The owners’ association

1. What it is

The association comes into being of its own accord as soon as a building or estate is divided into separate properties. You do not join it and you cannot leave: buying makes you a member. It is governed by the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal of 1960.

It administers what belongs to everyone: roof, façade, stairwell, lift, pool, garden, access road, pipes up to the boundary of each home. Each owner contributes according to their coeficiente de participación, fixed in the deed of division and recorded in the escritura.

2. The offices

• Junta de propietarios — the meeting of all owners, at least once a year. It approves the budget, the charges and any works, and elects the officers.
• Presidente — elected from among the owners; represents the association. The post is in principle compulsory for whoever is elected.
• Administrador — usually a professional, paid a fee. Keeps the accounts, prepares the meeting, carries out decisions.
• Secretario — takes the minutes; often the same person as the administrator.

3. The annual meeting

The notice goes to the address held by the association, not the one on the municipal register. Owners living abroad who have not given a valid address may not receive it — and are bound by the decisions all the same.

• The notice sets out the agenda, the place and both calls. At the second call the meeting is quorate whatever the attendance.
• Arrears cost you your vote. With outstanding charges you may attend and speak but not vote, unless you deposit the amount or formally challenge it.
• You may be represented in writing. For absent owners this is the single most important point.
• The minutes are circulated and are the basis for everything that follows. Challenging a decision has a short deadline.

4. Charges and special levies

The ordinary charge covers the budget: cleaning, electricity for common areas, insurance, administration, pool and garden maintenance, the reserve fund. Where that does not cover major work, the meeting approves a derrama — a special levy.

Levies can be substantial: façade repair, lift, roof, pool. They fall on every owner according to their share, whether or not they use the thing in question. A ground-floor flat usually still contributes to the lift, unless the deed of division says otherwise.

5. The point that matters when buying

Hence the certificado de deuda that belongs with every purchase: the administrator’s confirmation that nothing is outstanding. The notary will normally require it; do not waive it.

Also read the minutes of the last few meetings before buying. They show whether expensive work has been approved or is coming. An amount agreed but not yet demanded is the classic unpleasant surprise.

6. What causes most disputes

• Holiday letting — the association can restrict it under certain conditions. Whether and how depends on the resolution and the deed of division; the law has changed several times.
• Alterations and external fittings — awnings, glazing, air conditioning units on the façade. The façade belongs to everyone, including the part outside your own window.
• Pets, noise, pool hours — governed by the house rules the meeting adopts.
• Accessibility — for residents over seventy or with a disability, more favourable majorities apply to work removing barriers.

7. Practical advice for owners living abroad

• Give an address in Spain for service of notices, or expressly agree an email address for the notices
• Set up a direct debit for the charge — an oversight costs you your vote
• Grant a written proxy for the meeting when you cannot attend
• Keep the minutes. When you sell, they are what the buyer will want to see

This page explains the essentials. Your own association’s deed of division and house rules take precedence in any particular case, and in a dispute only legal advice will help.