{"id":2019,"date":"2026-08-12T06:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T06:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/acheter-une-maison-sur-la-costa-brava\/faut-il-parler-espagnol-ou-catalan-pour-acheter\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T10:03:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:03:06","slug":"do-you-need-to-speak-spanish-or-catalan-to-buy","status":"publish","type":"amcb_kb_question","link":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/buying-a-house-on-the-costa-brava\/do-you-need-to-speak-spanish-or-catalan-to-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you need to speak Spanish or Catalan to buy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No, no law requires you to speak Spanish or Catalan to buy property in Spain. But the whole process takes place in those languages, and that is where misunderstandings get expensive. So the real question is not 'do I need to speak the language?' but 'who makes sure I have understood everything?'.<\/p>\n<h2>Two official languages in Catalonia<\/h2>\n<p>On the Costa Brava, Spanish and Catalan are both official languages. In practice, agencies and notaries work in Spanish, but some documents arrive in Catalan: notices from the town hall, planning documents, local bills, sometimes the <a href=\"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/buying-a-house-on-the-costa-brava\/how-the-spanish-land-registry-works\/\">nota simple from the land registry<\/a>. So you need to be able to read both, or have someone who does it for you.<\/p>\n<h2>At the notary: understanding is an obligation<\/h2>\n<p>The notary must make sure each party understands the deed they are signing. If you don't, they can require an interpreter, and some offices provide bilingual deeds. In any case, never discover the content of the deed on signing day: have it translated and explained beforehand.<\/p>\n<h2>The moments when language really matters<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/buying-a-house-on-the-costa-brava\/what-is-the-arras-contract\/\">arras contract<\/a> : it is the most binding document, and every clause must be clear to you.<\/li>\n<li>Dealings with the owners' association and the town hall, before and after the purchase.<\/li>\n<li>Water, electricity, insurance and bank contracts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How we work<\/h2>\n<p>We work with you in French, and in Spanish and Catalan with everyone else. Viewings, negotiation, reviewing documents, appointments at the notary: you always know what is being said and what you are signing. To find out more, our article <a href=\"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/2026\/08\/12\/acheter-en-espagne-sans-parler-espagnol-est-ce-vraiment-possible\/\">buying in Spain without speaking Spanish<\/a> describes the whole process.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Not speaking the language is not an obstacle. Signing something you don't understand is.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"menu_order":80,"template":"","amcb_kb_category":[24],"class_list":["post-2019","amcb_kb_question","type-amcb_kb_question","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/amcb_kb_question\/2019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/amcb_kb_question"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/amcb_kb_question"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/amcb_kb_question\/2019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2112,"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/amcb_kb_question\/2019\/revisions\/2112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"amcb_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achetermalincostabrava.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/amcb_kb_category?post=2019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}