Neighborly coexistence was not always easy. Often, neighborhood disputes arise between renovation projects, private uses of homes, etc., so it is normal to ask questions like: Can a community prohibit the enclosure of a terrace? Can it install solar panels? Can it prevent the installation of air conditioning or veto a tourist apartment? The answer lies in the Horizontal Property Law (LPH), the regulation that governs the rights and obligations of millions of owners in Spain.
The Law 49/1960, of July 21, on Horizontal Property, establishes the operating rules for owner communities and determines the extent of the powers of a neighborhood council and the individual rights of each owner. This regulation is complemented by article 396 of the Civil Code, which defines the horizontal property regime and the common elements of a building.
What does the horizontal property law consist of?
The Horizontal Property Law (LPH) is the regulation that governs the organization, administration, and coexistence in neighborhood communities of buildings and developments where there are private properties—such as homes, commercial spaces, or garages—and shared common elements, such as entrances, elevators, gardens, roofs, swimming pools, or facades.
Its objective is to guarantee the balance between the right to private property and the collective interest of the community, establishing how agreements should be adopted, what majorities are necessary to approve certain decisions, and what the obligations of all owners are.
The regulation is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) as Law 49/1960, of July 21, on Horizontal Property, and has been modified on numerous occasions to adapt to new realities such as accessibility, energy efficiency, or tourist use housing.
What can a neighborhood community prohibit?
A community of owners cannot prohibit any action by a simple majority decision. It can only limit certain uses when the law itself permits it and following the procedures established in the LPH.
For example, the homeowners' association can restrict any type of activities that are annoying or harmful to the health of the owners; it can restrict works that affect the structure of the building (for example, the facade); it can restrict modifications to common elements that have not been authorized by the association; or it can restrict certain private uses of the homes, such as tourist apartments.
In all these cases, the association must respect the majorities provided for in Article 17 of the Horizontal Property Law, which determines when a simple majority is sufficient, when a qualified majority is required, and when unanimity is necessary.
What a homeowners' association cannot prohibit
Having clarified what a homeowners' association can restrict, it is time to know its limits. In this regard, the LPH does not allow a homeowners' meeting to eliminate rights recognized by legislation or impose arbitrary restrictions.
Therefore, and by way of example, a homeowners' association cannot prevent the private use that each owner makes of their home, as long as it does not harm the rest of the neighbors; it cannot approve rules contrary to the LPH or the Civil Code; it cannot impose discriminatory or disproportionate limitations towards the rest of the neighbors; nor can it adopt agreements without respecting the legally required majorities.
When an owner considers that an agreement violates the law or seriously harms their rights, they can challenge it judicially under the terms provided by Article 18 of the Horizontal Property Law.
What rights and duties do owners have?
When someone becomes an owner, they acquire by law a series of rights and duties towards themselves and their community. Among the rights are: giving the desired private use to the home within legal limits; participating and voting in homeowners' meetings; challenging agreements that are contrary to the law or statutes; requesting economic information about the management of the community; and carrying out works inside their home as long as they do not affect the structure of the building, safety, common elements, or the rights of other owners.
Among the duties that a property owner acquires are: contributing to the payment of common expenses through the corresponding fees; adequately maintaining their home; being responsible for damages caused by poor maintenance; allowing access when necessary to carry out essential works for the building; and respecting the installations and common elements.
Whereas the rights of property owners are included in articles 3 and 15 to 18, the obligations are set out in article 9 of the Horizontal Property Law.
And... What about tourist apartments?
Many communities can approve internal regulations, provided for in article 6, aimed at regulating everyday matters such as the use of the swimming pool, the hours of certain facilities, or the use of common spaces, as long as it does not contradict the law or limit the rights that legislation recognizes for property owners. However, one of the most relevant changes in recent years affects tourist homes.
The reform introduced by Organic Law 1/2025 modified the Horizontal Property Law to strengthen the capacity of property owner communities to authorize this type of activity, establishing new requirements for its implementation in certain buildings. In other words, a neighborhood community could prohibit tourist apartments, but not automatically or in all cases.
Since Organic Law 1/2025 was approved, the Horizontal Property Law incorporated a new regime for tourist homes. The reform introduced section 3 of article 7 of the LPH, which establishes that the owner who wishes to use their home for tourist purposes must previously obtain the express approval of the property owner community, in accordance with the majorities provided for in article 17.12 of the law.
In other words, the opening of a new tourist apartment in a community no longer depends solely on complying with regional or municipal regulations, but also on obtaining authorization from the community itself when required by the LPH.