Money · 2 July 2026 · 6 min read
What a €350,000 apartment in Fuengirola actually costs an Irish buyer.
Ask most agents what a property costs and they will tell you the asking price. That is not the price. Between the offer and the keys sits a stack of taxes and fees, and if nobody walks you through them you find out at the worst possible moment: after you have committed.
So here is the whole thing, worked through on a real scenario. A resale two-bed apartment in Fuengirola, agreed at €350,000, bought by an Irish couple paying cash. No guesswork, line by line.
The big one: transfer tax
Andalusia charges 7% transfer tax (ITP) on resale property. On €350,000 that is €24,500, due shortly after completion. This is the single largest cost after the price itself, and it is not negotiable.
Worth knowing: Andalusia cut this rate from a tiered system that ran up to 10%. Rates change, so have your lawyer confirm the current figure before you sign anything.
The rest of the stack
Here is where the remaining money goes on our €350,000 example:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Transfer tax (ITP) at 7% | €24,500 |
| Independent lawyer (~1% plus 21% VAT) | €4,235 |
| Notary | ~€900 |
| Land Registry | ~€600 |
| NIE numbers and power of attorney for two buyers | ~€300 |
| Total on top of the price | ~€30,500 (about 8.7%) |
So the real cheque for a €350,000 resale is about €380,500. We tell buyers to budget 10% to be safe, because surveys, translations and the odd bank charge nibble at the edges.
Why you sometimes hear 13%
The 10 to 13% range you see quoted covers new-build purchases too, and new-build is dearer to buy. Instead of 7% ITP you pay 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty. On the same €350,000 that is €39,200 in tax alone, and the total lands around €45,000, close to 13%.
That does not make new-build wrong. You get a warranty, modern build quality and stage payments. It just means the tax line in your budget needs to change depending on which route you take.
The costs people forget
Currency is the quiet one. Moving €380,000 from an Irish bank at a poor exchange rate can cost thousands more than using a currency specialist, and nobody itemises it because it never appears on an invoice. We cover this properly in a separate guide, but the short version: get a second quote before you transfer anything.
And if you are borrowing rather than paying cash, add a bank valuation (a few hundred euro) and typically an arrangement fee of around 1% of the loan. Since 2019, Spanish banks pay the taxes and notary costs on the mortgage itself, so the loan is cheaper to set up than it used to be.
The point
None of these numbers should surprise you at week nine of a twelve week purchase. When we work with buyers, the full cost picture is on the table before the first viewing, and your own independent lawyer confirms every figure before you commit to anything.