Getting a Mortgage in Benalmádena as a Non-Resident

Short answer: yes, Spanish banks lend to non-residents for a home in Benalmádena, but they lend less than to residents. Plan on 60–70% of the price (residents can reach 80%), a loan of 20–25 years (a few lenders go to 30) and a lot of paperwork. The rest of the price, plus about 9–10% in taxes and fees, comes out of your own funds.

This guide covers the numbers a bank looks at, the rates you will be quoted, the documents you need and the order in which things happen. If you live in the UK, read it alongside our guide to moving from the UK: since Brexit, a buyer living in the UK counts as a non-EU applicant, and sterling income adds currency risk.

1. How much will the bank lend?

Three limits decide it, and the lowest one wins:

Loan-to-value (LTV). For non-residents, banks commonly offer 60–70%, with the top of the range for strong, well-documented euro incomes and the bottom for non-EU buyers or complicated profiles (a few banks go as low as 50%). Residents buying a main home can reach 70–80%.
The lower of price and valuation. The percentage is applied to the lower of the price you agreed and the bank's own valuation (tasación). If the valuer puts a flat you are buying at €340,000 at €320,000, the loan is calculated on €320,000 and you cover the difference in cash.
Debt-to-income. Banks usually want all your monthly debt payments, including the new mortgage, to stay at or under about 35% of your net income (some stretch to 40% for high earners). Debts in your home country count.

Two more filters: the loan normally has to be fully repaid before you reach 70–75 (a few lenders accept up to 80), and lenders look at the currency of your income. A salary in euros is straightforward; one in sterling or dollars exposes you to exchange-rate swings on a euro repayment, and some banks will not lend against it at all.

2. Rates: what to expect in October 2026

The 12-month Euribor, the index behind variable mortgages, averaged 3.247% in September 2026 (Banco de España) and was about 3.26% in late October, well above the roughly 2.2% of a year earlier. The figures below are indicative ranges from brokers and comparison sites, not offers (only a few banks, such as CaixaBank, publish rates for non-residents):

Type	Typical for non-residents
Fixed	roughly 3.5–4.2%, depending on bank, LTV and profile
Variable	12-month Euribor + about 1–2 points, so roughly 4.2–5.3% today
Mixed	fixed for the first years, then variable

Treat the headline rate with care. Advertised rates often assume you take the bank's insurance or route income through it, which is harder for a non-resident. Ask for the TIN and the TAE (APR) with and without linked products, and compare the Ficha Europea de Información Normalizada (FEIN) from several banks, not the web page.

Variable rates are reviewed every 6 or 12 months, so a rise in the Euribor reaches your payment at the next review.

3. The documents

Each bank has its own list, but expect to provide:

Passport and NIE. Our relocation guide explains how to get one.
Proof of income: employment contract and the last three payslips, or accounts and tax returns if you are self-employed, plus your latest tax return and a tax residence certificate.
Bank statements for the past year, a list of your assets and debts, and a credit report.
Proof of where the deposit comes from. Banks are bound by Spain's anti-money-laundering law (Ley 10/2010) to understand where the money comes from and, depending on risk, to ask for supporting documents, so keep the trail clear: savings, a sale, a gift (with a letter, if the bank accepts it).
The property: reservation or purchase contract and a nota simple from the Land Registry.
A Spanish bank account. Most lenders insist on one for the direct debit.

Documents that are not in Spanish often need a sworn translation, and some a legalisation or apostille, at your cost; a few lenders, such as CaixaBank's HolaBank service, accept documents in English without translation. Ask before paying for translations, and start early: missing translations are the most common cause of delay.

4. Who pays what

Since the 2019 mortgage law (Ley 5/2019), costs of the mortgage deed are split like this:

Item	Who pays
Valuation (tasación)	You
Notary fee for the mortgage deed	Bank
Land registry entry of the mortgage	Bank
Gestoría (filing and registration)	Bank
Stamp duty (AJD) on the mortgage deed	Bank
Copies of the deed you request	Whoever requests them
Opening fee, if the contract has one (charged once, covering the bank's study and processing costs, so it is negotiable)	You

Do not confuse these with the costs of the purchase itself, which you normally bear: the 7% general-rate transfer tax (ITP) on a resale home in Andalucía, the notary and registry fees for the sale deed and the lawyer. They are in what it costs to buy in Benalmádena.

