What is a Nota Simple in Spain?
How to order one and what to look for

What is a Nota Simple?

A Nota Simple Informativa is an official extract from the Registro de la Propiedad — Spain's Land Registry. Every property in Spain is entered in the Registry as a finca registral, and the Nota Simple is the public summary of what's recorded against that finca.

Think of it as the property's legal identity card. It tells you who the registered owner is, what they paid for it when they bought it, whether they have a mortgage on it, and whether anyone else has claims against it — embargos, easements, planning affections, tax liens. If it's not in the Registry, legally it doesn't bind a good-faith buyer. And if it is in the Registry, it binds you from the day you sign.

This is why the Nota Simple matters more than any other document in a Spanish purchase. Your lawyer needs it. Your bank needs it. The notary will request one on the day of signing — but by then, any problem it reveals is already your problem.

What does it contain?

A standard Nota Simple has four sections, printed on one or two pages:

1. Finca identification

The registry reference number (IDUFIR / CRU), the municipality, the address, the surface area, and a brief description of the property. For apartments, this includes the floor, door, and the building's common elements.

2. Titularidad (ownership)

The full name and NIE/DNI of the current registered owner, their marital regime if applicable (privativo, ganancial), and the acquisition title — how and when they acquired the property (purchase, inheritance, donation), and for how much.

3. Cargas (charges and encumbrances)

Everything registered against the property:

• Mortgages (hipotecas) — who the lender is, the original principal, interest rate, term
• Embargos — court orders freezing the property for unpaid debt
• Afecciones fiscales — tax liens, usually from unpaid inheritance tax or plusvalía
• Easements (servidumbres) — rights of way, access, utilities
• Conditions — reverter rights, right of first refusal, planning conditions

4. Catastro reference

The cadastral reference (referencia catastral) — a 20-character code linking the property to the Catastro, Spain's fiscal property database. Catastro and Registry are supposed to reflect the same property, but they don't always agree — which is a whole issue in itself.

How to order a Nota Simple (€9.02)

You can order a Nota Simple yourself, online, in five minutes. You do not need a lawyer, a notary, or a Spanish bank account. The cost is €9.02 (including VAT).

There is one official channel:

1. Go to registradores.org — the portal of Spain's College of Property Registrars.
2. Click "Acceso Servicios Interactivos" then "Nota Simple".
3. Search by address, by cadastral reference (the fastest option), or by IDUFIR if you have it.
4. Pay by credit card. The document is emailed to you, typically within a few hours on business days — sometimes in minutes, occasionally next business day if the Registry is slow.

Who should order it?

There's no rule against you ordering one yourself. Anyone can — the Nota Simple is a public document. You don't need the seller's permission or cooperation. If a seller or agent tells you that you can only get one through them, they're wrong.

If your agent or lawyer offers to order it for you and charges more than €20, that's their margin. Fine if you prefer the convenience, but you're entitled to know the original cost is €9.02.

The 6 things every buyer must check

1. Ownership matches

The name on the Nota Simple must be the name of the person selling to you. If they're selling you a property registered to their spouse, their parent's estate, or a company, the transaction needs more paperwork. If the registered owner died and the inheritance hasn't been settled in the Registry, you are not buying from someone with capacity to sell yet.

2. Mortgages are on the list

Look for hipoteca entries in the Cargas section. The original principal will be shown — not the current balance. The current balance is typically lower because the seller has been paying it down, but ask the seller for a recent certificado de deuda from the lender. At the notary, this mortgage will either be paid off from your purchase money and immediately cancelled, or (less common) novated into your name.

3. No embargos

An embargo means a court has frozen the property because the owner owes money. You cannot buy a property with an active embargo without the court releasing it first. If you see one, stop, talk to your lawyer, and do not sign any arras until you understand what the embargo is, how much it is, and when it will be released.

4. No tax afecciones within their expiry window

Tax liens (afecciones fiscales) appear when the previous transaction wasn't properly taxed — usually inheritance tax (Impuesto de Sucesiones) or municipal plusvalía. They pass to the new owner until they expire. They typically expire five years from registration. Verificar.ai flags these with the expiry date so you know whether they're still live.

5. The surface area makes sense

The registered surface area (superficie) is the area according to the Registry. Compare it to the cadastral area (superficie catastral), which you can look up separately on the Catastro website. They should match — or be close. A large discrepancy (say, 75m² registered versus 95m² cadastral) is a red flag for unregistered works, a wrong boundary, or a superficie útil/construida confusion.

6. Classification is urbana, not rústica

Most homes and apartments will be urbana. If the Nota Simple classifies the property as rústica (rural) or mentions "suelo no urbanizable", that changes everything: financing is harder, licence obligations are different, and some property types simply cannot be legally used as full-time dwellings. This doesn't mean don't buy — it means buy with your eyes open and a specialist lawyer.

When is a Nota Simple out of date?

A Nota Simple reflects the state of the Registry on the day it's issued. The information is legally valid for that day. After that, new entries can be added — a new mortgage, a new embargo — and the document you have in your hand will not show them.

For due diligence purposes, a Nota Simple issued within the last 30 days is usually considered fresh. On the day of the notary signing, the notary will request a new one directly from the Registry — this is the definitive moment where the Registry state is checked. If a new charge has appeared between your Nota Simple and the notary's, you'll find out at signing, not before.

For an arras signing (weeks before the notary), a Nota Simple more than a month old is worth refreshing. It's €9.02 for peace of mind.

Common pitfalls

A second common pitfall is confusing Nota Simple Informativa (what we've been discussing) with Certificación Registral. The Certificación is a formal certified copy with full legal effect; it costs more and takes longer. For a buyer's pre-purchase due diligence, the Nota Simple is sufficient.

Finally: some properties have finca horizontalmente dividida issues — particularly older apartment buildings where the horizontal division wasn't cleanly registered. You may see references to "common elements" being unclear or a private parking space that doesn't appear on the finca. These are worth raising with your lawyer before arras.

What to do with what you find

Reading the Nota Simple is the easy part. Deciding what the findings mean for your transaction is the hard part. Our companion guide, How to read a Nota Simple, walks through each section in detail with real examples. If you've found something that looks like debt, our guide to checking for property debts covers what passes to a new owner and what doesn't.

If you'd rather skip the DIY route entirely, Verificar.ai takes the Nota Simple — either the one you already have or one we retrieve for you — and runs a full 7-module due diligence on the property. Ownership, mortgage, Catastro coordination, urbanismo, debts, licences, and financeability. Delivered in 24 hours.