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EXPLAINED: The new housing law in Spain’s Balearic Islands

The Balearic government has approved a new law which includes numerous creative measures aimed at combating the Spanish archipelago's unaffordable house prices and rents, as well as the overall lack of housing.

Published: 18 April 2024 10:04 CEST
EXPLAINED: The new housing law in Spain's Balearic Islands
Spain's Balearic Islands create new housing law. Photo: Mike Kit / Pexels

The Balearic Parliament approved the law on urgent measures on Tuesday April 16th, based on the decree approved by the Government of Marga Prohens last October.

The new legislation aims to increase the supply of housing available in the Balearic Islands, made up of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, at affordable prices and without building on new land. 

It primarily targets the middle and working classes and young people, who are the most affected by the lack of housing.

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The Decree enables a set of measures to generate the creation of new homes at reasonable prices, as well as measures to help combat the fight against illegal tourist rentals, in order to recover homes for the residential market. These include:

Turning commercial properties into residential ones

The new decree enables existing premises such as commercial or administrative buildings, both ground and upper floors, to be converted into Limited-Price-Housing (HPL).

Division of existing homes

Existing homes will be divided to create new HPLs, through an increase in maximum densities, both for old buildings and in undeveloped plots with permitted multi-family and single-family residential uses.

Building up

It also allows existing buildings to be extended and built higher so that more land isn’t being taken up. This is primarily on plots with permitted multi-family residential use.

READ ALSO: Spain urges regions to limit Airbnb-style lets in ‘stressed rental areas’

Building on land earmarked for other use

The law also states that new housing can be built on land that was intended for private facilities that have not yet been developed or protected housing on plots for public facilities.

Changing tourist rentals into residential properties

Obsolete tourist establishments will be converted into residential properties in order to create more limited-price housing.

Creation of social housing

The law also expands upon the special regime already in force that allows for the creation of social housing in unfinished buildings with an expired tourist licence, in a dilapidated state or uninhabitable. The plan is to recover these structures so that they can be renovated turned into used low-cost housing.

Building of co-living spaces

The Decree Law also introduces a new category of accommodation with complementary common spaces such as co-living and co-housing. This has been created in response to new models of coexistence, for example for students or for the elderly. It aims to grant habitability certificates to homes that meet these conditions, regardless of the urban planning situation.

Another measure that has been negotiated between the parliamentary groups, is to reserve more housing for young people and to facilitate access to housing for workers in the tourism sector.

It will also regulate the habitability conditions of staff accommodation and accommodation with common spaces.

READ ALSO: Spain’s Balearics struggle to fill job vacancies due to exorbitant rents

Who will be able to access Limited-Price-Housing?

Those who are eligible to rent or buy these types of properties must meet a series of requirements.

They will need to be of legal age and must have permanent residence in the Balearic Islands. They also cannot already fully own a home.

In order to apply, the beneficiary will have to submit an online registration and responsible declaration to the General Directorate of Housing and Architecture.

It must be signed by the buyer or tenant, within a period of thirty days from the formalisation of the private contract, in which it must be declared that the HPL home will be used as a habitual and permanent residence and that the buyer/tenant meets the established requirements.

What types of properties will be available and how will it work?

These properties will be for sale, for rent or for rent with an option to buy, and it is established that these homes will maintain their HPL status permanently. Transfers of ownership and use are permitted at any time, as long as the required access conditions are met.

Two types of prices will established. For example, in the case of 60 m² and 80 m² homes, the various price ranges of HPL, depending on the municipality and the energy efficiency of the homes, would range between €102,000 and a maximum of approximately €241,000. In the cases of new construction, between €121,000 and about €285,000.

In the case of rental for homes of 60 m² and 80 m², the limited prices would be between €385 per month in the lowest sections up to a maximum of about €905. If it is a new construction, the rental prices of these two examples would range between €455 and €1,070.

READ ALSO: The cities in Spain where people fight most over a place to rent 

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PROPERTY

BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Though many people hang laundry, plants, and flags from their balcony, in Spain the rules on what you can and can't do on 'el balcón' are not well-known.

Published: 8 May 2024 17:13 CEST
BBQs, nudity and plants: What are the balcony rules in Spain?

Imagine the scene: you’ve just bought or signed the lease on your dream apartment. It’s bright and airy, with plenty of space, and even has a nice-sized balcony to get some fresh air on. You can do whatever you want there, right? 

