Can Foreigners Buy Property in El Salvador?

What the law allows

• Urban property: houses, flats, offices, shops and building plots can be bought by foreign individuals and companies without a special permit.
• Rural land: under Article 109 of the Constitution, foreigners whose country does not give Salvadorans the same right cannot acquire rural land. The rule also covers foreign companies and Salvadoran companies with a majority of foreign capital.
• Industrial sites: the reciprocity rule does not apply to land for industrial establishments.
• Size: no individual or legal entity may own more than 245 hectares of rural land. The cap does not apply to cooperatives and some associations named in the Constitution.

Source: Legislative Assembly: Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador, Articles 105 and 109 (PDF, in Spanish); US Department of State: 2026 Investment Climate Statement, El Salvador; Deloitte Legal: real estate law in El Salvador^1,2,3

Whether your country grants reciprocity, and whether a plot counts as rural, are legal questions. Ask a Salvadoran lawyer or notary before you sign a promise of sale for land outside a town.

Beaches and other public land

The Civil Code makes the sea and its beaches national goods for public use: the beach is the land covered by the waves up to the highest tides, and no one may build on it without a permit. Along the coast a strip of ten varas (about 8.35 m) from the high-tide line is reserved for public use and cannot be registered as private property. Mangroves, rivers, lakes and streets are also public. A permit to use such land gives a right of use, not ownership.^5,6,7

What a foreign buyer needs

• A passport or Salvadoran residence card.
• A tax identification number (NIT) from the Ministry of Finance: $2 the first time, issued in about 30 minutes. An agent with a power of attorney can apply for you.
• For a company buyer, its deed of incorporation, the appointment of its legal representative and, for a foreign company, apostilled and translated documents.
• A Salvadoran notary, who drafts and authorises the deed. A power of attorney signed abroad must be apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish.

Source: INVEST: property purchase guide; Deloitte Legal: real estate law in El Salvador^4,3

Buying property does not by itself give a right to live in El Salvador. Residence is a separate application to the migration office; see the residency guides.

Risks to check

The US Department of State advises investors to hire counsel to check title, because registry records can be incomplete and disputes over boundaries and ownership occur. Zoning is set by each municipality, and in the San Salvador metropolitan area by OPAMSS. Check the registry record, the planning rules and any squatters before you pay.^2,3