Arras contract vs reservation agreement: what each one commits you to

Both documents take money from you early, and both are called a deposit in English. They do very different things. Confusing them is the most common way buyers end up committed sooner, or less protected, than they thought.

The reservation: buying time

A reservation agreement takes the property off the market for a defined period — usually two to four weeks — so your lawyer can carry out checks. It is not a category defined in Spanish law. It is a private agreement, which means it does exactly what the document says and nothing more. The amount is typically modest relative to the price.

Because it is unregulated, the wording carries all the weight. The clause that matters is what happens to your money if the legal checks find a problem: an unencumbered title, a valid licence, no outstanding charges. A reservation that keeps your deposit whatever the checks reveal has shifted the seller's risk onto you.

The arras contract: pricing the exit

The arras contract is a step up in commitment and it is regulated. Under article 1454 of the Spanish Civil Code, where the deposit is agreed as arras penitenciales, either party may withdraw at a known price: the buyer forfeits the deposit, the seller returns double.Código Civil The deposit is customarily a substantial share of the purchase price rather than a token amount.

The critical detail is that Spanish law recognises more than one kind of arras, and only the penitenciales variety grants that withdrawal right. If the contract is silent on which type applies, a court may read it as confirmatory — in which case the sale is binding and walking away is a breach, not a priced exit.

Side by side

The reservation buys you time and keeps commitment low; the arras contract sets the price of changing your mind and binds both sides symmetrically. The reservation is written entirely by the parties; the arras contract sits on a statutory footing. And crucially: neither transfers ownership. That happens only at the public deed before a notary.

Which comes first, and when to skip one

The usual sequence is reservation, then arras, then the private purchase contract, then the deed. Some new-build developers fold the reservation and the private contract into a single document, which is legitimate but removes your pause for checks — so make sure the checks happen before you sign, not after.

None of this is legal advice. It describes how the two documents work so you can ask your independent lawyer the right questions before any money moves. For the full sequence, see our guide to the Spanish property purchase contract.