Question:
My friend has told me that you do not need a lawyer to transact property here in Tenerife, what do you think?

Answer:
I think you need to wake up and smell the coffee! You are in a foreign country, the rules for sale and purchase of property are completely different here (better, but different). Only Spanish language contracts have any legality here and the final deeds will be in Spanish. Very few of the Public Notaries speak English, and most of the documents you will need if you are selling will be from Spanish offices. If you are buying, you will need to arrange to pay the Notary, the office of registration, numerous taxes, you even need to pay some taxes on behalf of the seller. The average price of a transaction is around 200,000€ and the average cost of a solicitor is 1200€, about ½% so how can I put this? If you decide to save ½% by not employing a solicitor you are probably driving a Sinclair C5, wearing flare trousers, and support Nottingham Forest or Leeds United! Simply stated, if you transact a property here without legal representation, you must be stark, raving bonkers (unless of course you are a legally trained, fluent in Spanish and love dealing with beaurocrats).