ULI & LISAMallorca Property Glossary All chapters uli-lisa.com →
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★ Overview1 · From Offer to Deed — The Buying Process & Contracts on Mallorca2 · Notary, Land Registry & Cadastre — the three registers your purchase rests on3 · Money Transfers, Banking & Legal Due Diligence When Buying on Mallorca4 · What the Tax Office Takes When You Buy5 · The Annual Running Costs of a Mallorca Property6 · What to Expect When You Resell — Taxes on Disposal7 · Wealth Tax & Solidarity Tax on Mallorca8 · Inheritance & Gifting on Mallorca: the Balearic Foral Law9 · Building Legality, the cédula & Retroactive Legalisation10 · Building on Mallorca: Land, Permits & New-Build Protection11 · ETV — Tourist Rental on Mallorca12 · Where People Buy on Mallorca — Thinking Municipality by Municipality13 · Tenanted Properties, Tenancy Law & the Okupas Risk14 · Your Passport Shapes the Deal: Military Permit, Visas & the Tax Chain15 · Financing & Mortgages in Mallorca16 · Estate Agents & Property Values When Buying17 · Property Types & Forms of Ownership — what the listing and the land register really tell you18 · Buying Through a Company or in Your Own Name? Legal Structures Explained19 · From Purchase to Centre of Life: NIE/TIE, Residency & Health Cover20 · Mobility & Authorities: Car, ITV, Driving Licence, Appointments21 · Buyer Pitfalls on Mallorca — and How to Avoid Them22 · The Authorities Map & Spanish Abbreviations at a Glance23 · Register of Court Rulings: the case law behind the chapters24 · Where Our Information Comes From — and How Reliable It Is25 · Building & Renovating in Mallorca — What Buyers Need to Know About Costs, Trades and the Law26 · Utilities on Mallorca: Electricity, Water, Gas & Solar27 · Agroturismo, Turismo Rural & Tourist Accommodation in the Countryside28 · Insurance Cover for Your Mallorca Property29 · What the Listing Really Says — Property-Ad & Viewing Vocabulary (ES/CAT → EN)30 · Living Here, Not Just Buying Here: Children, Pets and the Rhythm of Island Life31 · Selling Smart: What the ganancia patrimonial (Capital Gains Tax) Really Costs You32 · Boat Moorings on Mallorca (Amarre): What You Actually Buy — and What You Don't33 · Releasing Equity From Your Mallorca Home in Later Life34 · Separation & Divorce — Who Keeps the Mallorca Property35 · The Owners' Association in Mallorca: A Practical Guide to the Comunidad de Propietarios36 · The ULI & LISA Roadmap: From Search Profile to Handover of the Keys

The Complete Mallorca Property Glossary

The most comprehensive English-language reference on buying property in Mallorca — from arras through the ETV tourist licence to gift tax. 36 chapters, each term with the Spanish original, a plain-English explanation, its legal basis and practical relevance for international buyers.

Confidence system: ✅ confirmed by primary law · 🟡 multiply confirmed · 🔴 still to verify.

