Property auctions in Madrid: where they are and how to bid

Here is what is specific to Madrid: courts, areas, prices and competition. How a court auction works in general (the 20% deposit, the sealed bids, the 70% rule) is covered in the guide to court auctions.

Madrid is the judicial district that generates more property auctions than any other in Spain. The combination of the size of the city, the high volume of accumulated mortgage lending, the number of open enforcement proceedings and the activity of Madrid's courts of first instance means that the Portal de Subastas del BOE (the auction portal of the BOE, Spain's Official State Gazette) constantly shows assets in the capital and in the towns of the metropolitan area.

Investors who want to take part in court auctions in Madrid need to know some specifics of the Madrid market that don't exist in smaller provinces: more competition, higher deposits in absolute terms, and assets that in many cases are lived in by tenants or by the debtor themselves, which calls for specific checks before bidding.

The BOE auction portal: how to filter for Madrid

All court auctions in Spain are published on the Portal de Subastas of the Boletín Oficial del Estado (subastas.boe.es). To filter those in the city of Madrid and its metropolitan area, you need to combine the province filter (Madrid) with the town or municipality field. The city of Madrid's judicial districts are spread across several courts, but they all publish on the same portal.

The most useful filters for investors in Madrid:

• Type of asset: inmueble (real estate)
• Province: Madrid
• Status: convocada (called, for active auctions) or celebrada (held, to study past ones)
• Minimum bid amount: adjust it to the budget you have available for the deposit

The portal shows the auction date, the appraisal value of the asset, whether or not there is a minimum bid, the deposit required (20% of the auction value by default) and the basic description of the property with its cadastral reference.

The deposit at Madrid auctions: the real numbers

To take part in any court auction in Spain you have to lodge (deposit in advance) 20% of the auction value (minimum 1,000 euros), which is paid within the BOE portal itself from an account of yours at a bank that collaborates with the Agencia Tributaria (the Spanish tax agency). In Madrid, where the auction values of a flat in mid-range neighbourhoods are between €150,000 and €350,000, the prior deposit is between €30,000 and €70,000.

That amount is locked up from the moment you lodge it until the auction is held and resolved. If you don't win the auction, the deposit is returned to you within a few days. If you win and then don't pay the rest of the price within the deadline (20 days from the close of the auction), you lose the deposit. Be clear that those €30,000-70,000 are capital tied up during the process, not simply a down payment that disappears if you don't bid.

Prior checks at Madrid auctions: what isn't on the portal

The BOE portal provides basic information about the asset, but not everything an investor needs to bid with sound judgement. In Madrid, these are the specific checks to carry out before the auction:

• Nota Simple from the Registro de la Propiedad (the Land Registry extract): Essential to know the exact charges and their ranking. In Madrid it isn't unusual to find flats with first- and second-ranking mortgages, seizure orders from Hacienda (the tax authority) and anotaciones preventivas (cautionary registry notices) built up over years of litigation. Analysing the ranking of the charges determines which ones are cancelled by the award and which ones the winning bidder inherits.
• Viewing the outside of the property: At court auctions, access to the inside of the property is not guaranteed (the debtor is under no obligation to let potential buyers in). But you can visit the building and its entrance hall, take photos of the outside, talk to the neighbours on the landing (who in many cases know the real condition of the flat) and check the condition of the building as a whole.
• Occupancy status: Check whether the property is lived in by the debtor (who will have to be removed by eviction after the award if they don't leave voluntarily), by a tenant with a current contract (in which case the contract passes to the new owner and you have to wait for it to expire), or whether it is empty. This information can be obtained from the neighbours, from the status shown on the portal (if there is a tenant, it is sometimes mentioned in the edicto, the auction notice) or from the court itself by consulting the case file.
• IBI and owners' association debts: Check with the Ayuntamiento (the city council) whether any IBI (the local property tax) is outstanding (unpaid IBI from the last three tax years is inherited with the asset) and ask the owners' association for a certificate. In Madrid, owners' associations with flats in mortgage enforcement are in many cases owed several years of unpaid fees.
• Cadastral reference and Catastro data: The website of the Catastro (Spain's property cadastre) lets you check the history of transfers and the technical description of the property. Comparing the cadastral floor area with the one in the registry reveals possible discrepancies.

The most active districts at auction and their profile

• Carabanchel, Usera and Vallecas: The southern districts with the highest volume of auctions in the city of Madrid. Starting prices between €100,000 and €200,000. Moderate-to-high competition for well-located assets. 60-80 m² flats are the most frequent in these areas.
• Centro, Arganzuela and Chamberí: Auctions with higher starting prices (€180,000-400,000) and more intense competition. Assets with greater potential for appreciation, but requiring a larger deposit.
• Puente de Vallecas, San Blas-Canillejas: Eastern districts with frequent auctions and affordable starting prices (€80,000-160,000). Suited to the pure cash-flow investor buying cheaply.
• Towns in the metropolitan area (Móstoles, Leganés, Alcorcón, Getafe): The towns of Madrid's southern belt have frequent auctions, with starting prices generally lower than in the capital and less competition from specialist bidders. This is where investors priced out of the city of Madrid can find the most balanced deals.

The online bidding process in Madrid: step by step

Since 2015, all court auctions in Spain have been held online through the BOE portal. No physical presence is required. The process in Madrid is identical to that in the rest of Spain:

1. Find the auction on subastas.boe.es and register on the portal if you haven't already.
2. Lodge the deposit within the portal itself: 20% of the auction value (or whatever the notice sets), from an account of yours at a bank that collaborates with the Agencia Tributaria. There is no transfer to the court and no receipt to submit.
3. Bid from the portal during the bidding period: 20 calendar days from the opening. Bids are sealed and you can submit yours at any time within the period.
4. If you are the highest bidder and your bid reaches 70% of the auction value, the Letrado de la Administración de Justicia (the court official who runs the auction) approves the sale in your favour. If it doesn't, the debtor and the creditor have a few days to improve on it before a decision is made (art. 670 LEC, the Spanish Civil Procedure Act).
5. You have 20 days from the close of the auction to pay in the rest of the price (the price bid minus the deposit) to the court's Cuenta de Depósitos y Consignaciones (its deposits and consignments account).
6. Once payment is complete, the court issues the Auto de Adjudicación (the award order), which is the document that allows the property to be registered in the Land Registry.

Related resources: For the general court auction process throughout Spain, the complete guide to court auctions sets out the legal framework and the process step by step. To find assets at auction in Madrid, use RadarPro's court auction search. For the specific due diligence before bidding, the article on property due diligence has the full checklist, which can be adapted to auctions.

See opportunities in Madrid: Browse the inventory of assets in Madrid with the AI Score included, or explore all the active court auctions in Spain.