Buying a Plot and Building Your Own Home in Girona

Buying a plot in Girona is open to foreign nationals, including British citizens, on the same legal terms as Spanish buyers. You will need a Spanish tax number (NIE), usually a Spanish bank account, and the purchase is formalised before a notary and recorded in the Land Registry, exactly as with any resale or new-build home. Our buying service covers both on- and off-market searches — through a network of around 1,000 collaborating agencies, many plots reach us before they are listed — plus viewings, checks on the land's legal status, and coordination with a lawyer, notary and bank.

What differs from buying a finished house is the land itself. Spanish planning law splits plots into urban land (suelo urbano), where building is generally permitted under local rules, and rural or rustic land (suelo rústico), where construction is restricted and often limited to agricultural or very specific residential uses. Before making an offer, it is essential to confirm the plot's classification with the local town hall, since this determines whether — and what — you can legally build.

Girona province covers the Costa Brava coastline as well as inland countryside toward the Pyrenees, offering both beach towns and rural stone villages. Its proximity to France draws French, Belgian and Dutch buyers, alongside others wanting a quieter alternative to busier Spanish coasts.

Girona-Costa Brava airport serves the coast directly, with Barcelona airport also within reach for wider connections. Coastal areas see strong summer activity, while inland towns remain calmer, and property types range from apartments and townhouses near the sea to farmhouses further inland.

Before deciding on a home in Girona (province), it helps to see the place in numbers: population, asking prices, transport links and climate, each dated and sourced. Together they offer a realistic grounding for anyone weighing up Girona (province) for a permanent home, a holiday base or a rental.

According to the INE annual census, 830,429 people were registered as living in the whole of Girona province on 1 January 2025. The count takes in every town and village across the province, not only its capital. Foreign nationals make up 181,899 residents of the province of Girona, roughly 22 per 100 inhabitants. The figure is meaningful without being overwhelming, and it shifts noticeably depending on which town in the province you look at.

According to INE, only 3,372 British nationals were registered across the province of Girona as of 1 January 2025. That low figure reflects the padrón's focus on year-round residents, excluding owners who use a property there only part-time. Here are the largest foreign communities registered in Girona (province) on 1 January 2025, drawn from the nationality figures INE publishes for each municipality.

A further table sets out nationalities not broken down above, among them Germans, Italians, Dutch, Belgians and Scandinavians, registered throughout Girona province. Unlike that earlier table, this one uses data from 1 January 2022, the latest edition with full nationality detail.

Our price bank includes 5,315 homes for sale throughout the province of Girona, with a median of €2,840/m² and a median ticket of €290,000. Both numbers land close to the €3,135/m² median of the 130 towns we track across Spain. Half of the properties currently listed are priced between €1,930 and €3,820 per square metre, with cheaper and more expensive homes on either side of that middle band.

Based on the median asking price of €290,000 in Girona (province), transfer tax works out at 10 % — around €29,000 — with a further €3,500 typically going on notary, registry and gestoría fees. Together these add up to roughly €32,500, a sum that must be available in cash before the loan is even drawn down. All prices shown are asking prices from adverts active on 2026-11-01, not completed sales. The price eventually paid is always a matter of negotiation, shaped by condition, precise location and orientation.

This table sets out population, foreign residents per 100 people and median price per square metre for the towns we track in Girona (province), highlighting how much local markets can vary.

In 05/2026, Girona (province) had an estimated 20,821 tourist homes according to INE's experimental platform-based statistic, equivalent to 116,320 bed places and roughly 25 per 1,000 residents. The level is moderate, though letting a home to tourists still needs a regional licence. According to the Ministry of Housing's reference system, the median rent for a flat in Girona (province) under long-term contracts in 2024 was €550 a month, from 43,826 tax-declared rentals. It is a past figure for long-term lets, not a forecast or holiday-let income, and rents can rise or fall. Long-term rents for flats in the official register typically range from €450 to €680 a month for the middle half of the market.

Before booking, confirm that Aeropuerto de Girona-Costa Brava (GRO), the one commercial airport serving Girona (province), has a connection from your home airport at the time of year you intend to fly, as this changes seasonally. Because Girona is where these climate figures were measured, other parts of the province, further inland, at higher altitude or on separate islands, can feel quite different. January brings a mean of just 7.1 °C and lows around 1.1 °C, against an August mean of 23.4 °C and highs near 29.8 °C, making this one of the colder corners of Spain in winter. Insulation and heating costs deserve close attention before buying. Rainfall is comparatively high for coastal or central Spain: about 728 mm a year, spread over roughly 66 days with measurable rain. Damp is something worth checking in any home here. These figures are the official climate normals (1981-2010) from AEMET, Spain's state weather agency, at its Girona Aeropuerto station, about 9 km away; conditions at the exact property can differ slightly, especially inland or at altitude.

