How to set up, connect and pay your utility bills in Spain

Once you have found the right home for you in Spain, you will need to ensure all utilities are operating in your name before you move in. As well as electricity and water, this may include mains gas if it is available in your area, and possibly home internet or a landline telephone.

In most cases, the estate agency, lawyer, or both, who are involved in your homebuying process, will arrange to have existing water, gas and electricity supplies put into your name and linked to your bank account for bill payments. They may also do so, if you ask them, with any landline telephone already serving the property.

Utility companies normally make a charge for a change of ownership, or for reconnection where the previous owner has already moved out and had the supply cut off. You might pay an additional fee to your lawyer or estate agent for handling the transfer, or this may be included in their standard fees or commission for the purchase process.

If your home is a new build, it may not yet have a supply of its own. The same may apply if you have bought a much older property that has been unoccupied for some time, with the intention of renovating it. In these cases, process of connecting to mains utilities is often a little more complex and costly.

You might decide, for whatever reason, to arrange connection or owner transfer yourself. If so, you may find it helpful to follow our guidelines below.

Electricity

How to arrange a supply in your own name differs depending upon whether the property already has one, or whether you are connecting for the first time. Also, if the property is already connected to the mains supply, you may want to modify certain aspects of it, such as the power level.

In all cases, you will need to fill in a form to submit to your electricity supplier. You may be able to do this online, or handwrite it at a local branch of your electricity board. On the form, you will be asked to confirm the type of electricity connection – new, existing, an upgrade to an existing supply, or a temporary supply for works where the property is unoccupied – and the type of property.

Existing connections: Changing owner details

Firstly, your chosen electricity supplier will need you to confirm the following information:

• Your NIE number. This is your personal, non-transferable and permanent 'personal code', or national identification number. You need to obtain this before undertaking any transaction in Spain, including buying a house. To find out more, we recommend you read our article What is a NIE, why do I need one, and how do I get one?
• Bank account details for bill payment. Bills in Spain are usually paid by direct debit, which can only be set up from an account with a bank based in Spain. To find out more about this, you can read our article Do I need a Spanish bank account to buy a property in Spain?
• The full address of the property, and your contact address if this is different.
• Your telephone number.
• Your email address if you have one.
• The map coordinates for your property. These should be on your title deeds, or you may be able to find them online or via a GPS system for your car or home, if you have these.

You will also be asked to choose your desired power level (potencia). This dictates how much electricity you can use at any one time, or how many appliances you can run at once. Your electricity supplier will be able to give you details of potencias available, tariff systems, and advise you on how these work.

New connections

Firstly, you will need to check whether your property is served by mains electricity. Your supplier can tell you this, and explain how to apply for a connection. Most electricity boards allow you to do this online. You can also ask your electrical installation engineer to do it for you.

Once you have completed the application, the electricity provider will send you a financial and technical report detailing any works needed to create a connection, and the costs involved. You will then need to pay this connection fee, and wait for the electricity board to carry out the works in the street to link up your property to the supply.

At the same time, your electrical installation engineer will need to carry out works inside your property, including wiring, to enable it to be linked to the mains. When these are complete, the engineer will give you an installation certificate, sometimes referred to as aBoletín del Instalador, or Certificado de Instalación Eléctrica.

You will need to show your installation certificate, along with the documents listed above in the 'Existing connections: Changing owner details' section, to your electricity company.

Once the necessary checks have been carried out, the electricity board will arrange to fit a meter, or to activate any existing meter in the property. The latter will probably be carried out remotely, meaning you do not need to be at home or arrange an appointment.

Depending upon your supplier, and the complexity or otherwise of your connection application, it usually takes between one and eight working days between completing the process and fitting and activating the meter. Once the meter is in place and activated, you will be able to use your mains electricity supply straight away.

Mains gas

You will firstly need to check whether the property already has a mains gas installation. If it does not, you will then need to find out whether this service is available in your area.

New mains gas installation

Even if gas is available in your town, a new installation may be costly and disruptive, so you should decide to what extent you really need it. Gas for central heating may not be a worthwhile investment in southern and Mediterranean areas, since you will only need home heating for a month or two of the year at most; an air-conditioning unit would provide this facility. Hot-water boilers can run on electricity relatively cheaply. A gas hob or barbecue can be served using butane gas bottles, either purchased yourself from suppliers or delivered directly to your home and connected for a small fee.

If you decide the investment in a mains gas installation is, indeed, worthwhile, you will need to:

• Contact a mains gas supply company. They will then research the works needed to fit a gas system in your home, and give you an estimate of the cost;
• Obtain and pay for a works licence. Gas companies will do this for you. Licences are issued by town councils, and include a permit for occupying pavement or road space where necessary. The licence fee may be charged to you separately, or may be included in the final price;
• Contract a gas installation engineer. Your supplier may send one of their own, or they can give you a list of recommended, licensed engineers for you to contact;
• Connect to the mains supply. Your supplier is responsible for ensuring the supply from the street reaches your house, and the engineer you appoint will deal with the distribution of the supply throughout your property.
• Set up the gas supply contract. You can sometimes do this by telephone or internet, although you may need to visit your nearest branch of your supplier. They will ask you to give details of, or show, the following documents: NIE number, bank account details, full address, CUPS code (Código Universal del Punto de Suministro) and installation certificate.

