Mercer calls for calm after change in law on spanish id numbers

Spanish overseas property agent Chris Mercer has reacted to angry protests over the way in which the Spanish government has introduced new rules on how home buyers from abroad obtain their foreign ID Numbers.

He has called for a calmer approach this week after a small number of agents complained that the new rules would see investors in the already troubled Spanish property market “treated like a piece of dirt” at the local police station. Others said that they had “serious concerns”.

The flare-up has been caused by a Change in the law, which states that from January 3 2012, the Spanish authorities have changed the rules on how foreign property buyers obtain their fiscal identification number or NIE. A power of attorney is no longer acceptable and every purchaser now has to attend in person, applying at either an approved office in Spain or at their local Embassy.

For Mercer, the complaints are a storm in a teacup. “We have never, in 28 years of trading, had a problem with buyers obtaining their NIE in person,” he told OPP.

Source: OPP.org.uk