BRITONS have reclaimed the top spot as Spain’s biggest foreign homebuyers after briefly losing the crown to Dutch property hunters last year.
UK buyers purchased 3,511 properties across Spain in the first six months of 2026, records show, accounting for 7% of all transactions by foreign buyers – more than any other nationality.
Dutch buyers now come in second, with 3,434 purchases over the same period, after briefly topping the ranking in late 2025, according to figures from Spain’s Notary Council.
Brits have dominated Spain’s housing market for more than a decade, though their share has steadily declined since 2016, when UK purchases peaked at a staggering 22% of all property transactions across the country.
They had been followed by Germans since 2021, though Dutch purchases have surged over the past two years, cementing their position as silver medallists with 6.95% of all purchases in the second quarter of 2026.
The figures come despite a broader slowdown in Spain’s property market, with overall home sales falling for the second consecutive quarter.
A total of 167,934 properties changed hands between April and June, down 5.7% on the previous quarter and the lowest figure in seven quarters.
However, foreign buyers bucked the trend, completing more than 26,800 purchases during the quarter – a record number despite the wider market slowdown.
International buyers accounted for 15.98% of all property purchases, their highest share on record, with both the percentage and absolute number of transactions rising.
Foreign demand was particularly strong in the Balearic Islands and Valencia region, where overseas buyers accounted for 32.27% and 31.03% of all purchases respectively.
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