For decades now, the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has had a serious problem with the proliferation of illegally built properties, erected on non-buildable land and without building licences.

There are countless small houses and shacks but also residential complexes and villas in the interior and along the region’s almost 1,000 kilometres of coastline that were built during a building bonanza in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.

Developers and builders were fully aware that the constructions were illegal, but turned a blind eye to local authorities’ warnings, who were overwhelmed by the volume of properties popping up across the vast territory.

Over the past 20 years, the Andalusian government has rolled out increasingly strict regulations to put a stop to the practice. 

Many foreigners who unknowingly bought properties have been caught up in the crackdown, and some have had their homes demolished. Others find themselves in a legal limbo.

No one knows exactly how many illegal properties there are in Andalusia. The latest official figure from 2019 put the total at 327,000, other sources say it’s been reduced to 300,000.

In Marbella alone, there are meant to be 30,000 illegally built homes, mostly erected under the governance of their notorious former mayor Jesús Gil in the 1990s.

Currently, a war against illegal housing is being waged in Andalusia on several fronts: in the regional Junta government, in the town councils and also in the courts.

The latest legislation by the governing right-wing PP, the Law for the Promotion of Sustainability in Andalusia (also known as the LISTA), states that “the division and construction of plots on non-buildable land is an infraction classified as very serious. Any type of construction is prohibited under a penalty of up to €180,000”. 

“Previous governments were very permissive with illegal buildings and this led to the proliferation of housing on rural land, which caused enormous environmental damage to our territory,” Rocío Díaz, Andalusia’s Minister of Development, Land Management and Housing, told Spanish daily ABC.

The number of disciplinary measures executed by the regional government against illegal homes has reportedly increased twelve-fold since 2018. In June and July 2024 alone, 300 plots were cordoned off. 

In 2023, there were over fifty demolitions of illegal buildings in Seville, Granada, Jaén and Málaga alone.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office is looking to allow more demolitions but lacks the collaboration of many town councils.

The primary objective of the Junta currently is to stop the problem at the source by carrying out inspections of buildings that are under construction – 900 were carried out in 2022, 637 in 2023 and so far in 2024 almost 500.

Only last June, they halted the construction of an illegal mega residential complex being built on rural land in La Línea de la Concepción in Cádiz.

Many owners of illegally built homes do have the option of applying for an AFO certificate which normalises their status to an extent by classifying them in a special regime.

Furthermore, in some cases the offence of building or buying an illegal property in Andalusia will have prescribed by the time authorities come knocking, making it harder for any demolition to be carried out or fine to be handed out. 

Illegal property building continues to take place in Andalusia in 2024 despite the stringent regulations now in place, resulting in authorities putting most of the focus on newer irregular developments. 

Many still get away with it. More often than not, it’s local councils that ignore the regional rules and allow their neighbours or wealthy developers to go ahead with their construction plans. 

“In no case of crime is the criminal allowed to keep what he steals,” Ángel Núñez, chief prosecutor of Cádiz, told ABC.

“Why does the person who builds an illegal house get to keep it?”.