Hi, a neighbour has applied to build on his land, in the UK we can log on to the planning portal and have a look at the drawings etc, is the same possible in Spain?,

You need to ask him for a copy of the planning permission (licence) or go to the planning department at your town hall and ask there.

It's not quite as transparent as in UK

Sounds like a visit to your local town hall

I don't know if you have a Geoportal. In our case the town has one https://www.lloret.cat/seccions/territori/geoportal and you can hover over the street to see the planning conditions. You can't see actual drawings, but you will know the planning conditions and I just picked a random street here where a plot is empty. Maybe other towns have better tools with even more information.
Planning conditions
Max. height (m) 7,5
Buildable depth (m) See Article 166 of the Urban Planning Regulations
Nº Plants 2
Description. Plants PB+I