The future of the Real Estate profession in Spain! New guarantees for clients!
The profession Real Estate Agent is an unregulated profession in Spain since the year 2000. Before that an agent had to have an API or GIPE license to be able to work legally in the sector. The government’s idea at that time was to get a more “dynamic” marketplace where the ball was passed to each of the 17 autonomous regions of Spain, so that they could legislate in accordance with their specific needs. I guess it was a good intention as it is not the same to sell properties in Madrid as on the Costa del Sol or the Canary Islands, for example. However it took until 2010 (!) until the first region, Cataluña, actually put in a proper legislation to regulate the profession with enforcement of licenses and liability insurance. The region of Valencia was next to follow in 2022, and in 2024 the Balearic Island also followed suit. Andalucia, Madrid and Navarra are also very advanced in the plans of introducing similar laws.
What does this mean for Real Estate Agents on the Costa del Sol? And how can they prepare for the imminent change in legislation?
So, first of all what does the current legislation entail and is it expected to be similar in Andalucia?
Catalonia and Valencia have very similar legislations and the key features are listed below. In order to be able to register as an estate agent in the obligatory register the applicant has to:
Complete a 200 hour course with set subjects, such as consumer law, contracts, property law, urban planning etc.
Contract a professional liability insurance that covers the business practices and any money held for clients, such as deposits.
In Valencia the agency needs to have a physical location that is open to the public within the region.
So how to prepare?
It is obviously impossible to know exactly what the Andalusian law will involve, however we assume it will be very similar to the Catalan law which has been very successful for 14 years. In my company we did the certification courses for Catalonia already in 2020 in order to be prepared, so we are already certified by API-ANAI which is the largest professional association in Spain with over 6000 registered agents. We are also very active on the board of directors in the GIPE Real Estate Guild based in Malaga. GIPE (Gestores Inmobiliarios Profesionales Europeos – “Profesional European Real Estate Brokers”) was founded in 1985 and is one of the oldest real estate guilds in Spain. In 2023 we converted it to the first BI-LINGUAL (Spanish/English) professional association in Spain, and we now offer the certification courses in both languages. Other benefits for members are the low cost of liability insurance, co-working office in the centre of Malaga, training courses, networking events and legal services.
In GIPE we are working to prepare Real Estate Agents in Andalucia for the imminent change and to enhance the professionalism in the sector. I am positive the obligatory register will come to Andalucia shortly and, by looking at the results it has had in Cataluña over the last decade it is something to look forward to. Both for Estate Agents and clients. A regulated market means more guarantees for clients, workers and real estate companies.
As vice-president of GIPE I also get a bit of insight on the European level as we are members of the European Federation and there is some exciting news here as well. We are introducing a new Quality Seal that will be shown in all of the European Union – so a professional real estate agent in Spain, Sweden, Germany, France etc will all show the same Quality symbol in their offices and have to comply with set quality procedures and courses. I think this is very exciting news for Estate Agents on the Costa del Sol that work with international clients. GIPE will be in charge of distribution of the European Quality Seals (MMCEPI) for Spain.
So, fellow estate agents on the Costa del Sol – prepare! And if you want help please feel free to reach out to info@gipe.es and the association is happy to help you become a true professional prepared for the future.
