Spain votes on 29 November: what the election could mean for Costa del Sol buyers

Spain goes to the polls on Sunday 29 November in a snap general election, and housing is at the centre of the campaign. If you’re planning to buy on the Costa del Sol this winter, you’ll see plenty of headlines over the next few weeks, and some of them will be alarming. Here’s a calm, neutral look at what is actually on the table, what isn’t, and what it could mean for you as an overseas buyer.

Why Spain is voting on 29 November

The election was called after Congress rejected the government’s emergency housing decrees on 2 October, with the PP, Vox and Junts voting against. Royal Decree 806/2026, published in the BOE, dissolved the Cortes and set the date. The official campaign runs from 13 to 27 November, and the new parliament is due to sit on 23 December.

The government has since approved revised versions of most of the rejected measures, which go before parliament’s Permanent Deputation (the body that sits while parliament is dissolved). Those measures mainly concern tenants, temporary rentals, tourist accommodation and large investors, rather than people buying a home to use themselves.

Housing is the issue of this campaign

Housing has become the defining political issue in Spain, with every major party promising to tackle affordability. For buyers, the important point is that these are election proposals, not laws. What any future government can actually pass will depend on the make-up of the new parliament – and on any coalition deals that follow.

What the main parties are proposing

PSOE (the governing party) says that, if re-elected, it will intervene more in the housing market. It points to its national Housing Law, longer minimum rental contracts and a €7 billion State Housing Plan to 2030. It also wants holiday accommodation taxed more like a business and temporary rentals regulated more tightly. Its full manifesto was still being drafted in late October.

PP (the main opposition party) puts supply first. It talks of building around 200,000 homes a year, speeding up licences with a “declaración responsable” (a sworn declaration instead of waiting for a permit), releasing public land for price-capped homes, a state guarantee of up to 15% of a mortgage for young buyers, and repealing the current Housing Law, including its rent controls. It opposes restrictions on second-home purchases and temporary rentals.

Vox also wants land released faster and more public housing built. It proposes a “national priority” for Spaniards in access to protected housing and a differentiated tax that would penalise large property purchases by non-EU buyers.

The “100% tax” on non-EU buyers: what it really is

No proposal has caused more worry among British buyers, so it’s worth being precise.

• What it was: In January 2025 the Prime Minister announced a tax of up to 100% on homes bought by non-EU, non-resident buyers, and the PSOE registered a bill in Congress in May 2025. As drafted, it would be a state surcharge on top of the regional transfer tax, with the transfer tax already paid deducted from it.
• Who it would affect: Only non-EU nationals who are not tax resident in Spain. Since Brexit, that includes UK buyers. EU and EEA citizens, and non-EU nationals who live in Spain, are outside its scope.
• New builds are excluded: The bill does not apply to sales by developers that are subject to VAT, which covers most new-build purchases. In Andalucía, a new-build home bought from a developer pays 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty (AJD). A resale home pays 7% transfer tax (ITP). So even as drafted, a non-EU buyer purchasing a new build from a developer would sidestep it entirely, paying the normal VAT rather than the resale transfer tax the surcharge was built on.

A bill that went nowhere

The proposal never progressed. It was never debated in Congress and never had a majority behind it: Junts opposed it, and the opposition PP said it would never use nationality as a criterion for taxing buyers. It was left out of the government’s January 2026 housing package. When parliament was dissolved for this election, every bill still pending lapsed (article 207 of the Congress Rules). If any party wanted to revive it, it would have to start again as a brand-new bill and win a majority in the new parliament.

Serious legal and constitutional objections

Even if it were reintroduced, the measure would face the same significant legal hurdles that make it very difficult to pass in its original form:

• EU law: Article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union protects the free movement of capital, including movements between EU countries and non-EU countries. Targeting non-EU buyers rather than EU citizens does not automatically make a tax compatible with EU law, and the EU Court of Justice has repeatedly ruled against Spain and other member states over tax rules that discriminate against non-residents.
• Discrimination and proportionality: Baker McKenzie and other specialists have questioned whether a tax that treats buyers so differently by residence, at a 100% rate, could meet the principle of proportionality.
• The Spanish Constitution: Article 31 forbids taxes of a confiscatory nature. The Registry of Economists and Tax Advisors (REAF), part of Spain’s General Council of Economists, said the tax would very likely be considered confiscatory.
• Expert assessments: In August 2025, the international law firm Baker McKenzie concluded that the proposal was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny in its current form, and expected immediate challenges in the Spanish and European courts if it were ever enacted. Other Spanish tax lawyers have warned that the European Commission would be likely to open infringement proceedings.

Much of the press coverage has made it sound as though the tax is in force, or as though it would apply to every home a foreign buyer purchases. Neither is the case, and that reporting has caused real and unnecessary alarm among non-EU buyers. Vox’s own proposal for a differentiated tax on large non-EU purchases has no published rate or detail, and would raise the same legal questions.

What could and couldn’t change for you

Today, the main purchase taxes are the same for Spanish and foreign buyers. What matters is whether the home is new or resale, and where you are tax resident. Non-residents do have their own annual obligations, such as non-resident income tax, but those are not new and not part of this debate.

The areas most likely to shift after the election are rental rules (long-term and temporary lets), holiday-let taxation, and the planning and supply measures each side is promising. If you’re buying mainly to use the home yourself, and especially if you’re buying a new build from a developer, the debate is likely to touch you far less than the headlines suggest.

Should you wait until after the vote?

That’s a personal decision, but a few practical points help:

1. Tax and legal rules don’t change on election night. Any new tax needs a law to be passed and published, and that takes time.
2. The new parliament only sits from 23 December. Forming a government and passing legislation will take longer still.
3. Purchase taxes are due when the sale completes, not when you reserve. If you’re signing now for a completion months or years away, ask your lawyer how any future change could apply to you.
4. If you’re buying off-plan, make sure every stage payment is properly guaranteed. Our guide to how your deposit is protected explains how.

We’ll keep following the campaign and will update our clients on anything that affects buyers once firm proposals and results are known.

Talk to a Mosaic advisor

If you have questions about buying on the Costa del Sol before or after the election, speak to one of our advisors or download our free 2026 Buyers Guide. For residency routes, see our Residency Options page.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or political advice. Proposals may change during the campaign. Always take independent legal advice before you buy.

Sources

• LegalToday (6 Oct 2026) – BOE publishes the dissolution of the Cortes and the call for elections on 29 November
• LegalToday (12 Oct 2026) – Dissolution of the Cortes: pending initiatives lapse (art. 207 Congress Rules)
• idealista (23 Oct 2026) – Spain’s government promises tougher housing rules if it wins the November election
• The Local (6 Oct 2026) – How the PP and Vox say they’ll fix Spain’s housing crisis
• Your Overseas Home (Oct 2026) – Spain election 2026: what it means for property buyers
• Spanish Property Insight (25 May 2025) – PSOE bill to tax non-resident buyers from outside the EU
• Baker McKenzie (14 Aug 2025) – Spain: new real estate tax reforms
• thinkSPAIN (upd. 9 Jun 2025) – Foreign buyer tax proposal “not workable”, including REAF’s view
• Gómez-Acebo & Pombo / El Confidencial (2 Jun 2025) – Legal risks of the 100% tax on non-EU investors
• The Local (12 Feb 2026) – What happened to Spain’s 100% property tax for foreign buyers?
• Vicox Legal – Spain’s non-EU buyer property tax: status in 2026
• Interforo Abogados (13 Apr 2026) – Taxes on buying a home in Andalucía, 2026 guide
• Infobae (8 Apr 2026) – What the law says about the taxes foreigners pay to buy a home in Spain