Community of owners without an administrator: what Spanish law says

No. Spain's Horizontal Property Act (LPH) does not force a community to hire an administrador de fincas: under article 13.5, the president performs the secretary and administrator duties unless the statutes or a majority of the owners' meeting appoint someone else. Duties stay the same: an annual meeting, approved accounts and a reserve fund of at least 10 %.

Buy a flat in Spain and within a week someone will tell you the building must have a professional administrator "because the law says so". It is one of the most persistent myths in Spanish community life. This guide covers what the law says, who takes on each role, how a self-managing president's year runs and when the do-it-yourself route stops making sense.

Is a property administrator mandatory in Spain?

No. Article 13.5 gives the secretary and administrator duties to the president, and article 13.6 adds that if the meeting does appoint an administrator, the role can go to any owner or to a person with sufficient, legally recognised professional qualifications. Nothing in the Act requires membership of a professional colegio. The myth survives on habit: in larger buildings an administrator is so common that it looks compulsory.

There is one exception worth checking. If your statutes themselves require a separate administrator, dropping one means amending the statutes, and that needs unanimity (article 17.6).

Otherwise the decision works both ways.

The ordinary majority in article 17.7 is enough to self-manage this year and hire an agency next year if the experiment disappoints. At a second call, that means a majority of those attending who also hold more than half of the quotas present.

Who acts as secretary?

The president, by default: calling meetings, drafting and closing the minutes, issuing debt certificates and keeping the paperwork. Minutes must be closed within ten calendar days of the meeting, and notices, proxies and other relevant documents kept for five years (article 19).

The meeting can also appoint another owner as secretary and leave the presidency as a representative role. The president signs and fronts the community, a neighbour with a head for paperwork runs the minutes, and nobody burns out. The minutes book itself is not optional: it must be stamped by the Registro de la Propiedad where the building is registered, once per book, and without it any agreement is on shaky ground the day somebody challenges it. For owners who live abroad part of the year, splitting the roles this way is often what makes self-management workable at all.

Which annual obligations remain?

The same ones as with an administrator; only who carries them out changes:

• Hold the ordinary meeting at least once a year to approve the budget and accounts (article 16)
• Keep a reserve fund of at least 10 % of the last ordinary budget (article 9.1.f), up from 5 % since Royal Decree-law 7/2019
• Obtain the community's own tax number (NIF) with form 036, to open a bank account and pay suppliers
• Hold a digital certificate and watch the electronic mailbox, because entities without legal personality, which communities are, must deal with the Spanish administration electronically (article 14.2 of Law 39/2015)

That last one catches out first-time presidents: tax notices no longer arrive by post, and deadlines run whether or not anyone opens the mailbox.

Legal note: the LPH does not require insurance, but some regions do. In the Community of Madrid every building must be insured against fire and third-party damage (Law 2/1999, art. 24), and in the Valencian Community the community must take out that cover for the common elements (Law 8/2004, art. 30).

The self-managing president's year

• January: close the financial year, reconcile the accounts and list unpaid fees
• February: file modelo 347 if any supplier was paid more than 3,005.06 euros the previous year; communities leave out water, electricity, fuel and insurance of the common elements (Royal Decree 1065/2007, art. 33.5)
• March and April: prepare the accounts and next year's budget, and check the reserve fund meets the minimum
• The ordinary meeting: at least six days' notice; approve accounts and budget and renew the offices, which last one year unless the statutes say otherwise (article 13.7)
• The following ten days: close the minutes and notify absent owners
• All year: issue receipts, renew the insurance, keep up mandatory maintenance such as the lift, and check the mailbox

Half of that list is recurring paperwork, which is where community software such as Vecinly saves the most hours: notices, minutes, receipts and accounts are produced and archived in one place, readable from wherever the owners live.

How much does self-management save?

There is no official fee scale; agency fees are set freely and depend on the building, the city and the services. Do the maths with a real quote. At an example figure of 6 euros per flat per month, a twenty-flat building pays 1,440 euros a year, before extraordinary meetings that many agencies bill separately.

The saving is paid in someone's hours, and it stops making sense in large buildings with a garage, pool or concierge, in communities with employees, with high arrears or entrenched conflicts, or during major works. Self-management suits the small building with simple accounts and a good atmosphere.

If you already have an administrator and want to replace them, the steps are in how to change property administrator in Spain.

Before voting for self-management, read how far a president's personal liability goes and how to claim unpaid community fees without an agency behind you. What we offer owners who take on the role is on our page for board presidents.

Information updated September 2026. This article is for general guidance on Spanish law and does not constitute legal advice.