Once you have set up the supply contract, your gas supplier will make an appointment to fit a meter, then inform you as soon as your mains gas is ready to use. It can take approximately five to 10 days between provifding the above details and your supply going live.

Existing mains gas installation

If the property you buy already has mains gas, you should contact the supplier to arrange for the service to be transferred into your name. They may appoint an engineer to inspect the installation and inform you of any additional works needed, along with an estimated cost.

Where no works are necessary and the transaction is a straightforward change of ownership, you will need to contact your supplier and give details of the above-mentioned documents. You may also need to show the purchase contract for your property and a copy of the most recent bill sent to the previous owner.

In most cases, a simple change of ownership or bill-payer is free of charge, and takes place instantly.

In all cases, your gas supplier will be able to explain in full the steps you need to take, and answer any questions you may have.

Mains water

Unlike gas and electricity, which are provided by national companies and where you can choose your own supplier, mains water is supplied by the company operating in your town. They are often partly or fully owned or run by your local town council, and rates payable are different from one town to another. This means you cannot 'shop around' for a better deal, but it does mean your bills will only reflect the cost of supply and maintenance of the public system, with no profit margin for the utility company.

New water supply

Unless you are building your own property on land you have bought, or it is a rural building not classified for residential use, it will already have a mains water supply serving it. Where it does not, contact your local water board and find out how you can get connected. They will normally give you a list of accredited technicians, who will apply for the necessary works licences.

Once the work is complete, you will need to show the following documents to the local water supply company:

• Your NIE number. You may also be asked to show identification (ID) with a photograph, such as a passport, or an ID card from your home country. If you are a citizen of a country from outside the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), you will have a TIE card as proof of legal residence in Spain.
• Title deeds to your property. If you have a mortgage, the deeds will be held by your lender, but you will have received an abridged copy of the deeds when you completed your purchase. This is known as a Nota Simple;
• Purchase contract for your property. This may, or may not, be needed, either instead of or together with the title deeds or Nota Simple;
• Certificate of habitability, or cédula. This is granted by the town council for newly-built properties once the urbanisation, block, or individual house have been completed according to the plans filed with the town hall.
• Installation certificate, or Boletín del Instalador. This is a document provided by the accredited installer who set up the mains water system in your home.

This scenario is very rare, so in most cases, you will be merely changing the ownership details of an existing supply.

Existing water supply: Change of ownership

To transfer the water supply from a property you have bought into your own name, you will need to produce the following documents:

• Proof of address for your supply – a copy of the title deeds, Nota Simple, or a certificado de empadronamiento issued within the last three months. This document is proof you have registered on the padrón, or local population census, which is necessary to do whenever moving to a new town. You can find out more about this in our article What is the Padrón and how do I register on it?;
• Your NIE number and possibly your photo ID;
• Bank account number for bill payments;
• Copy of the most recent bill paid by the previous owner. Your estate agent or lawyer will normally be able to obtain this from the seller during the purchase process.

Costs and timescales

In both cases – for a brand-new supply, or changing the name of the bill-payer for an existing supply – takes an average of three to four days. This varies from town to town, and may be instant for ownership transfers for existing supplies.

Setting up a new water connection usually attracts a fee which, again, varies from town to town. On average, this is between €30 and €300, but is rarely more than €200.

Changing ownership of an existing supply is usually free of charge, but you may need to provide a deposit to cover water consumed before the first bill is paid. The amount of this deposit is normally based upon the average level of consumption for the property to date, plus an additional margin. Given that water bills vary considerably from town to town, it is not possible to give a typical sum for this deposit, but your water board will tell you in advance, so you can budget for it.

This deposit is normally refunded either in the first bill payment, or in instalments over the first few months, depending upon the amount of water used.

Water bills may be charged every month, but in some towns, this may be every two or three months.

Landline telephone and home internet (ADSL)

If you decide you need either of these, you should contact a provider of your choice and arrange for one of their engineers to visit. They will then install the necesssary connections after giving you an estimate for the cost of the works. In some cases, this cost may be included in your future bills.

Spain has an ever-growing network of telecommunications providers, meaning competition is very healthy and options for tariffs or packages vary considerably. For this reason, you may want to 'shop around' to find the best deal before committing to an installation.

Your home may already have a landline telephone number, home internet, or both, if the property has been previously owned. Should you wish to keep these, you will need to contact the supplier to effect a bill-payer transfer. Documents needed include your NIE, your bank account details for bill payments, and proof of address, such as your certificado de empadronamiento, title deeds, or Nota Simple.

Electricity, water and, if applicable, mains gas and telecommunications are some of the key expenses you should plan for when buying a property in Spain. Other expenses – some compulsory and some highly recommended – will need to be borne in mind when working out your budget for living in Spain. You can find out more about these in our article Fixed costs that you will pay as a property owner in Spain.