What national law says
Estate agency is a free activity in Spain. Ley 10/2003 lets any individual or company do it “without needing to hold any title, nor to belong to any official college”, subject to the consumer-protection rules (Ley 10/2003, art. 3, our translation). Real Decreto-ley 4/2000, art. 3 said the same before it.
The Agente de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria (API) title and the API colleges still exist, but they are optional: the colleges’ regulation says membership rests “on the principle of voluntariness”. What it does reserve is the name: only members may call themselves “agente de la propiedad inmobiliaria” (Real Decreto 1294/2007).
Region by region
What changes with where you work is whether you must join an agents’ register, and what it asks of you.
| Region | Agents’ register |
|---|---|
| Catalonia | Compulsory |
| Valencia region | Compulsory; a court struck down part of its requirements in 2024 |
| Andalusia | Compulsory in the law, but never set up, and the requirement is being removed |
| Balearic Islands | Voluntary since 14 June 2026, but the law asks every agent for a guarantee and insurance |
| Madrid | Voluntary |
| Navarre | Voluntary |
| Canary Islands | Voluntary |
| Basque Country | Can’t be compulsory, per the Constitutional Court; no decree has created it |
In Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Murcia and La Rioja we found no agents’ register. Asturias and Aragón have announced one, but none had been published on 19 October 2026.
Catalonia
Catalonia’s housing law requires agents to have premises open to the public (or a physical address if they only work online), professional training, a guarantee and liability insurance, and creates a compulsory register (Ley 18/2007, arts. 55.3 and 55.4). Not registering doesn’t void contracts (art. 56.4). Decreto 12/2010 sets the details:
- training: a related degree or courses of at least 200 teaching hours (annex 1);
- guarantee: €60,000 per office per year, or €300,000 if you only work online (art. 8);
- liability insurance: €100,000 per claim and €600,000 a year, or €150,000 and €1,000,000 online (art. 11).
The application is on the Generalitat’s website.
Valencia region
Decreto 98/2022 created the Registro de Agentes de Intermediación Inmobiliaria, “free and compulsory” (art. 4.1), with requirements on address, training, guarantee and insurance in its art. 3. In December 2024 the Valencia High Court, on an appeal by the competition authority (CNMC), struck down several of them (judgment 706/2024, final according to the CNMC):
- the whole professional-training requirement, including the 200 hours;
- the amounts of the guarantees and surety insurance;
- the rule that online-only agents have their address in the region;
- and the notice that occasional agents and agents registered in other regions had to give.
The duty to register wasn’t challenged and still stands. Before you register, check with the register itself which documents it asks for now (the court’s press note).
Andalusia
Ley 5/2025 created a “public, administrative, free and compulsory” register (art. 50.1, our translation), but it hasn’t been set up. In the agreement published in the BOE on 19 October 2026, the Junta commits to changing the law to remove compulsory registration. We explain it in our Andalusia register guide.
Balearic Islands
Ley 3/2024 made the register compulsory, but Ley 4/2026 changed that from 14 June 2026: “registration in it is, in every case, voluntary” (Ley 3/2024, fourteenth additional provision, our translation). Even so, the thirteenth additional provision applies to everyone working as an agent in the Balearics, registered or not, and asks them for premises (or a postal address in the Balearics if they only work online), a €60,000 guarantee per year and liability insurance of €100,000 per claim and €600,000 a year. Training is now only asked of agents who join the register.
Madrid, Navarre, the Canary Islands and the Basque Country
- Madrid: registration is “in every case, voluntary”. To join, you need a degree, 200 hours of training or four years’ experience, a €60,000 guarantee and insurance of €100,000 per claim and €600,000 a year (Decreto 8/2018, arts. 1, 6 and 7; the RAIN register).
- Navarre: a voluntary, public and free register. To join, 200 hours of training (or API membership, a degree or four years’ experience), a €30,000 guarantee and insurance of €100,000 per claim and €600,000 a year, 50% more if you only work online (Decreto Foral 33/2019, arts. 4, 8 and 9).
- Canary Islands: registration “is voluntary”. To join, you need premises open to the public (or a physical address in the Canaries if you work online), API membership, a degree, four years’ experience or 200 hours of training, and a €30,000 guarantee per office, which liability insurance of at least that amount can replace (Decreto 11/2022, arts. 4 to 8).
- Basque Country: the housing law provides for a register (Ley 3/2015, first additional provision), and the Constitutional Court ruled out reading registration as a precondition or licence for working as an estate agent in the Basque Country (STC 97/2018). We found no decree creating it.
