In Sitges, as in most international markets, three words get used as if they meant the same thing: agent, agency and REALTOR®. They do not. One describes a person and, in Catalonia, a legal obligation. One describes a company. One describes voluntary membership of an American association with an ethics code attached. If you are about to trust someone with the largest transaction most families ever make, the difference is worth ten minutes of your attention.
The agent: a person, and in Catalonia a registered one
A real estate agent is an individual who advises or mediates in property transactions: the person who values your home, negotiates on your behalf, sits with you at the notary. In Catalonia this activity is regulated. The Llei 18/2007 del dret a l’habitatge and Decret 12/2010 created the Registre d’Agents Immobiliaris de Catalunya, kept by the Generalitat, and registration in it is compulsory for anyone providing estate agency services here professionally. The registration is shown as an AICAT number, and the registered agent can be a natural person or a company: an independent professional registers in their own name, while a firm registers as a company and its team operates under the firm’s number.
That number is not a formality. To obtain it, a professional must prove formal competence in the discipline, hold civil liability insurance, and maintain a financial guarantee that protects the money clients place in their hands. Not everyone practising in the market has done any of that, which is precisely why the register exists, and why it is public.
The agency: a brand, not a credential
An estate agency is the business: the name over the door, the brand on the portal listing. An agency can employ or collaborate with several agents, and in Catalonia the company itself can be the AICAT registration holder, with everyone in it operating under the firm’s number. But the brand alone tells you nothing about the qualifications of the specific person advising you. A serious firm is happy to answer both questions separately: what is the firm’s registration, and what are the personal credentials of the individual handling my sale or purchase.
REALTOR®: neither a synonym nor a Spanish licence
REALTOR® is the word most often misused of the three. It is not a generic term for an estate agent and it is not a licence issued by any Spanish administration. It is a protected designation reserved for members of the National Association of REALTORS®, the largest professional association in the United States, whose partner in Spain, under a bilateral cooperation agreement, is SIRA, the Spanish International Realty Alliance.
Nobody in Spain is required to be a REALTOR®. That is exactly what makes the designation meaningful. A professional who joins is choosing, voluntarily, to submit to the NAR Code of Ethics: written duties towards clients, towards the public and towards other professionals, with training to maintain and a membership that can be lost. It does not replace the Spanish requirements. It sits on top of them, as a statement about how the professional has decided to treat the people in front of them.
What that looks like in Sitges
The membership is rarer than the word’s casual use suggests. As of 12 September 2026, a search of the official National Association of REALTORS® directory returned seven member records whose registered city was Sitges.
Read that figure for what it is, not for more. REALTOR® membership is not the Spanish licence, and holding it says nothing about AICAT registration one way or the other. Directory information changes as members join and leave. Some professionals serving Sitges may be registered under Barcelona or another nearby municipality. And appearing in the directory confirms membership, not current local activity and not quality of service. We are deliberately not naming anyone: the point of this article is the method, not a league table. The directory is public, and you can run the same search yourself in under a minute.
The Ten-Minute Check Before You Engage Anyone
- Ask who holds the AICAT registration: the individual advising you, the firm behind them, or both. Take the number and verify it, free of charge: the official search is the Generalitat’s cercador d’agents immobiliaris on agenciahabitatge.gencat.cat, and directori.aicat.barcelona offers a quick lookup of the same register.
- Ask whether the agent is a collegiate API (Agent de la Propietat Immobiliària) and under which number. College membership is voluntary in Spain, which is what makes it informative: it is a qualification someone chose to earn and maintain.
- If anyone presents themselves as a REALTOR®, look the membership up in the NAR member directory: search for NAR member directory or visit nar.realtor. The mark belongs to members only.
- Ask about civil liability insurance and the financial guarantee. Both are conditions of AICAT registration, and both exist to protect you.
No registered professional will be offended by any of these questions. The ones who bristle at them are answering a different question entirely.
Where we stand
At Barleigh Ellis the answer comes in the two layers this article has described. The firm holds the compulsory Catalan registration: Barleigh Ellis is AICAT 12717. The person advising you, Ronei Kolesny, is a REALTOR® (No. 061327620) and API 1190. The three credentials answer three different questions. AICAT answers whether the business is legal, insured and guaranteed. API answers whether the person is formally qualified and accountable to a professional college. REALTOR® answers whether that person has voluntarily bound themselves to an ethics code that puts the client first. We hold all three because our clients deserve all three answers, and every one of them is verifiable in a public register rather than on our word.
Ronei Kolesny
Sources: National Association of REALTORS® member directory, searched 12 September 2026. Registre d’Agents Immobiliaris de Catalunya, kept by the Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya, Generalitat de Catalunya (Llei 18/2007; Decret 12/2010). SIRA, Spanish International Realty Alliance. Directory checks are free and public; figures reflect the date of search.
Questions we hear about credentials
Is a REALTOR® the same as a licensed estate agent in Spain?
No. REALTOR® is a protected membership designation of the National Association of REALTORS®, a United States association whose bilateral partner in Spain is SIRA, the Spanish International Realty Alliance. It signals a voluntary commitment to the NAR Code of Ethics, not a Spanish licence. In Catalonia the compulsory credential is registration in the Registre d’Agents Immobiliaris de Catalunya, shown as an AICAT number. A professional can hold both, and the two answer different questions.
What is an AICAT number and how do I verify it?
AICAT is the compulsory register of estate agents in Catalonia, created by the Llei 18/2007 del dret a l’habitatge and Decret 12/2010 and kept by the Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya. Registration requires proof of professional competence, civil liability insurance and a financial guarantee. Anyone can verify a number free of charge through the Generalitat’s cercador d’agents immobiliaris on agenciahabitatge.gencat.cat, or the quick lookup at directori.aicat.barcelona. Barleigh Ellis holds the firm’s registration as AICAT 12717.
What does API mean after an estate agent’s name?
API stands for Agent de la Propietat Immobiliària and means the agent belongs to the official professional college of estate agents, the Col·legi d’API. College membership has been voluntary in Spain since the profession was liberalised in 2000, so an API number is a signal of formal qualification and professional accountability rather than a legal minimum. In practice, the training behind the API qualification satisfies, or closely tracks, the professional competence that AICAT registration requires under Decret 12/2010. Ronei Kolesny is API 1190.
How many REALTORS® are there in Sitges?
As of 12 September 2026, a search of the official National Association of REALTORS® member directory returned seven member records whose registered city was Sitges. Membership is voluntary and separate from Spanish licensing, directory data changes over time, and members registered under Barcelona or another nearby municipality may also serve Sitges, so the directory is a verification tool rather than a ranking.
What should I check before engaging an agent or agency in Sitges?
Ask who holds the AICAT registration, the individual advising you, the firm behind them, or both, and verify the number through the Generalitat’s public register search on agenciahabitatge.gencat.cat or at directori.aicat.barcelona. Ask whether the agent is a collegiate API and under which number. If someone presents themselves as a REALTOR®, confirm the membership in the public NAR directory. A registered professional also holds civil liability insurance and a financial guarantee, and will not mind being asked for any of it.