How can I find cheap house in Spain?

Can vendor in Spain pull out of a compra venta contract just because he wants another 30,000 euros?

• We signed a compra venta (private contract) and paid a deposit 4 weeks ago for a house here in Spain (we have done same to sell our present house so sale is going through our end no problems). Today, vendor of the house we want to buy said if we don't give him 30,000 euros more, he will pull out of contract and will only have to pay us double our deposit (deposit he wanted and is the norm here for Spanish sales was 3,000 euros so we will get 6,000 euros - a pittance). My complaint is that although the contract states that if we pull out, we lose deposit and if he pulls out, (again, this is the normal clause in contracts here) he pays double the deposit, we agreed a price, signed contracts and it is not reasonable for him to now demand 30,000 extra. We can't aford it. Do we have a case whereby we can FORCE him to sell to us at the price agreed by law in the contract? Or do we now have to rush round trying to find another property in time for Xmas? Thanks for your help

• Answer:

  I am Spanish though I am not a lawyer. What has happened to you is normal, vendor can cancel the contract paying a fine of 100% of the advanced payment received. Surely, in the contract of compra-venta you will find a clause of cancellation. Custom in Spain is that, as you have the right of cancelling the contract just renouncing to the deposit, he has the rigth of cancelling it for the same price. In the case of this clause did not exist you could have a point theoretically, becouse in accordance to civil law the contract would be in vigor. But, even so, you must consider that going to court is expensive, it takes too long, that unless the judge inmediatly stablish a seizure over the house, the vendor will be able to sell the house to any other third party in the mean time, and this third party will be never responsible of the consecuences of the court decition. My advise, do not expend money in a lawyer, take the money, and use it to look any other house. Once that you are sure, speed up and go to the real contract as soon as posible, because if somebody offer more money than you, if that compensates, vendor will prefer to pay you the double of the deposit. Welcome to Spain.