Beyond the Brits: Foreign Buyers Ranked
Based on the Q1 2026 Spanish Real Estate Land Registry Statistics report, foreign demand reached 13.9% of all purchases during the quarter, totalling just under 24,800 properties.
The following table details the number of properties sold to the top 18 foreign nationalities in Spain during Q1 2026. Note that these figures are derived by applying the specific percentage of each nationality relative to the total number of foreign purchases (approximately 24,795 based on the 13.92% weight of 178,096 total sales).
| Rank | Nationality | % of Foreign Purchases | Estimated Number of Sales |
| 1 | United Kingdom | 6.82% | 1,691 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 6.56% | 1,627 |
| 3 | Morocco | 6.21% | 1,540 |
| 4 | Germany | 6.09% | 1,510 |
| 5 | Italy | 5.54% | 1,374 |
| 6 | France | 5.20% | 1,289 |
| 7 | Romania | 5.20% | 1,289 |
| 8 | Poland | 4.61% | 1,143 |
| 9 | Belgium | 4.28% | 1,061 |
| 10 | Ukraine | 3.08% | 764 |
| 11 | China | 2.69% | 667 |
| 12 | Sweden | 2.64% | 655 |
| 13 | Ireland | 1.60% | 397 |
| 14 | United States | 1.57% | 389 |
| 15 | Russia | 1.44% | 357 |
| 16 | Hungary | 1.33% | 330 |
| 17 | Lithuania | 1.13% | 280 |
| 18 | Portugal | 1.08% | 268 |
| – | Total Foreign Sales | 13.92% | ~24,800 |
What stands out is how concentrated this demand is geographically. Coastal and island markets continue to rely heavily on overseas buyers, with provinces such as Alicante and Málaga seeing foreign participation far above the national average. That matters because these markets behave differently from the wider Spanish housing market.
There is also a shift happening within the buyer mix. British buyers remain the largest group, but Dutch and North American demand has become more prominent over the past two years. Higher average budgets from U.S. buyers in particular are contributing to continued pressure on pricing in premium areas.
Among foreign buyers in Spain in Q1 2026, Poland and Morocco recorded the strongest quarterly gains in market share (up 15% and 7.4% respectively), while the UK saw the sharpest decline at -14%, followed by Germany at -8.4%.
The political debate around foreign ownership has intensified, but the data suggests the picture is more nuanced than headline narratives imply. Foreign demand is significant in certain regions and segments, especially luxury and lifestyle-driven markets, but housing supply constraints remain a central issue nationally.
How many properties were sold in Spain in Q1 (I hear you ask)?
In terms of property sales, things must have picked up in April. Nationally, we saw 178,096 properties sold in Q1 2025 a wee 0.1% decrease on the previous quarter and a modest 1.9% drop against the previous year. ni fu, ni fa as they say…
Key Market Totals
Total Registered Sales (All Buyers): 178,096 -1.9% against last year and -0.1% Q4 2025
Total New Housing Sales: 39,473
Total Used Housing Sales: 138,623
It should be noted that new build sales are counted by agents at the stage of reservation but are only notarised at completion, so this data reflect reservations which may have taken place 18-24 months previously and less of a sign of current market activity.ERI 2026_1T
