Construction law in Mallorca - boring?
Probably a post about the building law in Mallorca will not make you totally enthusiastic. But the topic is a very important part of my small guide series on the subject of buying real estate, because of the massive changes in building law and the associated sometimes drastic restrictions on property rights are highly relevant, which continues even after the purchase. But let's take a look at a few examples:
Looking back to the recent past
Let's face it, thirty years ago there was only Wild West. There was, of course, building law. To be precise, this is a matter for the states. So it is the task of the regions, which are comparable to German federal states. We are on the Balearic Islands, which means that here the responsibility in the legislative process lies with the so-called Island Council. In addition, there are regional and local building regulations as well as regulations that have an impact on construction from other areas, such as nature conservation or the protection of the Tramuntana World Heritage Site. Local building regulations also include land use planning, which determines, for example, whether the use may be "mixed" or only commercial or residential. Or what height a building may have in which street.
The drama of Montport
That was exactly the time when the beautiful natural slopes in Port d'Andratx were plastered with concrete. A prominent example were the ghost apartments of Montport. Here comes a pitfall to the surface, which you must also consider for your purchase. Even if a municipality grants a building permit, this does not necessarily mean that building is allowed. What happened? Under the mayor of the time, Eugenio Hidalgo, a developer was granted a building permit for this apartment complex. The only piquant thing about this is that the island council had already placed the entire property under nature conservation in 1991.
Similarly, in 2005, the Island Council had refused to approve Hildago's land use plan. As a result, the building permit had been wrongly granted and had to be revoked. The developer sued in court, initially for reissuance of the building permit, and failed. Because the court - rightly - ruled that the building permit could not be legal.
However, the plaintiff was ultimately successful, as were a number of joint plaintiffs who had already purchased apartments in the complex "off plan", with their claim for damages. And this was against the municipality of Andratx, which was ordered to pay 15 million euros in this sensational case in 2019. Which was only a small part of the actual damage incurred.
By the way, the mayor was allowed to and had to move. He went from the town hall directly to the prison.
Building law in Mallorca: The Consell takes action
Little more than 5 years ago, municipalities were responsible for illegal structures. They were responsible for taking the often arduous and costly legal route to obtain court and enforceable demolition orders. Often, however, not insignificant portions of the revenue also came from taxes triggered by the use of illegal buildings. Which did not further increase the motivation of the official mold.
At some point this became too stupid for the Balearic government and so the Consell de Mallorca (the "Island Council") installed a kind of authority called "La Agència de Defensa del Territori" or ADT for short, which was supposed to act as a kind of service provider to ensure that the municipalities finally acted as the government had in mind. This started hesitantly at first and then became more and more successful, culminating in 2021, when owners of 137 buildings were served with demolition orders.
According to Ultima Hora, 541 demolitions have been carried out in the last 5 years, but there have also been 759 projects submitted for legalization since 2017.
It is right to enforce applicable law even if it has not been complied with. This is a legitimate sanction, which ultimately ensures that the vast majority abide by the rules. It is also a requirement of fairness and acceptance of the rules.
Moratorium as a building code substitute?
However, in recent years there have been an increasing number of decisions issued by the authorities that have left many developers shaking their heads, sometimes even causing headaches. I still remember the moratorium in the Calvia area in the coastal strip, which was a tremendous financial burden for many developers.
Nobel gehtts auf dem Sch..haus zu....
Similarly, it was in Port d'Andratx, where yes a considerable part of the posh villas sits on septic tanks, because there is partly no sewerage in the posh village. And again and again it stinks then there from the ground , because the presumably not developed but built-up areas have a problem if the Fosa Sépticas are leaking and the Sch... on the way down makes itself ...
So again a moratorium was issued ... Just as in Son Vida, where the sewer works are still not completed and in other places.
Think about it!
