When you buy a property on the Costa del Sol, one early question is whether to buy in your own name or through a company. There's no single right answer — it depends on your goals, your tax situation, and the rules both here and in your home country. Here's an honest look at both routes so you can have the right conversation with your adviser.
Buying in your own name
Buying as an individual is the simpler, more common route, and for many buyers it's the right one — especially if the home is mainly for your own use.
The upsides: the process is straightforward; individuals may access certain tax treatments, particularly for a main residence; and ownership in your own name keeps your affairs simple.
One thing worth clearing up, because it still comes up a lot: buying property no longer gives you residency. Spain's "Golden Visa" — the old residency-by-investment route tied to a €500,000 property purchase — was closed to new applications in April 2025 and has no replacement. If your goal is to live here, the path now runs through a proper residence visa, such as the Non-Lucrative Visa (for those with sufficient income or savings) or the Digital Nomad Visa (for remote workers), separate from the purchase itself. Get advice on the right route before you buy, so your home and your residency plan line up.
The trade-offs: rental income and capital gains can be taxed at higher effective rates for non-residents, and liability is personal — the risk sits with you directly.
Buying through a company
Buying through a company is more involved but can suit larger or purely investment-led purchases.
The upsides: potentially more favourable structuring of property-related expenses and gains, and the limited liability a company provides. It can also make managing income and costs across several properties cleaner.
The trade-offs: a company carries ongoing cost and admin — accounting, compliance, reporting — and depending on how it's set up and used, some transactions can still attract transfer tax. The structure only pays off if the scale justifies it.
The real decision lives in the detail of your own situation, including your tax position back home — not just in Spain. So treat this as a map of the options, not advice. Before you choose, I'll put you in front of a tax adviser who can model both routes for your specific case. Get that right at the start and everything downstream is easier.
