Spain Property Guide-Winter Issue

Spanish Conveyancing
PROCESS SIMPLIFIED
Life is about to get not just easier, but more secure
when it comes to completing the sale or purchase
of a home in Spain.
It was generally recognised that the dual system
used in Spain to record land and property details – the
Land Registry plus the Cadastre – was unwieldy and,
worse than that, sometimes produced conflicting
data on the same property. To put it simply, the
Land Registry normally included a written description
of a property while the Cadastre had graphic
representation in the form of a map or plan.
The problem was that, on occasion, the two did not
match, leading to some legal disputes on boundaries.
On top of that, as the Cadastre was not routinely
cross-referenced with the Land Registry, details on
any alterations and extensions built on a property
would not necessarily appear on the Cadastre, again
possibly leading to legal complications.
But now the Spanish government has taken action to
smooth the conveyancing process and ensure the two
registries are consistent when describing a property.
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