How to get the Information

1. CAN ANYONE APPLY FOR LR INFORMATION?

Spanish Land Registries (LRs) are public for all those who have a legitimate interest in the state of registered properties or real property rights.

Whoever wishes to obtain information regarding the content of the Registry will need to certify having a genuine interest in it before the registrar. When the person requesting that information is not directly interested in it, but entrusted with the undertaking, he will need to certify that assignment, to the registrar’s satisfaction, and the identification of the person or entity on behalf of whom he acts. There is a presumption of assignment in the persons and entities developing their businesses in connection with legal proceedings regarding real estate property such as financial institutions, lawyers, legal representatives, account auditors, administrative managers, real estate agents and other professionals developing similar businesses, as well as the Public Entities and detectives, provided that they declare the reason for such consultation and this is in agreement with the purposes of the Registry.

In the application forms available to get the information you will find common interests you can allege:

• Legal/economic investigation on credit, solvency or responsibility
• Legal investigation on object, ownership or limitations
• Investigation for contracting or mediation of shares
• The applicant is a registered owner of some landed property
• Others to be specified

Data protection regulation must also be considered. This means that only information which is real, valid and in force can be provided.

2. HOW CAN I APPLY FOR THE INFORMATION?

First of all we must clarify that there are two kind of documents by which information contained in the LRs can be provided: the simple informative note and the certification. These two have different content and effects, which are explained in the other two chapters of this fact sheet.

Once we have decided whether you need a simple information note or a certificate, there are two ways of applying for them:

• At the LR office:
  • You can enquire at the same LR office, where application forms are available, fill in one of these and apply for the information.
  • In the case of simple informative notes you can also enquire at any Spanish LR office and apply for the note. The LR where you made your enquiry will send the application to the LR where your property is registered. This one will prepare the simple informative note and will send it back to the former one, which will finally give you the note.
  • Application forms are available at the same LR offices. You must fill in one of them with your personal data, the property you need information about and your alleged interest in the property.
• Online:
  • There is also a website where you can fill in and send your application form. In this case you will include in your personal data an e-mail address where the certificate or the simple informative note will be sent. Credit or debit cards are accepted and are the usual means of payment.
  • You can make your application at this Internet address:
  • The website where you will find all the information about Spanish Land Registries, is available in English.

3. HOW CAN I LOCATE MY PROPERTY?

The first thing you have to know for locating tour property is that there is not a single Land Registry for all the Spanish territory but several of them. Sometimes there is one LR for several towns (for small-sized towns), sometimes there is one LR for one town (medium-size towns) and sometimes there may be several LRs for only one town or city (big towns or cities). E.g. In Madrid there are more than 50 of them. In this case they have a number after the city name to identify the LR, such as Madrid 14.

You have to find out the name of the place your property is located in. If there is only one LR in that place the property will correspond to that particular LR. If there is no LR there because it is too small it will correspond to a neighbouring village. You can locate your Registry online at this website.

Once you know the LR you have to enquire at, you can locate your property in several ways:

• By the property number: each property has a number in the particular LR. If you have a Spanish deed by which you got your property, or even foreign deeds referring to Spanish properties, it usually contains the number of the property and the name of the LR where it is, using this expression: Inscrito en el Registro de la Propiedad de [name of the town in which the LR is] al Folio x del Libro y Tomo z Finca número xxxxxx. This stands for Registered at the LR of [name of the town] at the Sheet x Book y Suprabook z Property number xxxxxxx.There is also a single number for all the properties in the Spanish territory, no matter which LR they are registered in. It is called IDUFIR. If you provide this number you will be able to locate your property too. You will find this number in all the publicity you may get from the LR.
• By the name of the owner: also by providing the name of the owner (or one of the owners if there are several of them) you will be able to locate all the properties that a person owns in the particular LR you enquire at. You can also enquire at any LR in any part of Spain and ask for the information about the properties one particular person owns in each LR. Once you get this information you can enquire at the particular LRs to obtain the information about the properties in that particular LR.
• Other ways of locating the property?: Sometimes it may be possible to locate your property in a LR by providing the Cadastral Identifying Number (Referencia Catastral in Spanish); nevertheless, this is not the most suitable way of locating the property because there is not a complete coordination between LRs and Cadaster, as we will explain below. You can also provide the name and number of the street the property is located in. With this data property may be located, but it is not the most suitable way of locating the property either.

How long does it take to get the information?

Simple informative notes requested online are issued within a maximum of 24 hours. If they are requested at the LR or by ordinary mail, terms are the same as those laid down for certifications below.

If the application was made online, you will receive the note at the electronic address you provided in the application form. If the application was made at the LR office, you will be informed, at the moment of the application, of how much time it will take and you will probably be able to take it away in the same day. If the application was made by ordinary mail you will receive the note in the same way.

In the case of certificates they will be issued within a maximum term of four days for each property whose information is being requested (this means that if you require information of only one property, the maximum term will be four days; if information of two properties is required, the maximum term will be eight days, and so on). In any case, this is a maximum period, and they will be issued as soon as possible. The way of receiving the certificate is the same as that explained for the notes.

How much does the information cost?

Information prices differ depending on the kind of information provided and the way of applying. They are approximately these:

• Simple informative notes requested at the LR office or by ordinary mail: 3 € + VAT (18%) (in the case of request by ordinary mail, postal charges will be added).
• Simple informative notes requested online: 9 € + VAT
• Certifications requested at the LR offices: 24 € + VAT
• Certifications requested online: 30 € + VAT

Can I get my information in a language other than spanish?

Work is ongoing on a project to offer the simple informative notes in Spanish including an English translation. For the moment this possibility is not available, but we expect it will be soon. If you do not understand something properly you can always contact the LR office and they will de pleased to clarify whatever you need.

4. CAN I REQUEST INFORMATION EVEN IF THERE IS AN UNSOLVED REGISTER APPLICATION?

Information is always provided on request and you can get it even if there is an unsolved register application. In this case the simple informative note or the certificate will mention that unsolved register application, including brief data of the day and time of the application, the person applying and the particular registration request. This does not mean in any case that application will be definitively registered for sure, but that it may be registered in a short term if it complies with all the requirements.

5. WHAT IS THE VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE EXCERPT FROM THE LAND BOOK?

Simple informative notes and certificates only reflect the legal status of the properties at the moment of issuing.

6. WHERE CAN THE EXCERPT FROM THE LAND BOOK BE USED?

The excerpt from the Land Book will have validity and will produce the effects defined in the third chapter at every public or private institution, such as municipalities, utility providers or finance, real estate transactions, whether it is an lawyer who uses it or a notary, banking institutions or private relationships.

7. How does the land registry deliver its output to an applicant?

8. Are the digital forms of delivering land register information cheaper/expensive than non-digital delivery forms? Could you please provide a price indication?

It’s more expensive, mainly due to the deadlines. In the case of paper information, we have a maximum of 4 working days for each property. In the case of digital information, it does not exceed 2 hours for non-certified information and 5 in the case of certified.

9. Which forms of delivery are made use of most – digital or non-digital? If possible, could you please provide an indication in percentages?

There is a continued growth in the volume of registral information that is requested and issued through digital channels. However, the number of information provided on paper remains very important. It is observed that it depends a lot on the territorial scope of each Registry, and especially if it is a mostly rustic sector, where the identification data of the properties can be more confusing and require an on-site visit to the office of the Register, or of an urban area in which the data are usually clearer.