Torrevieja has one of the highest concentrations of foreign residents anywhere in Spain. It also has one of the highest concentrations of Spanish property owned by people who never made a Spanish will.
Those two facts produce the same conversation over and over: a family arrives after a death, discovers the bank accounts are frozen, and learns that the process they assumed would take a fortnight will take most of a year.
Do I need a Spanish lawyer in Torrevieja?
For anything involving Spanish property, inheritance or a court deadline, yes. A gestoría can process paperwork but cannot represent you in court or advise on legal risk. Ask for the bar registration number of whoever will handle your matter — every lawyer in this firm is registered with the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Alicante.
Inheritance: the Torrevieja problem in detail
Most estates here involve a property, a Spanish bank account, and heirs living in another country. That combination has three pressure points.
No Spanish will. Without one, heirs need a formal declaración de herederos before anything can move. It adds months. With one, the notary works directly from the will.
The six-month deadline. Spanish inheritance tax must be filed within six months of the date of death — not from probate abroad. Families dealing with a UK or Irish estate in parallel routinely miss it.
Beneficiaries outside Groups I and II. The Valencia region’s 99% relief covers spouses, children and parents. It does not cover siblings, nieces, nephews or unmarried partners — a common profile in Torrevieja, where many couples never married or married abroad without registering here.
The tax itself, for a spouse or child, is now modest: inheriting €200,000 produces a bill of about €124. You can check your own position with our Spanish inheritance tax calculator, or read the full guide to inheritance in Spain for foreigners.
If you own a property in Torrevieja and have no Spanish will, that single €60 document at the notary removes the most expensive part of what your family will otherwise face.
Road accident claims
The N-332, the CV-95 and the urban roads around the Habaneras area produce a steady flow of collisions involving residents and visitors. If you are injured — as driver, passenger, cyclist, pedestrian or scooter rider — you can claim under the statutory compensation scale of Ley 35/2015, whether or not you are a Spanish resident.
Three things worth knowing before you deal with the insurer:
- The insurer has three months to make a formal offer once you claim. Miss that, and default interest starts running against them.
- The claim generally must be brought within one year, but that period restarts once a formal offer is notified to you.
- The doctor who assesses your injuries on behalf of the insurer is paid by the company that will pay your compensation.
That last point is where we do the actual work. Santamaría Baeza has in-house medical assessment and rehabilitation, so the report supporting your claim comes from a team answerable to the firm, not to the insurer. And we work with no money up front: no lawyer, no medical expert, no court agent. If you do not recover, we do not charge.
Property purchases and sales
Torrevieja resale purchases carry specific risks worth checking before signing anything: unregistered extensions and enclosed terraces, outstanding community fees attached to the property, and charges still recorded at the Land Registry. In Spanish conveyancing, almost all of the protection happens before the notary appointment, not after.
Community of owners disputes
A large share of Torrevieja housing is in comunidades de propietarios. We act on non-payment of community fees, challenges to community resolutions, and disputes over works and common areas.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have an office in Torrevieja?
Our office is in Alicante city, at Av. de Aguilera 39, and we act throughout the province, including the Torrevieja courts. Most inheritance and property matters are handled remotely by power of attorney, so clients rarely need to travel to us.
Can I deal with everything from the UK or Ireland?
Yes. A power of attorney executed before a notary in your own country and apostilled, or signed at a Spanish consulate, lets us handle a purchase, sale or inheritance without you being in Spain.
How much does it cost?
Injury claims: 15% plus VAT of what is actually recovered, nothing in advance. Wills, inheritance and conveyancing: a fixed fee quoted in writing before we start. A Spanish will itself involves notary fees of around €60.
My relative died in Torrevieja and we do not know if there was a will. What do we do?
Apply for the certificado de últimas voluntades, the central register that records whether a Spanish will was made and before which notary. It can be requested from fifteen working days after death, and it is the first step regardless of what the family believes.
Is it too late if the accident or the death was a while ago?
Often not. Limitation periods in Spain are short but they interrupt and restart in ways that surprise people — a formal insurer’s offer restarts the one-year accident period, for example. Send us the dates before assuming the matter is closed.
Talk to us first
If you are dealing with a Spanish property, an estate or an injury in Torrevieja, a first conversation usually clarifies whether you have a real problem or a formality.
Call 654 581 493 or write from our contact page, in English.