lawyer to sign documents, attend appointments and make payments on the buyer's behalf — without the buyer needing to be physically present in Spain.
This is an extremely common and entirely legitimate arrangement. Many international buyers on the Costa del Sol complete their entire property purchase — from obtaining a NIE number to signing the title deed at the notary — without travelling to Spain more than once, or in some cases not at all. For buyers based in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia or further afield, a well-drafted power of attorney makes the process significantly more practical.
There are two broad categories of power of attorney under Spanish law. A general power of attorney (poder general) grants wide-ranging authority to act on the grantor's behalf across a broad range of matters — essentially giving the holder authority to manage most of your legal and financial affairs in Spain. A special power of attorney (poder especial) is restricted to a specific transaction, a specific property or a defined set of acts.
For a property purchase, you should always use a special power of attorney. It must identify the specific property being purchased, the specific acts it authorises (buying, signing the deed, paying taxes, registering) and — ideally — impose a time limit. A general power of attorney grants far more authority than necessary and creates unnecessary risk if the document were to be misused or if your relationship with the attorney changes.
Be cautious of any lawyer or agent who suggests you sign a broad or general power of attorney for a property transaction. This is a red flag. A well-drafted special power of attorney is both sufficient and much safer.
If you are outside Spain when you wish to grant a power of attorney, you have two routes available.
Route 1: Through a local notary with Apostille. You attend a notary in your home country and execute the power of attorney before that notary. The document is then apostilled — a form of international certification under the 1961 Hague Convention — by the relevant authority in your country (in the UK, this is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; in Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs; in most EU countries, a designated government authority). The apostilled document must then be accompanied by a sworn official translation into Spanish. This route is suitable if you want to prepare everything from home before travelling, or if you are not planning to travel at all.
Route 2: At a Spanish Consulate or Embassy. You attend the Spanish consulate or embassy in your country of residence and execute the power of attorney directly before the consul, who acts as a Spanish notary for this purpose. The resulting document is already in Spanish legal form and does not require an apostille or separate translation. This is often the fastest and most straightforward route where a Spanish consulate is accessible.
Your Spanish lawyer will typically provide you with a template or detailed instructions specifying exactly what powers the document must contain, so that you can take this to your local notary or consulate.
A property purchase power of attorney for the Costa del Sol should typically authorise the holder to do the following on your behalf:
What you should not include in the power of attorney is the authority to sell the property, mortgage it, gift it, or take any other major dispositive act. These go far beyond what is needed for a purchase and expose you to significant risk if the document is misused.
One risk that buyers must be aware of is the conflict of interest that arises if you use the developer's recommended lawyer as your attorney. A lawyer acting under your power of attorney owes their duty entirely to you — but if that same lawyer is also on a retainer or referral arrangement with the developer, there is an inherent conflict of interest.
On the Costa del Sol, it is unfortunately common for developers and estate agents to recommend specific lawyers or gestorías who provide discounted or superficially convenient services — but who in practice prioritise the transaction completing smoothly for the developer rather than protecting the buyer's interests. Using an independent lawyer who acts exclusively for you, and holding your power of attorney, eliminates this risk.
With a properly drafted special power of attorney, your lawyer can handle virtually every step of the purchase process on your behalf:
If you are going down the route of executing a power of attorney before a local notary with Apostille, be aware that this process can take two to four weeks from start to finish — sometimes longer, depending on your country and the current workload of the apostilling authority. Factor this into your purchase timeline. If you have already found a property and are under pressure to sign a reservation agreement quickly, the Spanish consulate route is likely to be faster.
Your lawyer at Salama Legal can guide you through the exact wording and format required, and can confirm which route will be most efficient given your location and timeline.
We act under power of attorney for international buyers across the Costa del Sol — handling everything from your NIE to the notary deed while you stay home. Contact us to discuss your purchase.