Santa Eulària Leads Spain's Home Values with Foreign Buyers

Santa Eulària des Riu has topped Spain's official home values for 17 quarters, according to Black Privé's findings. This trend is a result of the significant presence of foreign buyers, who made up 32% of Balearic purchases as the 2025 rules tightened. The Colegio de Registradores reported that foreign buyers accounted for 32.27 percent of home purchases in the Balearic Islands during the second quarter of 2026, a figure that is nearly double the national average of 15.98 percent. Among the largest groups of foreign buyers are Britons, Dutch, and Germans.

The tightening of rules for foreign buyers in 2025 has had a notable impact. Spain ended its golden visa program on April 3, 2025, meaning that buying a home no longer brings residency. The Balearic government then banned new tourist apartments in buildings across the islands. In August, Ibiza's island council closed tourist letting to homes on rustic land built after 1956, a move that removes 82 percent of the roughly 7,800 rustic-land homes that could have qualified.

Buyers now face a more stringent scrutiny of their properties. Since 2025, a villa's tourist registration deserves the same scrutiny as its title deeds.

The Balearic Islands have specific tax rules for home purchases. The transfer tax on a resale home rises in bands from 8 percent to 13 percent, with 13 percent on the part of the price above EUR 2 million. On a EUR 5 million villa, this amounts to EUR 600,000, or 12 percent of the price, for residents and non-residents alike. A new home pays 10 percent VAT instead, plus 2 percent stamp duty once the value reaches EUR 1 million.

Owning a home in the Balearics comes with a wealth tax. Non-residents pay it on Spanish assets above a EUR 700,000 allowance, at rates of up to 3.5 percent. This means that a non-resident with EUR 5 million of net Spanish assets would pay about EUR 53,500 a year. In comparison, the same owner in Marbella or Madrid would pay about EUR 22,100, as those regions relieve wealth tax down to the amount of Spain's solidarity tax on large fortunes. The wealth tax paid is deducted from that solidarity tax, so an Ibiza owner normally owes no solidarity tax on top.

Inheritance tax relief has been introduced since July 2023. Children, grandchildren, spouses, and parents receive a 100 percent regional relief on Balearic inheritance tax. Heirs can use this relief even when the deceased lived outside Spain, as they apply the rules of the region holding the greatest value of the Spanish assets.

Ibiza's airport handled 9,138,224 passengers in 2025, with the UK being the largest international market, with 1.87 million passengers. Black Privé's Ibiza property tax guide covers every charge from purchase to inheritance, providing comprehensive information on the market, residency, holiday-let rules, and the island's prime areas. The guide also includes buyer guides for the UK, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium, and Italy.

The figures provided are general information on the 2026 rules and should not be considered tax advice.