In the twelve months to 07/2026, 15,239 homes changed hands in the province of Girona, INE figures show. Such activity tends to bring more reference prices and a larger selection for anyone searching. The figures above cover the whole province of Girona, but they vary widely from town to town and from property to property. Share what you are searching for and we can review the details with you.

The transfer tax on a resale home is set by each Spanish region. In Girona the general rate is 10 %, and on top of it come notary, land registry and gestoría (roughly one more percent). On a new build you pay 10 % VAT plus stamp duty instead of the transfer tax. This money is not lent by the bank.

There is no rule in Spain that blocks foreign buyers, including those from the United Kingdom, from owning rural or urban land. Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, British citizens are treated as non-EU buyers for residency purposes, but this has no bearing on the right to purchase property or land. The process runs in parallel to buying a built home: agreeing a price, signing a private contract if one is used, and completing before a notary once the NIE and funds are in place.

What changes with land is the due-diligence stage. A lawyer should confirm the plot's registered boundaries, check for existing debts or charges in the Land Registry, and verify its urban planning classification with the town hall in Girona, since this dictates whether a home can be built there at all, and under what conditions.

Once the plot is yours, self-building in Girona follows a defined sequence. An architect draws up a project that meets local planning rules, the town hall reviews and issues a building licence (licencia de obra), and only then can construction legally begin. Depending on the municipality and the complexity of the project, this licensing stage can take anywhere from a couple of months to the better part of a year, so it is worth building that time into any plan.

Construction itself typically runs well beyond that, and a final occupancy licence and updated Land Registry entry are needed before the home can be legally used or connected to utilities. Our buying service can coordinate the lawyer, notary and bank steps around this timeline, though the construction project itself is managed by the architect and builder you choose.

Buying land carries the same tax layer as buying a home: transfer tax (ITP) set by the region applies to most resale land purchases, while notary, Land Registry and gestoría fees come on top; a lawyer is optional but advisable for any buyer based abroad. Once the home is built and registered, as a non-resident you will file an annual Modelo 210 tax return, and municipal property tax (IBI) becomes payable every year. If you ever rent the finished home out, that rental income is also taxed in Spain under the same return.

Spain and the United Kingdom have a double taxation agreement, and a local tax adviser should confirm exactly how any Spanish rental income or future gains must also be reported to HMRC. Because the United Kingdom uses the pound rather than the euro, it is also worth planning for exchange-rate movements across the months between buying the land, paying the builder in stages, and any later sale, when a buyer would withhold 3% of the price on account of a non-resident seller's tax.

As the United Kingdom is no longer an EU member state, British citizens can stay in Spain for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa — enough for site visits, meetings with the architect, or signing at the notary, but not for living on site through a long build. Longer stays require a visa or residence permit, and it is worth noting that the Golden Visa route for property investors ended on 3 April 2025 and is no longer an option for anyone planning a self-build.

Financing a plot and a build from the United Kingdom is possible; our partner Colibrí Finances arranges mortgages for non-residents, though approval and terms depend on each applicant's circumstances and are not promised in advance. Keeping proof of income, your last Self Assessment return and recent bank statements ready, along with certified translation where needed, will speed up both the mortgage and notary process.

Spain is a relatively short flight away from most UK airports, making regular visits to a Spanish property straightforward for owners based in Britain. Many British buyers are drawn to Spain for its climate, coastal lifestyle and established expatriate communities. One practical point to bear in mind is that Spanish inheritance law differs from UK rules, so it is worth taking specific advice on how it may affect the property and one's estate. Currency movements between sterling and the euro can also affect the overall cost of purchase and ongoing expenses.

Spain and the United Kingdom have a double taxation agreement in place, and a local tax adviser should confirm how rental income or gains from Spanish property must be declared and reported to HMRC.

As the United Kingdom is no longer an EU member state, British citizens may stay in Spain for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa, and must apply for a visa or residence permit for longer stays.

Since the United Kingdom uses the pound sterling (GBP) rather than the euro, buyers should factor in exchange-rate movements and currency conversion costs when paying for a property or transferring funds to Spain.