Buying Guide · 12 min

Setting Up Utilities in Spain: Electricity, Water & Internet After Buying

8 June 2026 · Hansson & Hertzell

Completing on your Spanish property is just the start. Here's a practical, step-by-step guide to getting electricity, water, and internet connected — including what to do as a non-resident.

Congratulations — you've signed the escritura and you're a Spanish property owner. Now comes the part that nobody warns you about: getting everything switched on, transferred to your name, and set up so you're not paying someone else's bills.

This guide walks through the practical steps for electricity, water, internet, and the other ongoing services you'll need to manage as a property owner on the Costa Blanca.

Step 1: Change Utility Contracts at Completion

The first thing to do at (or shortly after) completion is transfer the electricity and water contracts from the seller to your name. This is separate from the property title transfer and happens directly with the utility companies.

Your Spanish lawyer or gestor should initiate the utility change process as part of their post-completion service. If they don't, you'll need to do it yourself — the seller's bills will keep arriving at the address and could eventually be cut off.

Electricity in Spain

Spain's electricity market was liberalised in 1998. You can choose any licensed electricity supplier, but on the Costa Blanca most properties are served by:

Iberdrola — Spain's largest electricity company. Strong network throughout the Alicante province. Most established properties in the area will have an existing Iberdrola contract.

Endesa — The second major player, common in certain municipalities.

Smaller suppliers — Companies like Naturgy, Repsol, and various green energy providers compete on price but have the same distribution network.

The contract you need:

There are two main contract types:

• PVPC (Precio Voluntario para el Pequeño Consumidor): A regulated rate that tracks wholesale market prices hourly. Currently often the cheapest option for low-usage properties (holiday homes used less than 3 months/year).
• Fixed rate contracts: Fixed price per kWh for a contract period (typically 12 months). Better for properties with consistent year-round usage.

Power capacity (potencia): Your contract specifies a contracted power in kilowatts (kW). Typical Spanish holiday apartments use 3.3–4.4 kW; larger villas may need 5.5–8.8 kW. Higher contracted power = higher fixed standing charge. If the previous owners had it set high (for renovation work, etc.), you may be able to reduce it through Iberdrola's website.

Bills and standing charges: Spanish electricity bills include a fixed standing charge (término de potencia, based on contracted kW) plus a variable consumption charge. There's also the IVA (21% VAT on electricity), a special electricity tax, and any applicable renewable energy charges. Expect to pay €40–100/month for a typical 2-bed apartment (more for year-round air conditioning use).

Setting up: Call Iberdrola (or your chosen supplier) with the property address, NIE number, IBAN of your Spanish bank account, and the current contract number from the previous owner. The change of name takes 24–48 hours in most cases.

Water in Spain

Unlike electricity, water in Spain is a local monopoly — you cannot choose your water supplier. The provider is determined by the municipality.

In the Torrevieja/Orihuela Costa area, water is supplied by Aguas de Orihuela or the municipal service. In Ciudad Quesada, it's managed through Aguas de Rojales. In the north (Javea, Denia, Moraira), it's the local ayuntamiento or a municipal concession.

Important: Water and IBI (property tax) in many Costa Blanca municipalities are administered by SUMA (Suma Gestión Tributaria), the Alicante province tax body. Your water account may come through SUMA rather than a separate water company.

Changing water to your name: Contact the local water company or SUMA with the property escritura, your NIE, and bank account details. Set up a direct debit — water bills on the Costa Blanca typically arrive quarterly and are billed in arrears.

Water in communities: If you're in an urbanisation with a community of owners (comunidad de propietarios), the water supply to individual properties may come through the community's shared infrastructure. In this case, the community manages the supply and your individual consumption may be included in your community fees or billed separately.

Swimming pool supply: Filling a swimming pool requires significant water consumption. In drought conditions (which are common in southeast Spain), temporary restrictions on pool filling may apply. Check with your lawyer whether the pool has a separate meter or is on the main domestic supply.

Internet and Telephone

The Costa Blanca has excellent broadband infrastructure, with fibre optic (FTTH) available in most urbanised areas.

Main providers:

• Telefónica (Movistar) — Spain's dominant telecom. Extensive fibre network, reliable service, range of plans. Generally the most widely available.
• Orange — Good alternative to Movistar, competitive pricing, fibre in most major areas.
• Vodafone — Strong mobile network, fibre in main population centres.
• MásMóvil/Yoigo — Budget operator using Movistar's infrastructure. Lower prices, slightly less service support.
• Local ISPs — In some areas (particularly inland or northern Costa Blanca), local operators offer fibre. Check with neighbours or your estate agent.

Typical fibre broadband (100–600 Mbps) costs €30–50/month as a standalone service, or €40–60/month bundled with mobile.

For holiday homes or occasional-use properties: A standard SIM-only mobile plan with data hotspot may be more practical than a fixed line, especially if you're only there a few months a year. Roaming within the EU is free, so UK/Swedish SIMs can be used — though for permanent installations a local SIM is cheaper.

Community Fees

If your property is in a community (apartment block, urbanisation with shared pool/gardens), you pay monthly or quarterly community fees (gastos de comunidad). These cover maintenance of common areas, building insurance, communal electricity and water, and the community administrator's fees.

Community fees are set at the annual community owners' meeting (junta). For a standard apartment, expect €50–150/month. For a luxury urbanisation with extensive facilities (concierge, multiple pools, gym), €200–400/month is common.

Your community fees are billed directly by the community administrator (administrador de fincas) to your Spanish bank account. Set up a direct debit at the time of purchase — unpaid community fees become a charge on the property.

Other Post-Purchase Setup

• IBI direct debit: Set up with SUMA before the payment window (see separate IBI guide)
• IRNR (non-resident income tax): Annual filing obligation even without rental income — handle via a gestor
• Property insurance: Arrange building and contents insurance; community buildings insurance covers the structure but not your contents or interior fittings
• Post address: If the property is your official Spanish fiscal address, tell your gestor to use it for SUMA correspondence — or use their address if you won't be checking regularly
• Alarm system: Many urbanisations have shared security; individual alarm systems can be connected to monitoring companies from around €25/month