Not exactly. In Spain the rules on what you can and can’t do on a balcony (even if it’s private) depend on a few factors, namely the regional and local rules, as well as getting the approval of the building’s homeowner’s association – known in Spain as la comunidad.

Some of them might just surprise you.

READ ALSO: ‘La comunidad’: What property owners in Spain need to know about homeowners’ associations

There are four main things or activities on balconies that could potentially put you on the wrong side of the local rules and even get you fined: barbecues, plants, laundry, and flags.

In all cases (even if you don’t think you’re breaking any rules) you’ll generally need to consider two things: firstly, does this affect or change the building’s façade? And secondly: will la comunidad allow it?

Barbecues

In Spain there is no national law prohibiting barbecues on private property, so in principle it is legal as long as the barbecue is lit in a private space such as your own balcony, garden or terrace, and not a shared space.

Often in Spain, the roof (usually referred to as la terrazza) is a shared space people use for storage and hanging their laundry, so be sure to check with the comunidad.

In terms of your own balcony, however, although there’s no law saying outright you can’t have a barbecue, you’ll need to take into account the rules and regulations in force in each locality or region. There may also be specific rules within the building that long-term homeowners have developed over the years.

As we will see, many of these low-level regulations are delegated to local governments and town halls in Spain, so the answer to these sorts of questions is usually: it depends where you are.

However, according to Article 7 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law, “the owner and the occupant of the flat or premises are not allowed to carry out in it or in the rest of the property activities prohibited in bylaws, which are harmful to the property or which contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illegal activities.”

This basically gives your neighbours the right to complain about noise, smells, smoke and any possible fire risk in or around their building, which barbecues could plausibly fall under.

As with co-living anywhere in the world, regardless of the regional or local rules, employ some common sense: be reasonable, listen to neighbour’s concerns and take up any disputes with the President of la comunidad.

READ ALSO: What you need to know before having a barbecue in Spain

Plants

Again, with plants the responsibility falls on each local authority to set the rules. In Spain, most regions and town halls state that, as long as the architectural or structural elements of the building are not changed or weakened in any way, putting plants on your balcony is permitted.

However, note that many terraces and balconies do have maximum weight regulations that must be respected in order to guarantee their safety, which is 200kg per square metre. If this figure is exceeded (and it can be proved) you could theoretically be fined.

Laundry

Laundry lines criss-crossing the streets might be one of the more picturesque images of Spanish life, but the people doing it might actually be breaking the rules.

How do you know? You guessed it, it depends where you. You’ll need to check with your local authority on this one, though municipal regulations in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia all regulate hanging laundry from your balcony, which is again outlined in the Horizontal Property Law.

This principally seems to be because it affects the façade of the building (a common theme when it comes to balcony rules in Spain).

In places with rules about hanging laundry from balconies, you could be fined up to 750 euros if you don’t comply with the rules.

However, according to Foto Casa, even if you live in an area where there are no bans or penalties against hanging laundry on the balcony, you’ll still likely need the permission of la comunidad.

READ MORE: Spain’s weirdest laws that foreigners should know about

What about flags?

Whether it be the Spanish flag, the Catalan, Valencian or Andalusian flags, or LGBT, trade union or football team flags, flags proudly hanging from balconies is another mainstay of Spanish life.

It’s also one of the more controversial ones too, especially within comunidad meetings. Hanging flags on the balcony, as well as allegedly altering the aesthetics and security of the building (the same concern as with laundry) often has ideological connotations that can cause conflict.

Again, as with laundry, hanging flags on the balcony will require the approval of all the owners within the community, something that must be agreed at a meeting, as per the Horizontal Property Law.

However, if the flag is placed inside the property, as it is a private property, fellow homeowners cannot oppose it, even if it is visible from the street, according to Foto Casa.

Nudity 

Article of 185 of Spain’s Penal Code only considers being naked at home to be obscene exhibitionism and sexual provocation if it affects minors, in which case it is punishable with a fine or up to a year in prison.

Therefore, you could technically sunbathe shirtless or naked on your balcony in most cases without getting into trouble, although it won’t necessarily go down well with your neighbours and/or flatmates and you be reprimanded for it.

READ ALSO: Can you go shirtless or wear a bikini in the street in Spain?

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