Registering as self-employed, step by step
If you’ll work for yourself, these are the national steps, in the order you take them. First, check in the table above whether your region asks you to register.
- Register with the tax agency on modelo 036, before you start. Modelo 037 no longer exists: since February 2025 everything goes on the 036 (Agencia Tributaria).
- Your IAE business-tax heading. Agents who belong to an API college go under group 721 of section two. For an agent who doesn’t, the tax directorate (DGT) has answered in binding rulings that brokering sales of new developments goes under 724, rentals under 799, and section one’s 834 only for a business-style activity. For other cases, such as resales, those rulings set no heading: confirm it with the Agencia Tributaria. Note that 723, which many sites quote, is for property managers (the IAE tariffs). Individuals don’t pay the tax; the heading goes on the modelo 036 (Ley de Haciendas Locales, art. 82.1.c).
- Join the RETA, the Social Security scheme for the self-employed, before you start and up to 60 days ahead (Import@ss).
- Your monthly cuota depends on your real earnings, by bands (Orden PJC/297/2026, art. 18). There is a reduced cuota for newcomers, the tarifa plana (Ley del Estatuto del Trabajo Autónomo, art. 38 ter), whose amount is set by the budget law: check the current figure with the Seguridad Social. Our earnings calculator works out your cuota from your own figures.
- Your invoices carry 21% VAT (IVA) (Ley del IVA, art. 90). When you bill a company, such as the agency or network you work with, it withholds 15% income tax (IRPF), or 7% in the year you start and the two after (IRPF regulation, art. 95). Private clients don’t withhold, so you pay quarterly advances yourself on modelo 130. VAT is declared every quarter on modelo 303.
- Your invoicing software will have to meet the invoicing-systems rules (Verifactu): for the self-employed, before 1 July 2027 according to Real Decreto-ley 15/2025.
If you work for a network or an agency
Many networks and agencies work with self-employed agents. If at least 75% of your income comes from a single client, the law treats you as an economically dependent self-employed worker (TRADE): the contract must be in writing and registered with the public employment service, and it’s up to you to register it within ten working days of signing (Ley del Estatuto del Trabajo Autónomo, arts. 11 and 12; Real Decreto 197/2009, art. 6; the SEPE procedure).
What the law asks of you from your first deal
- Anti-money-laundering. Anyone who professionally brokers property sales is an obliged entity (art. 2.1.l), and for rentals from €10,000 a month. That means identifying the client and their beneficial owner, a written risk assessment, reporting suspicious transactions to SEPBLAC, keeping records for ten years, and training (Ley 10/2010).
- Information when offering homes. Advertising must not mislead and what you advertise is binding; you must keep the home’s details available to the buyer, and the total price includes, where applicable, your fee and VAT (Real Decreto 515/1989).
- What clients can ask before paying. A buyer or tenant can ask for minimum information about the deal, the home and who is involved before signing or handing over money (Ley 12/2023, art. 31).
How much do agents earn?
It depends on how many deals you close, the fees you agree with each client and how you share them with other agencies or your network. The estate agent earnings calculator runs the numbers with your figures, including the cuota, income tax and your costs.
What you need on day one
From your first client you need one place to keep every buyer and seller with their next step. It can be a spreadsheet or a CRM. LeadWing is a CRM for independent agents: you paste in each enquiry and it becomes a client card, free up to 10 clients. If you’ll advertise on portals, see what each portal charges first.
Sources
All checked on 19 October 2026.
- National law: Ley 10/2003, Real Decreto-ley 4/2000, Real Decreto 1294/2007.
- Catalonia: Ley 18/2007, Decreto 12/2010, application. Valencia region: Decreto 98/2022, judgment 706/2024, court press note, CNMC case file.
- Andalusia: Ley 5/2025, BOE-A-2026-21762. Balearic Islands: Ley 3/2024. Madrid: Decreto 8/2018, RAIN. Navarre: Decreto Foral 33/2019. Canary Islands: Decreto 11/2022. Basque Country: Ley 3/2015, STC 97/2018.
- Registration and tax: modelo 036, IAE tariffs, Ley de Haciendas Locales, RETA registration, Orden PJC/297/2026, Estatuto del Trabajo Autónomo, Ley del IVA, IRPF regulation, Real Decreto 197/2009, TRADE contract register, Real Decreto-ley 15/2025.
- Obligations: Ley 10/2010, Real Decreto 515/1989, Ley 12/2023.