We have now experienced in Palma twice in a row a year moratorium, in which the building applications were not processed in part, because a commission had been appointed to decide which buildings should now be classified as worthy of monument protection and which not. Unfortunately, so little came out of this that the administrative regulations were then actually adapted and it is now reserved to simply spontaneously place the building under monument protection when a building application is submitted. This seems very arbitrary and very unclear. Rules are there to ensure that in the end two applicants receive the same answer from two authority employees. That is not guaranteed here.
Please not glass everywhere!
In the south, buildings were constructed differently. To us northern and central Europeans, the houses seemed dark in places, which they are in comparison to the glaring exterior light. But the people had thought of something. Look at the picture of ours la23The smaller windows compared to the full glazing give privacy, guarantee that the house does not heat up excessively and frame the beautiful sea view like a good photo.
If you submit a facade to the building application today, a commission looks over it. For me in practice perfectly fine, I share the taste of the commission and find just these pseudo new buildings, which were primarily created with huge window areas and repellent facades furcthbar! But still, this should not be allowed to decide a commission at its discretion, but there should be clear comprehensible regulations.
We need rules. real rules!
In my view, it cannot be right for authorities to hold private developers hostage because they are unwilling or unable to enact their ordinances. A moratorium should only be a last resort. And for that, an authority would have to say why there was no milder remedy.
We need legal certainty. It must be clear what constitutes a facade so that it is approved. Or whether a connection to the sewage system is a prerequisite for a building permit.
But ... not so!
In Palma there was suddenly a new zoning plan. As a consequence, only 10% of the area of an inner-city patio may still be pool surface. So if we assume an average of 40-50 m2 patio, then you can calculate the size of the bath yourself. In addition, a "green zone" must be created in double the size of the pool.
To make matters worse, the City expects the applicant to comply with old AND new regulations during the transition period. Why? Only because the authority itself is uncertain whether the plan will actually be implemented in its entirety? Sorry, that really can't be! Then announce the new plan. Live with the fact that until the deadline the developers shovel in building applications according to the old law. And then change over. But here indecision of the authority is left out at the citizen.
Then came Calvià
Last Monday Calvià was then: In the entire region and I think Calvià is one of the largest area municipalities here on the island, the pool size was limited to 45 cubic meters. Which, with an average height of 1.5 m, corresponds to 30 square meters. So about the size of a prefabricated concrete - single garage. Which is to stand in the future thus before a 20 million - mansion in old Bendinat. So not the garage, but the comparably small pool. The house may be further 700 m2 large. Plus full basement in hardly limited size ...
Where has the guidebook gone?
Perhaps I have written myself into a bit of a rage. I left the red thread on the path and neglected the topic of "giving advice". But the problem is that there is no real thread. We have here a string of regulations, moratoriums, scandals that basically have only one thing in common: they make your property worse. And I see no tendency to reverse this trend.
My advice: build now!
If you have a plot of land: Submit a building application. Immediately! No matter whether you have already planned the perfect house. Or if it is still a shoebox with openings. The time until the approval of the building application is between about one year (Calvía) and almost 4 years (El Molinar in Palma). In this time you can still talk about changes. But usually you do not have to fear that changes made after the submission will be implemented to your disadvantage. However, even this is not certain.
Again the disclaimer: I am of course not a lawyer, I am simply writing my opinion here. Based on my practical experience as a real estate investor over the last 10 years. So this can be total nonsense!
Secure your property
It probably won't get any better! Very extreme cases are for example:
You buy a house that should not be built today. The house burns down. Then you have - as a rule - a plot of land that can no longer be built on, as you had bought it before. And no one will compensate you for the loss of value.
Or: You have bought a villa with a pool. The pool breaks down and you apply for a building permit to repair it ... Do you know what? Darling, I have shrunk the pool ... you can then tell your partner ...
The first two parts of my guidebook series are really more guidebooks. One is about the selection of properties, the other about the legal pitfalls. If you are thinking about buying real estate in Mallorca, I think they are quite helpful to read.
Greetings from the most beautiful island,
Arnd
