From Lyon: six questions on a Palafrugell house

Claire and Hugo live in Lyon and have spent many summers on the Costa Brava. This spring they reserved an old house a short drive inland from Palafrugell and went home with a list of questions. They are an invented couple; the questions are the ones buyers really ask.

“Do we both need a number?” Each of them did: a deed lists every buyer by NIE. As French citizens living in France they were non-residents, so neither the green certificate nor any card concerned them: only the bare number, on form EX-15, one each, with the reservation contract as their reason.

“Do we have to come to Girona for it?” Not necessarily. They could book an appointment for the province of Girona, where policia.es lists the stand-alone NIE only at C/ Cristobal Grober 12, and add a weekend by the sea. Or they could apply through the Spanish consulate that serves their area. Hugo’s job made a trip awkward, so they chose the consulate, each bringing a signed EX-15, a passport, a copy of the reservation contract and proof that the Modelo 790 código 012 was paid.

“What if one of us cannot be at the signing?” Hugo could not leave work that week. He granted a poder notarial in France, a power of attorney letting Claire sign for both of them, with an apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish, having first asked the notary in Spain which wording would be accepted.

“Where will the number turn up next?” Almost everywhere. At the notary’s office both NIEs went into the escritura, the deed. The same numbers then appeared on the bank account opened to pay the bills, on the electricity and water contracts, and in the autumn on the letter for the IBI, the municipal property tax.

“Does owning change anything else?” It brings Spanish tax returns of its own for owners who live abroad, which they handed to a tax adviser in Girona. It does not bring residence: Spain ended the golden visa in 2025, and a home, however lovely, opens no route to living here.

“And if we move one day?” Then, as Europeans, they would register on the padró of their new municipality and, beyond three months, apply on the EX-18 for the green certificate at the address listed for EU citizens, C/ Rajolers 7. The NIEs they were given this spring would be printed on it, unchanged.