Estate agents in Spain to start property viewings from May 11

In the meantime, they will be able to reopen their offices to the public from this coming Monday, May 4, subject to prior appointment.

The country's 120,000-plus estate agencies have been in contact with clients by telephone and via the Internet only for the last two months, and will now, finally, be able to start showing potential buyers around properties for sale, in person.

From May 11, estate agency staff will be permitted to make visits, take photographs, and liaise with sellers, but will initially be restricted to the province where they are based.

Rules apply, including maintaining social distancing – at least a metre – and with all staff and customers to be equipped with 'anti-pandemic kits': gloves, masks, hand sanitiser, and disposable gauze 'socks' over their shoes, such as those used by intensive care visitors or given out at airport security for those taking their footwear off.

According to the ministry of transport, mobility and urban agenda, 'provided the required precautions are taken, visits to offices and buildings can be arranged', but that individual sellers or renters cannot do so as yet – only estate agencies.

The National Federation of Estate Agencies (FAI) says it expects the industry's return to business as usual will be 'gradual' and take around a week, in line with similar dates proposed for the reopening of high-street trade in general.

Small shops can reopen on May 11, which includes estate agencies, but shopping centres and very large premises cannot do so until May 26 – likewise estate agencies that fall into the 'large premises' category, as yet to be properly defined – since major retail complexes and other, similar-sized businesses carry a greater risk of big crowds building up.

Finer details remain up in the air at the moment, but industry leaders have been pressuring the government to provide flexibility by location – as an example, the proposed restriction of only viewing properties within the same province as the buyer's current residence, or the estate agency office, could mean that in popular tourism hotspots on the coast, a person based close to a province border may be able to view a potential home 150 kilometres away but not one five kilometres away, points out Eva González-Nebreda, spokeswoman for the FIABCI international estate agency federation.

A sensible initial solution could be allowing travel within the same province, or to adjacent districts or comarcas for those based close to the edge.

Many member establishments have already been bulk-buying 'anti-pandemic kits' in anticipation of being able to restart normal trade before summer.

Industry experts believe the process of buying and selling could be about to change – estate agents, as intermediaries, are likely to carry out more thorough assessments of each client's needs and desires to avoid unproductive viewings where possible, leaving the physical customer visit right to the end, and they expect document signing and other transactions to be online wherever they can.

FAI spokesman José María Alfaro says the industry expects a greater concentration of viewings for rentals in the short term, rather than for buying, and is not predicting any decrease in rent prices – although it is quite possible that existing and future tenants will want to negotiate rates with landlords, given the general disruption to life, trade and income in the last two months.

It is mainly the 'extremely limited offer' of rentals that push their prices up, especially in large cities, says Alfaro – the offer tends to increase in summer with holiday rentals, but will not be enough to bring prices down.

Alfaro forecasts a 'slight fall' in house prices, which will 'offer some good opportunities for mature buyers', and hopefully stimulate the market.