Can I request a nota simple online without a digital certificate?

At the College of Registrars' e-office the request requires identification: electronic certificate, Cl@ve or a subscriber account. Private management portals do not require that access because they file the request with the Registry on the client's behalf.

How long does an online nota simple take?

The College of Registrars publishes an average turnaround of under two hours for the online nota simple. It is a published average, not a guaranteed deadline: some Registry offices may take longer.

What if I do not know the property's registry details?

You can locate it by address on the Registrars' Geoportal or request a nota de localización at the e-office. The referencia catastral from the IBI bill helps identify the property without ambiguity.

Is a nota simple downloaded from the internet valid?

Yes: the document issued by the e-office has the same informative content as one obtained in person. Remember that the nota simple is always an informative document, not a certificate.

How to request a nota simple online in Spain, step by step

Before you start: what you need

To request a nota simple online in Spain you need two things: to identify the property unambiguously and to prove your identity electronically. Have both ready before starting the request.

Any of these routes identifies the property:

CRU or IDUFIR: the property's unique registry code. It appears on previous notas simples and certificates.
Registry details: province, municipality, Land Registry office and finca number. They appear in the escritura.
Registered owner: the owner's name and NIF (Spanish tax ID).
Other data: the property's full address and municipality. This is the most common route, but it is not always enough: the address recorded at the Registry can differ from the current one, and some units (a penthouse, a storage room) cannot always be located by address alone. The referencia catastral, found on the IBI (council tax) bill, helps remove ambiguity.

Steps at the College of Registrars' e-office

The official channel is sede.registradores.org, the online office of the College of Registrars of Spain.

Locate the property. You can use the e-office search with the criteria above or the Geoportal (geoportal.registradores.org), which lets you search by address or on the map and shows the referencia catastral of each unit.
Identify yourself. When you request the note you will be asked to sign in with an electronic certificate, Cl@ve or a subscriber (abonado) account. Verified in the live flow in October 2026: requests are no longer completed anonymously.
Review the selected property and confirm the request details.
Pay the official fee: €9.02 plus VAT per property.
Receive the document: the College's published average turnaround is under two hours, and the download is made from the e-office itself.

If you do not know which Registry the property belongs to

When you only have partial data, the e-office offers the nota de localización, a report stating which Land Registry holds the property and under which number. Be aware: even if the result is negative, the service is still billed, as the e-office itself warns.

The private manager alternative

Several private portals process the nota simple on the client's behalf: you fill in a form, pay online (prices observed exceed €20 plus VAT) and receive the PDF by email. In exchange for the markup, they locate the property and handle filing errors. Always check who is behind the website: the official channel is the College of Registrars'.

Common mistakes to avoid

Confusing the referencia catastral with the finca registral: they are identifiers of different registers and do not correspond to each other.
Requesting the note with an incomplete or outdated address: if the property cannot be located, the localisation report is still billed.
Expecting certificate-level validity: the nota simple is purely informative.

Before you start: details worth having at hand

To locate the property, the e-office accepts several combinations of details. The more you have, the faster it goes:

The property's address (street, number, floor and door) and the municipality. This is usually enough.
The registry property number (finca registral), if it appears on the deed or on a previous nota simple.
The IDUFIR or CRU, the property's unique registry identifier, if you know it.
If you have none of these, the search can be attempted from the owner's details, although it may result in a location note instead.

You will also need to identify yourself: the Registrars' e-office asks for an electronic certificate, Cl@ve or a subscriber account, the same identification systems used by other Spanish public e-offices.

Step-by-step example

Go to the Registrars' e-office and choose the nota simple request option.
Identify yourself with your electronic certificate or Cl@ve.
Fill in the location details: address and municipality, or the registry identifier if you have it.
Review the summary, pay the fee (9,02 euros plus VAT) and submit the request.
You will receive the nota simple as a PDF. According to the Registrars' association, the average turnaround is under two hours.

Frequent mistakes when requesting one

Getting the municipality wrong: the property is searched at the Land Registry of its own district; a wrong municipality can end in a negative location note, which is also billed.
Giving an incomplete address: in buildings with several entrances or separate registry properties, include the staircase, floor and door.
Expecting it to be free: there is no general free nota simple; be wary of any site advertising one.
Overpaying without noticing: some private websites charge several times the official fee for the same document. Always check whether you are on the official e-office, or how much the intermediary charges, before paying.

How long it takes and what it costs

The official online fee is 9,02 euros plus VAT, according to the Registrars' association, and the average delivery time is under two hours. If the property cannot be located with the details provided, the Registry issues a negative location note, which is also billed: that is why it pays to double-check the details before submitting.