Hi All

Just joined this community. I am about to finish the purchase on my holiday home in Las Casillas in Andalucia. I am wondering about how to go about setting up the utility contracts for electricity, water, refuse collection and wifi. Also what is Spain version of the council tax? Any advice would be very welcome.

May Thanks

Normally, either the lawyer or gestor you are using for the purchase, or the estate agent, will do all of that for you (if asked to), it's regarded as part of the service. The equivalent of Council Tax in Spain is called IBI. Bills are usually issued some time between July and September each year (varies between different local authorities) for the calendar year from 1st January - 31st December and again the lawyer or gestor should arrange for the bills to be issued in your name. Strictly speaking the owner of the property as at 1st January is responsible for paying the bill for the whole of that year, but these days it is common for the vendor and the purchaser to agree a pro rata split based on their periods of ownership. If the person you are buying from has already paid the bill for the whole of this year you may be asked to pay them a contribution, then you should get the bill for 2025 some time next summer.

Thanks very much. Lynn, I'll contact my lawyer.

I assume by Wi-Fi you mean an internet connection—that is up to you—but if you are in a flat, some buildings do not have all suppliers connected, so it is best to check what is available to you.

See which suppliers 'pop up' in a wifi scan when you are in your property - O2 are very competitive but all depends on what service you want and who can connect you.

Very valid point! When I moved to the present apartment a few months ago, there was no internet connection (previous connection was terminated). I thought it was just a simple thing to find the most competitive offer from many advertised, but the first three providers, when they came on site, couldn't connect me. In one case there was no main fibre connection in our street, with the second they couldn't get permission from our neighbour to connect to the supply as the cable has to go over their façade. Finally I found the name of a supplier stuck on supply point attached above our front entrance, and engineer was able to connect after a couple of hours' labour. It was all done free of charge with new router and 500MB speed.