Living in a community of owners: how it works

What a community of owners is

In Spain, a building or estate split into separately owned homes with shared parts is governed by the horizontal property law, Ley 49/1960 de Propiedad Horizontal. You own your flat or house outright. Together with the other owners you also own the common elements: the roof, the façade, staircases, lifts, gardens, the pool and the pipes that serve everyone. The owners as a group form the comunidad de propietarios, and it is the community that looks after those shared parts.

This applies to far more than apartment blocks. Many terraced houses, townhouse developments and villa estates with a shared pool, garden or private road in Mallorca are run as communities too. If the listing mentions community fees, you are buying into one.

Cuota de participación

Your share of the building or estate, fixed in the title deed. It sets your share of costs and the weight of your vote.

Estatutos

The community’s statutes. They can set binding rules on how homes are used, and they can be registered at the Land Registry.

Reglamento de régimen interior

Internal house rules on everyday matters such as pool hours, bins and noise.

Derrama

A one-off levy on top of the normal fees, usually to pay for major works.

Fees and the reserve fund

Each owner pays towards the general costs in line with their participation share, unless the statutes set another split. The money covers things like cleaning, gardening, lighting, pool maintenance, insurance of the building, lifts and the administrator. The budget for the year is approved at the annual meeting, and the fees follow from it.

The law also requires a reserve fund for repairs and maintenance, which must be worth at least a tenth of the last ordinary budget. Bigger jobs, such as a new roof or façade repairs, are often paid through a derrama agreed at a meeting. These levies are worth asking about before you buy.

Meetings, officers and votes

The owners’ meeting (junta de propietarios) is where decisions are taken. It must meet at least once a year to approve the accounts and the budget, and the notice for that meeting must be sent at least six days in advance with the agenda. Owners can attend in person or send someone with a signed proxy, which is useful if you live abroad. Owners who are behind with payments can attend but cannot vote.

• President: an owner, chosen by election or, failing that, by rotation or lottery. The post normally lasts a year, and it is compulsory unless a judge releases you.
• Secretary and administrator: the president does these jobs unless the community appoints someone else. Many communities hire a professional administrator (administrador de fincas) to keep the accounts, call meetings and chase repairs.
• Minutes: decisions are recorded in a minute book stamped by the Land Registry. Owners who were absent are told of decisions and, for some votes, have 30 days to object, after which their silence counts as a yes.

Different decisions need different majorities. Everyday matters need a simple majority of owners and shares (at a second call, of those present), while others need three-fifths of all owners or even unanimity. An owner who disagrees can challenge a decision in court within set time limits.

House rules and holiday lets

Owners may not carry out activities in their homes that the statutes forbid, or that are harmful, dangerous, unhealthy or a nuisance to neighbours. If an owner ignores a warning, the president can take them to court on the community’s behalf.

Holiday letting has its own rule. Since 3 April 2025, an owner who wants to start letting a home in a community to tourists needs the community’s express approval, given by three-fifths of the owners holding three-fifths of the participation shares. The same majority can limit, condition or ban holiday lets, and can raise the share of costs paid by a home used for them by up to a fifth. These decisions do not apply retroactively.

In Mallorca the regional rules go further. Since April 2025 the Balearic government has allowed no new holiday-let registrations for homes in a community of owners, except terraced and semi-detached houses. In practice, a flat bought now cannot become a new holiday let. Our guide to holiday rental licences has the details.

Before you buy

• Ask the seller for the community’s certificate of debts. The seller must declare at the signing whether they are up to date, and the certificate is issued within seven days of the request.
• Know that unpaid fees follow the property: the home answers for the current year’s debts and those of the three previous calendar years.
• Read the minutes of the last few meetings for planned works, disputes and derramas already agreed.
• Get a copy of the statutes and house rules, and check what they say about letting, pets, building works and use of the pool.
• Ask for the current budget and fees, and whether the community insurance covers the whole building.

A good lawyer will ask for most of this as a matter of course. See the buying process and surveys and checks for how these checks fit into a purchase.