Do I need to file Modelo 210 even if I have no rental income?

Yes — and this is the single most common misunderstanding among non-resident property owners in Spain. The tax obligation does not arise from rental income. It arises from ownership. Anyone who owns a property in Spain as a non-resident must file the Modelo 210 every year, whether the property is rented out, used as a holiday home, or left entirely empty. The reason is that Spanish tax law treats property ownership as conferring an economic benefit — even when no money changes hands. The owner either saves the rent they would otherwise have to pay or forgoes rental income they could earn. This notional benefit is taxed as imputed income (rentas imputadas). The calculation is fixed by law: cadastral value × imputation rate × tax rate × ownership share × days of ownership / 365. The imputation rate is 1.1% where the municipality carried out its most recent general cadastral revaluation (Ponencia de Valores) on or after 1 January 2012. For municipalities with an older valuation, the rate is 2.0%. The legal basis is the Disposición Adicional 55 LIRPF, confirmed in the AEAT Manual Renta 2025 §7.3.4. This is a fixed cutoff date, not a rolling ten-year window. The filing deadline for imputed income is 31 December of the following year (tax year 2025; from tax year 2026, changed deadlines apply per Orden HAC/623/2026) — so for the 2025 tax year, the deadline is 31 December 2026. A worked example: a British owner holds sole ownership of a flat in Palma de Mallorca, cadastral value €120,000, municipality with a post-2012 valuation. The imputed income is €120,000 × 1.1% = €1,320. At the third-country rate of 24%, the tax due is €316.80 per year. For an EU citizen, the same property would generate a tax bill of €250.80 at 19%. The amounts are often modest — but the obligation to file is absolute. Non-filing triggers surcharges under Article 27 LGT from the first month after the deadline, and the AEAT has the data to identify non-compliant owners.