Communities of Property Owners in Spain

The book you hold in your hands is the result of more than 30 years of experience in managing the various issues that typically arise within communities of property owners.

This is an updated manual, primarily practical in nature, designed to serve as a guide for you in your role as president or as a resident interested in understanding the regulations governing communities of property owners. Given its up-to-date content and the depth with which various subjects are addressed, this manual is also highly useful for developers, lawyers, and other professionals involved with communities of property owners.

This is a highly complex area where not only legal aspects must be considered, but these are intertwined with sociological, psychological, and cultural issues that every president or professional involved must understand and master to resolve or prevent community problems in a peaceful and efficient manner.

Today, virtually all residential properties are subject to the horizontal property regime, making it essential to have a manual like this one, where each of the various issues we face in the daily life of communities is clearly and precisely analysed.

We begin this work with certain recommendations regarding the appointment of the president, the trust they must inspire among residents, their necessary neutrality, the importance of transparent management, the duty to inform residents about the community's progress, and the need for appropriate advice. Understanding all these aspects is crucial for any president.

It is important to remember that the primary role of the president is to achieve community harmony, and nothing is more effective in achieving this social peace and the smooth and efficient functioning of the community than knowing the applicable regulations for the various situations or problems that typically arise in any community.

We have observed how many presidents, inadequately advised or informed, sometimes make clearly unfortunate decisions that only serve to exacerbate community problems, leading to legal actions or other confrontational measures between residents, which ultimately harm community coexistence.

In various sections, we will address the rights and duties of owners, common and private elements and the consequences of their classification, the adoption of resolutions in the General Assembly, the rights, powers, and obligations of the president, administrator, and other community officers, the community's financial regime, and more.

We are confident that this work will be useful to you in gaining a deeper and more practical understanding of all the regulations governing our community of owners, taking into consideration that our courts do not usually agree in the interpretation of many aspects of the Law and regrettable there is always a certain level of uncertainty.

José Luis Navarro Rosado (Lawyer and Property Administrator)