Chapter

Community of owners in Spain: rules every buyer should know

§ 1What a community is

When a building has several owners, each owns a unit and shares the common parts: the structure, the roof, the stairs, the lift and the garden. The Horizontal Property Law, the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, sets the rules for how the owners run the building together. The group of owners is the comunidad de propietarios. Buying a flat means joining one, so the rules are part of what you buy. This chapter belongs with the checks in the legal-process section.

§ 2The governing bodies

The owners’ meeting is the first governing body of the community, and the president convenes it. The president represents the community, and an administrator often handles the accounts and the day-to-day. The owners vote on budgets, works, rules and other matters. The way meetings and statutes work is explained in statutes and meetings.

§ 3Fees and the reserve fund

Owners pay their share of the common expenses, and the law requires a reserve fund of at least 10% of the last ordinary budget. Fees vary widely by building and services. See community fees for what they cover and how to read the accounts, and who pays community fees for who pays in the year of a sale.

§ 4Debts

The law makes the buyer of a unit answerable with the property for unpaid general expenses of the expired part of the current year and the three previous calendar years. The seller must declare in the deed that they are up to date, and community credits are preferential. The checks are explained in debts to the community when buying.

§ 5Special assessments and works

Works necessary for the proper maintenance of the building are mandatory for the community. When the budget does not cover them, the owners can vote a derrama. A buyer should ask whether any is pending or likely. See derramas. A law in force since 23 October 2026 (Law 4/2026) makes some accessibility works mandatory for a community when a resident with a disability or over seventy asks, within a cost cap of twelve monthly fees a year after public aid. We read the amended article in the consolidated text; the detail of the cap comes from press. Ask the administrator about any request.

§ 6Tourist rental

Since April 2025 a new tourist let in a building needs the community’s prior express approval, and approving, limiting or prohibiting tourist rental activity needs the favourable vote of three fifths of all the owners. If you want to rent your unit to tourists, check this before you buy. The rental section of this handbook covers the rest.

§ 7Different kinds of community

A flat block is the standard case. A group of houses sharing a pool, roads and gardens may be organised as a complex community under the same law, or as an association of owners under private rules, and the legal basis affects what can be enforced. Ask the seller which it is, and read the founding documents. A small block with two or three owners may have no administrator and run on informal agreement. That is cheap, but it can make decisions slow.

§ 8Your rights as an owner

You can attend the meetings, vote, receive the accounts and the minutes, ask the administrator for information and challenge decisions that breach the law or the statutes, in time. You can also use the common parts according to their purpose and make changes inside your unit that do not affect the structure or the rights of others. Ask the community before any work that touches the facade, the roof or the structure.

§ 9Insurance and liability

The community normally insures the building, and each owner insures the contents and the unit’s interior. Ask for the policy, the cover and the excess. A claim for a leak from your unit into your neighbour’s may fall on you, so check that your own policy covers liability. Keep the community’s policy with your documents.

§ 10Neighbours and daily life

The community is also a social setting. Noise, parking, pets, use of the pool and shared spaces cause most friction. The statutes can regulate them, and the minutes show whether they are enforced. Visit at different times of day and talk to a neighbour. If you plan to rent out the unit, tell the neighbours how you will manage guests, because complaints are what lead to restrictions.

§ 11Voting and quotas

Votes are counted by owners and by quota. Some decisions need a majority of both, and some need more. A large owner, such as a developer holding many unsold units, can dominate votes in a new development. Ask who holds the largest quotas and what they plan, because that person decides the budget and the works.

§ 12Reading the documents

Ask for the statutes, the last accounts and budget, the minutes of the last meetings, and the administrator’s certificate of no debt. Read them for fees, pending works, disputes and restrictions. A community with clear accounts and calm minutes is a good sign.

§ 13Back to the section

An overview of legal process and checks explains the legal steps and checks of a purchase.

§ 14Other chapters in this section

The basics of the NIE explains the foreigner’s number you need to buy and the section on the professionals in a purchase explains who does what: lawyer, notary and gestor.

Due diligence in Spain explains the checks to make before you sign and a closer look at illegal builds explains the planning risks and how to avoid them.

A closer look at contracts before completion explains the papers you sign before the deed and the basics of completion and the deed explains the signing at the notary and what follows.

Wills and succession for buyers explains how inheritance works for foreigners who own Spanish property and an overview of risks and scams explains the real risks and how to reduce them.

Legal note. How the process works in general. It is not legal advice, and it never replaces an independent Spanish lawyer acting for you.