No, it is not. Despite the headlines that keep resurfacing, there is still no 100% tax on non-EU citizens buying property in Spain. It remains a political proposal, not a law, and it has been stuck in the same place for over a year and a half. If you are a non-EU buyer weighing up a purchase, here is what has actually happened and what you actually pay today.

Where the idea came from

On 13 January 2025, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a 12-point housing package aimed at Spain's affordability crisis. One measure grabbed all the attention: raising taxes on homes bought by non-EU residents by up to 100%, framed as a way to curb speculative purchases and second-home investment by non-EU nationals.

What was actually proposed

Two routes were floated for implementing it, and the government never committed to either:

  • Modifying the existing transfer tax (Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales), which would only reach resale properties
  • Creating an entirely new, standalone tax that could also cover new-build purchases

A formal bill reflecting the proposal was submitted to Congress on 22 May 2025. That is as far as it has gone.

What has happened since

Nothing, procedurally. As of mid-2026 the bill has still not been debated or put to a vote in Congress. When the government unveiled its next housing reform package in January 2026, the non-EU buyer tax was conspicuously left out, with the emphasis shifted to rental-market measures instead.

Politically, it is boxed in from both sides. Junts, whose support the government needs, argues the housing crisis is a supply problem and not a foreign-demand problem. Podemos, on the other side, calls the measure too weak and wants an outright ban on non-resident purchases instead. Neither position leaves much room for the original proposal to move forward as drafted.

Would it survive a legal challenge anyway?

Even government sources have acknowledged the exposure here. A tax that applies differently depending on nationality sits awkwardly against the EU principle of free movement of capital, and constitutional lawyers have raised similar doubts about a measure that singles out non-EU nationals for a punitive rate. That legal uncertainty is part of why the proposal has stayed dormant rather than being pushed through.

What you actually pay today

Nationality, EU or otherwise, currently makes no difference to the tax bill on a Spanish property purchase. Buyers pay the standard transfer tax on resale properties (rates vary by region, generally in the 6-10% band) or VAT plus stamp duty on new builds, exactly as an EU or Spanish buyer would. There is no surcharge in force for non-EU buyers, and nothing in the pipeline is close enough to a vote to plan around.

Should it change your plans?

Not on the strength of what exists today. It is worth watching if you are timing a purchase over the next year or two, since a minority government's housing agenda can shift, but there is no live measure to price into a purchase right now. What matters more in practice is the ordinary due diligence any buyer, EU or non-EU, needs before signing: confirming the seller's title, checking for charges on the property, and getting the contract terms right before any deposit changes hands.

In short: the 100% tax is a proposal that has been sitting in Congress, unvoted, since May 2025. Until that changes, non-EU buyers pay exactly the same property taxes as everyone else.