36 chapters
Chapter 1
From Offer to Deed — The Buying Process & Contracts on Mallorca
Art. 609 & 1462 CC. Only this deed opens the door to registration in the land register
Chapter 2
Notary, Land Registry & Cadastre — the three registers your purchase rests on
What is the difference between the land registry and the cadastre in Mallorca?
Chapter 3
Money Transfers, Banking & Legal Due Diligence When Buying on Mallorca
How you, as an international buyer, move your funds to Spain safely and legally, what a serious pre-purchase review really covers — and
Chapter 4
What the Tax Office Takes When You Buy
No single line item in your purchase costs weighs as heavily as the transfer tax. In this chapter we put the Balearic ITP scale on the
Chapter 5
The Annual Running Costs of a Mallorca Property
A property costs money even when it sits empty — here you'll see, as a buyer, what you need to budget for year after year, with no rent
Chapter 6
What to Expect When You Resell — Taxes on Disposal
When the day comes that you sell your Mallorca property again, the notary appointment alone won't decide your margin. Two issues move r
Chapter 7
Wealth Tax & Solidarity Tax on Mallorca
As a foreign buyer on Mallorca, do I have to pay wealth tax?
Chapter 8
Inheritance & Gifting on Mallorca: the Balearic Foral Law
How large is the forced share on Mallorca?
Chapter 9
Building Legality, the cédula & Retroactive Legalisation
No single issue carries as much explosive potential in a Mallorca property purchase as building legality — and nowhere more so than wit
Chapter 10
Building on Mallorca: Land, Permits & New-Build Protection
Can I build on a finca plot in Mallorca?
Chapter 11
ETV — Tourist Rental on Mallorca
May I rent out my Mallorca apartment to tourists?
Chapter 12
Where People Buy on Mallorca — Thinking Municipality by Municipality
Few things shape a property on this island as decisively as its precise location. It governs what can be rented out, which building pro
Chapter 13
Tenanted Properties, Tenancy Law & the Okupas Risk
If you buy an already-tenanted property in Mallorca — or plan to let one out yourself — you are buying into Spanish tenancy law along w
Chapter 14
Your Passport Shapes the Deal: Military Permit, Visas & the Tax Chain
As a US American, do I need a military permit to buy on Mallorca?
Chapter 15
Financing & Mortgages in Mallorca
What you need to know as a non-resident buyer about loan-to-value limits, the consumer-protection law Ley 5/2019, and how the cost of c
Chapter 16
Estate Agents & Property Values When Buying
Chapter 17
Property Types & Forms of Ownership — what the listing and the land register really tell you
estudio, apartamento/piso (flat), and planta baja/bajo con jardín
Chapter 18
Buying Through a Company or in Your Own Name? Legal Structures Explained
When it makes sense to acquire property through a company, what each legal form actually means, the points at which the tax authorities
Chapter 19
From Purchase to Centre of Life: NIE/TIE, Residency & Health Cover
How do I get the Tarjeta Sanitaria in Mallorca?
Chapter 20
Mobility & Authorities: Car, ITV, Driving Licence, Appointments
The moment you live on Mallorca rather than just holiday here, the everyday rules of the game change. This chapter sets out what you'll
Chapter 21
Buyer Pitfalls on Mallorca — and How to Avoid Them
What actually goes wrong when buying property on Mallorca — seen through the eyes of your buyer's advisory. For each case: where it goe
Chapter 22
The Authorities Map & Spanish Abbreviations at a Glance
When you buy property on Mallorca, you constantly run into Spanish and Catalan abbreviations — and into authorities that have no equiva
Chapter 23
Register of Court Rulings: the case law behind the chapters
Chapter 24
Where Our Information Comes From — and How Reliable It Is
So that you, as a buyer, can judge what you can safely rely on here: this chapter lays open how the glossary came together, which sourc
Chapter 25
Building & Renovating in Mallorca — What Buyers Need to Know About Costs, Trades and the Law
If you renovate in Mallorca, a handful of early decisions determine whether you spend or save tens of thousands of euros: the IVA lever
Chapter 26
Utilities on Mallorca: Electricity, Water, Gas & Solar
What really matters when connecting electricity, water and gas — and why the devil is in the detail with a finca or rústico (rural land
Chapter 27
Agroturismo, Turismo Rural & Tourist Accommodation in the Countryside
If you buy a finca (rural country property) intending to rent it out, this is where the most expensive misconception waits: "finca + ho
Chapter 28
Insurance Cover for Your Mallorca Property
What's actually mandatory, where you as a buyer shouldn't waive cover voluntarily — and the classic trap that derails a pay-out when yo
Chapter 29
What the Listing Really Says — Property-Ad & Viewing Vocabulary (ES/CAT → EN)
If you're buying on Mallorca, the first things you'll read are idealista, fotocasa and agent listings — and that's where you'll trip ov
Chapter 30
Living Here, Not Just Buying Here: Children, Pets and the Rhythm of Island Life
Acquiring a property is one thing — relocating your life here is quite another. The moment children, a four-legged family member and a
Chapter 31
Selling Smart: What the ganancia patrimonial (Capital Gains Tax) Really Costs You
When you sell on Mallorca, you pay ganancia patrimonial (capital gains tax) on your profit. It can be reduced legally — and by far the
Chapter 32
Boat Moorings on Mallorca (Amarre): What You Actually Buy — and What You Don't
Let's clear up the most common and most expensive misconception before you spend a euro: on Mallorca, a mooring is not something you ow
Chapter 33
Releasing Equity From Your Mallorca Home in Later Life
With a reverse mortgage, do I keep my house?
Chapter 34
Separation & Divorce — Who Keeps the Mallorca Property
When a relationship ends — often a cross-border one — the question of what happens to the shared house on the island comes up fast. Her
Chapter 35
The Owners' Association in Mallorca: A Practical Guide to the Comunidad de Propietarios
Does an ETV ban in the community need unanimity?
Chapter 36
The ULI & LISA Roadmap: From Search Profile to Handover of the Keys
Think of this chapter as the bracket around the entire glossary. It arranges the individual stages of a Mallorca purchase in their real
⚖️ Editorial reference resource, not legal or tax advice. For your specific case, engage an independent lawyer (abogado), tax adviser (asesor fiscal) and, where relevant, an architect.