Paying off early. The law caps the fee. On a variable-rate mortgage it can be at most 0.25% of the amount repaid in the first 3 years or 0.15% in the first 5 years (the contract fixes which one). On a fixed-rate mortgage, up to 2% in the first 10 years and 1.5% after that. On a mixed mortgage each stretch follows its own rule. In every case it cannot exceed the bank's real financial loss.

5. Step by step

Pre-approval. Send your documents to one or more banks (or a registered real-estate credit intermediary, who compares several). You get a first answer on how much you could borrow.
Reservation contract. Before you sign it, ask your lawyer to make the purchase conditional on the mortgage being granted. Without that clause, if the bank refuses the mortgage you will normally not get your payment back: with penitential deposit (arras, art. 1454 Civil Code) you lose it, and with confirmatory arras the seller can demand that you complete or claim damages. Have your lawyer check which type your contract has.
Valuation. The bank orders it, and you pay for it.
Binding offer (FEIN). From the day you receive it there must be at least 10 calendar days before you sign. The law requires this minimum period so you can compare and understand the terms; it does not give you a right to withdraw after signing.
Notary's transparency record. You visit the notary, who checks that you received the paperwork on time and explains the clauses. This must happen at the latest the day before the signing, and costs nothing.
Deed. The mortgage and the purchase are normally signed on the same day, at the same notary.

Worked example: a €340,000 flat in Arroyo de la Miel

A flat of about 100 m² in Arroyo de la Miel, at about €3,400/m² (listing-price indexes put Arroyo de la Miel between €3,355 and €3,417/m² in September 2026), comes to roughly €340,000. Say the bank lends 60%, the cautious end of the range, and the valuation agrees with the price:

Item	Amount
Price	€340,000
Mortgage (60%)	€204,000
Your deposit	€136,000
ITP (7%)	€23,800
Notary and registry (sale), gestoría	≈ €2,500–3,500
Lawyer (≈1% + VAT)	≈ €4,114
Valuation	≈ €300–500
Extra on top of the price	≈ €31,500 (≈ 9%)
Cash needed in total	≈ €167,500 (≈ 49% of the price)

The term changes the payment, and above all the interest you pay over the life of the loan. For the €204,000 loan at 4%:

Term	Monthly payment	Total interest	Net income needed*
20 years	€1,236	≈ €92,700	≈ €3,530
25 years	€1,077	≈ €119,000	≈ €3,080
30 years	€974	≈ €146,600	≈ €2,780

*If the mortgage were your only debt and the bank's limit is 35% of net income. Many banks cap mortgages for non-residents at 20–25 years; only a few go to 30, and the term must end before your 70s. Over 25 years, 3.5% means €1,021 a month and 5% means €1,193.

If the valuation comes in at €320,000, the loan falls to 60% × €320,000 = €192,000 and you add €12,000 to the deposit.

Alternatives

Some buyers raise the money in their home country instead, for example by remortgaging a property there. It can mean a lower rate and no sworn translations, but your home becomes the guarantee for a Spanish purchase. Weigh that, and the exchange-rate risk, with an adviser in the country where you live.

Before you apply

Work out your budget backwards: your maximum payment, the loan it supports and then the deposit and the 9–10% of costs on top. Leave a margin: CaixaBank quotes 12–15% on top of the price for non-residents once extras such as sworn translations and powers of attorney are included. Then compare the neighbourhoods that fit it in Arroyo de la Miel, Benalmádena Costa or Pueblo, and read the taxes non-resident owners pay each year so the running costs are in the plan too.

Rates and bank policies change every week; the figures are indicative and were reviewed in October 2026. Whether you can deduct the interest from your own taxes depends on where you live and whether you let the home. This article is general information, not financial or tax advice: ask each bank for its FEIN and talk to a local advisor and a lawyer before signing.