Reservation Contracts and the Contrato de Arras Explained
By David Los · October 2026 · Buying in Spain
A Spanish property purchase normally uses two private contracts before the notary deed: a short reservation agreement with a smaller holding deposit, then the contrato de arras with about 10% of the price. The arras only gives either party a clean walk-away if the contract says the deposit is penitential under article 1454 of the Civil Code; otherwise the money is treated as an advance on the price and withdrawal becomes a breach. This guide explains each document, typical amounts on the Costa del Sol, and the checks that should finish before you sign.
What is a reservation contract in Spain?
A reservation contract, often called a contrato de reserva, is the short private agreement that follows an accepted offer. It names the property, fixes the agreed price, takes the home off the market for a defined period, and collects a holding deposit while your lawyer runs due diligence. On the Costa del Sol the holding sum is commonly €6,000 to €20,000, though agents sometimes quote a round percentage instead. The reservation is not the deed and it is not the main deposit contract: it buys time for the registry search, the community certificate, the energy certificate check and the tax reference review described in our guide to buying property in Spain.
What is the contrato de arras?
The contrato de arras is the private deposit contract that locks the sale terms before the notary appointment. Buyers usually pay about 10% of the price, the completion date is fixed, and the list of what stays in the sale, furniture, parking and storage, is written down. The word arras covers several legal types, so the label on the form matters less than the clause that says whether the deposit is penitential, confirmatory or a simple part payment. The seller's mirror view of the same document is in our selling property in Spain guide, because the walk-away maths runs both ways.
How do confirmatorias and penitenciales arras differ?
Spanish practice distinguishes three deposit types. Confirmatorias arras are an advance on the price: they prove the contract exists but they do not give a cheap exit. Penitenciales arras follow article 1454 of the Civil Code and let either party walk away, the buyer by losing the deposit and the seller by returning double. Penales arras compensate a specific breach rather than offering a mutual right to desist. Courts look at the signed wording, not the heading on the agent's template, which is why a lawyer should draft or review the arras clause rather than reusing last year's file.
- Confirmatorias: the money counts toward the price at completion; backing out is a breach with ordinary contract remedies, not a forfeiture under article 1454.
- Penitenciales: either party may rescind by accepting the article 1454 penalty, buyer loses the deposit, seller returns double.
- Penales: a fixed sum for a defined breach; not the same as the symmetric walk-away in penitential arras.
If arras have been given in a sale contract, the buyer may withdraw by forfeiting them and the seller by returning doubleSource: Código Civil, article 1454, BOE · October 2026 · View market data →
How much deposit do buyers pay before completion?
The reservation is smaller and the arras is larger, but both need to be modelled against the full cash requirement, not only the headline price. Purchase costs in Andalucía still add roughly 10 to 14% on top of the price for a resale, and a financed buyer also needs the bank's valuation gap covered. Against October 2026 asking data, a 10% arras line on the coast median home is about €65,600 before fees, which is why we treat the arras as the real commitment point rather than the reservation.
Costa del Sol active resale inventory: 7,816 listings, coast median asking €656,000 at €4,733/m²; apartments median €485,000 across 3,579 listings and townhouses median €580,000 across 841 listingsSource: Hometailor market data · October 2026 · View market data →
| Stage | Typical amount (illustrative) | Legal effect |
|---|---|---|
| Reservation hold | €6,000 to €20,000 | Freezes marketing while due diligence runs; refund rules depend on the reservation text |
| Arras at 10% on €656,000 median | about €65,600 | Penitential if article 1454 wording is present; otherwise treated as price advance |
| Balance at notary | remaining 90% plus costs | Paid on the escritura; keys and registry filing follow |
What should an arras contract include?
A usable arras names every party with NIE or passport, describes the property with registry reference, states the full price and the deposit paid, fixes the completion date, lists inclusions, and allocates who pays notary, registry and tax lines. It should say explicitly whether the deposit is penitential under article 1454 or confirmatory, because that single choice defines whether either side can walk away cleanly. Add a mortgage contingency if you finance: either a deadline to obtain a binding offer or a return of the deposit if the bank declines after reasonable efforts. Community debt, licence status and energy certificate obligations belong here too, because they are the items that explode after signing if nobody checked them first.
When should you sign arras relative to due diligence?
Sign arras only after your lawyer has the nota simple, the community certificate, the IBI receipt, the energy certificate and any rental or tourist licence checks that matter to you. The mistakes we see most often are rushed reservations on holiday viewings and relaxed due diligence after the arras, when the leverage reverses. Our mistakes guide walks the community and licence checks in detail; treat this page as the contract layer that sits on top of that work.
What happens if a mortgage is refused after arras?
Article 1454 does not automatically rescue a buyer whose bank says no. If the arras are penitential and no mortgage clause exists, the buyer who cannot complete risks losing the deposit. If the arras are confirmatory, refusal may still be a breach, but the remedy is damages rather than automatic forfeiture. The practical fix is to agree a mortgage contingency before signing, aligned with realistic bank timelines in our non-resident mortgage guide, and to start the bank file before you fly out to view.
Spanish Supreme Court case law in 2026 continues to treat expressly penitential arras under article 1454 as a symmetric walk-away when the clause names that article, including in pre-sale reservation contracts with consumersSource: Tribunal Supremo, STS 538/2026, 9 April 2026 · October 2026 · View market data →
How arras fits the rest of the purchase bill
The deposit is not a separate fee: penitential arras that survive to completion count toward the price, while the reservation is usually credited against the arras or the balance depending on the drafts. Transfer tax, notary and registry still sit on top of the price, which is why we model the whole stack before anyone signs. The regional tax map and annual ownership lines are in our costs of owning property in Spain guide, and live asking prices by town are on our Costa del Sol price pages.
Written and reviewed by
Founder & Head of Research, Hometailor · Last reviewed: October 2026
Born and raised in Sweden, David has spent over a decade analysing property markets on the Costa del Sol and has guided hundreds of international buyers through Spanish purchases in English, Swedish and Polish. He writes and reviews all research content at Hometailor, and triangulates everything before it publishes: independent lawyers, agents inside and outside Hometailor, and the live market data behind this site.
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