Guides for residents and newcomers
Procedures and services in the Balearic Islands, explained without jargon. Every guide cites its official sources with the date we checked them and links to the professionals in the directory.
General information. It does not replace the advice of a professional.
- Which paperwork do I need?Answer a few questions and get your personal paperwork roadmap, in order and with the official sources.
- Buying a home in the Balearics: who does whatWhat the notary, lawyer, estate agent and gestoría each do, and what to gather before signing.
- The NIE and your first steps after arrivingWhat the NIE is, how to apply, what changes if you are from the EU or the UK, and how the padrón and the health card work.
- Choosing a dentist or physiotherapist: the health register (REGCESS)What it means for a clinic to be in the health register, what it does not mean, and how to check in a few minutes.
- Professional bodies (colegios): how to check registrationHow to check that a lawyer, psychologist, dentist or physiotherapist is registered, with links to the official search tools.
- Home renovations: permits and who to callWhich works need a licence, which only a prior notice, who decides and who to call for each part.
- Self-employed or company: gestoría or tax adviser?Basic differences between being self-employed and setting up a limited company, and how a gestoría differs from a tax adviser.
- Renting a home in the Balearics: contract, deposit and basic rightsWhich law applies, how the deposit and its registration with the IBAVI work, what is worth putting in writing and what is not a residential let.
- Opening a business or activity in the Balearics: licence, registration and official countersThe four steps in order (legal form, premises and activity, tax registration, Social Security) and which official counter to go to.
- Tax residence in Spain for Germans and Britons: the 183-day rule and the treatiesWhen you are tax resident in Spain, what the 183-day rule means, what form 030 is for and what the treaties with Germany and the UK do.
- Schools, nurseries and early-years centres in the Balearics: types, places and how to check authorisationThe difference between public, state-subsidised and private centres, how to apply for a place and how to check that a centre is authorised by the Conselleria.
- Family doctor and public healthcare in the Balearics: health card, health centre and emergenciesHow to get the IB-Salut health card, how to book at the health centre, what to do in an emergency and when private insurance is required to reside.
- Registering a foreign-plated car in the Balearics: steps, taxes and documentsWhen to re-register, in what order (ITV, special tax or exemption, road tax, traffic office and plates) and when a gestoría is worth it.
- Form 210: non-resident tax on a home you own or rent out in the BalearicsWhen a non-resident who owns, rents out or sells a home must file form 210, the deadlines, how to file and pay from abroad, and when a representative is needed.
- Inheritance and succession tax in the Balearics for foreign residents and owners: which law applies, where tax is paid and deadlinesWhich law governs the estate of a German or British person, which tax office collects the tax, what tax advantages the Balearics offer, deadlines, forms, wills and heirs’ NIE.
- Glossary of procedures and terms73 terms on paperwork, taxes and registers, explained in a sentence or two.