Am I liable to pay tax in Spain as a non-resident?

Yes. Any person who owns property in Spain is subject to limited tax liability there, regardless of whether they ever set foot in the country. Limited tax liability — obligación real in Spanish — means that Spain taxes only income with a direct Spanish nexus. Worldwide income remains outside its reach. For property owners, three categories are relevant: rental income from the Spanish property, imputed income when the property is owner-occupied or vacant, and capital gains on disposal. A common misconception is that no tax is due when the property is not rented out. This is wrong. Even a property used exclusively as a holiday home generates a tax obligation through imputed income, calculated on the basis of the cadastral value. Many British owners discover this only years after purchase, sometimes after receiving a notification from the AEAT. The distinction between resident and non-resident is critical. The 183-day rule is the primary test: anyone spending more than 183 days per calendar year in Spain is generally treated as a tax resident. Beyond that, the centre of economic interests and family ties can also establish residency. A person whose spouse or dependent children live in Spain may be deemed resident even without exceeding the 183-day threshold. Residents file the Modelo 100, not the Modelo 210. Double taxation agreements can reduce the effective tax burden. The United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland each have a DTA with Spain. In most cases, the treaty provides for a credit mechanism: Spanish tax paid on property income is credited against the home-country liability, avoiding double taxation. Crucially, however, the DTA does not eliminate the obligation to file the Modelo 210 in Spain — it merely prevents the same income being taxed twice. For a British owner who bought a flat in Marbella before Brexit and assumed EU tax treatment would continue: it did not. Since 1 January 2021, the applicable rate is 24%, the expense deduction for rental income is denied under current legislation, and the filing obligation remains unchanged.