A reason for this is the increase in house prices, which has made the buying and renting-out of properties a lucrative business. Another reason is tax. Properties bought through companies pay less tax than those bought by individuals. And if the company is foreign, it is exempt from certain other taxes in Spain. Real-estate sources suggest that buying a home through a company provides a shield against paying taxes and downplay the fact that some companies buy properties purely for speculative purposes.
The registrars’ figures show that 14,633 properties were sold in the Balearics in 2025. Of these, 2,139 were bought by companies or investment funds.
Apart from the Balearics and the Canaries, only Madrid tops 14% of purchases made this way. In Catalonia, where the tax burden on luxury home purchases (14% of the total price) is the same as in the Balearics, the percentage was 12.5%.
The Spanish average was eleven per cent. Regions with the lowest percentages – below six per cent – included the Basque Country and Navarre.
