We are currently renting but looking to buy a rural house in the area.  We have looked at quite a few and did like one near the village of Ginestar.  Have since been told that there is problems in the village and some demolition orders put on buildings.  Not sure if this is true or just scare mongering.  Does anyone have any information.  Obviously we are not going to commit ourselves until we have take legal advice but just thought we may get additional advice from people in the area.  We have approached some people but they did not seem to know anything about trouble we were only told by someone in the cafe in Tortosa.

Hi Betty,

Ask to see a copy of the escritura (deeds) If there is no mention of any building on the land at all, walk in the opposite direction.

If there is a registered building and it says almacen, but it's a normal house with bathroom/kitchen etc, this is also illegal. A Spanish family had their 3 bedroom house demolished last month on the Delta, because permission was only ever granted to build an almacen, and you are not allowed to live in them.

If it says 'vivienda' on the escritura and the registered size of the building, then that is a legal house to live in, but also check that it's not any bigger than stated, or you could be in hot water again.

It's a mine field out there, and I can assure you that there are not very many legal viviendas in this area, so be very careful, and like you say on your posting, get legal representation before doing anything.

Regards
Jools

I'm using the Catastral add-on for Google Earth. This lets you see the registration details for each parcela. It's from the 'Ministerio de Economia y Haciendia' and, I presume shows the up to date official detail of the property. I think I got it from the Gencat web site but it was a good while ago.

Mine shows 'Clase: Urbano' and 'Uso: Residential' while our neighbours are 'Clase: Rustico' and 'Uso: Agrario' which doesn't seem so good for living in.

Anyone know more abour these classifications and what they mean regards living in the campo?

If it is reliable then it's obviously a great tool for anyone looking for property.

Pete.

Here we go...


http://www.catastro.meh.es/esp/servicios_destacados1.asp#menu5_7

Go down near the bottom of the page, in section 4.7. Just above the Google Earth image is a link to the install.

I haven't run it again now as I'm already installed. When you install it you may need to activate it by checking the box in the 'places' list at the left. you can turn it off there when it gets in the way.

To use it, just hover over the area of interest and a big refresh icon shows (eventually). Click on coloured squares and select the Cadastral number that comes up. A new window gives you the Cadastral data. The Google map also shows the outline of the parcels and location of buildings.

Happy hunting. 

Hi Pete and Bigyin,

Keep in mind that the plug-in gives you the info that is registred at the catastro and is just used for tax purposes. The info registred at the registro de propiedad (where the ownership is registred) is often not the same. If there is no complete registration at the registro de propiedad, the building is not legalized (yet) and you will have a hard time to get something as a building-permit to renovate.

The good news is that with the Google-earth tool you can get the poligon and parcella numbers of a property you have spotted at a search. And you will need this numbers to apply for the registered info at the registro de propiedad.

Mark

Further to my previous...wouldn't it be great if someone on here knew the complete chapter and verse of EVERYTHING you're supposed to have to be legal and bulletproof here.  I recently applied successfully for my Certificado the Residencia and I promised Nigel I'd write the procedure up for inclusion in the useful info section at the top.  Haven't had time yet but will do eventually.  That can be added to the "How to get an NIE number" but there's still a lot of stuff that I either don't know about or am confused about.  Example:-  One of the docs I needed was a Convivencia.  I took along the paper I got from my local town hall when I first arrived only to be told that was a temporary one.  I got a proper one from the town hall and the lass at the oficina de extranjeros kept it.  Apparently they only last three months anyway and when I apply for my medical card, I'll have to go and get another one.  Also, I don't know if this is the same as a padron.  Any info from any experts would be welcome.
Cheers,
Bigyin (Confused of Catalonia) 

Hi Bigyin,

You Wrote: "Hmmm....slightly confused here.  Are you saying that the parecella info shown on the G/E overlay (which is the same as on my escetura) is only for tax (BASE) purposes and it's possible that the property still isn't registered at the registro de propiedad ?  If that were the case, what would be the possible adverse consequences. ?

And that is exactly the case. the Catastro and the Registro de propiedad are two different registrations with its one purpose. Spain did start rather late with  a good registration of property-ownership. So a lot of fincas are not registred at all in the Registro. I think the story of my finca gives an idea of the possible consequences. When I bought it the Catastro had registred two pieces of land and one building. In the Registro there was only one piece of land and no building. To fix this an architect must make a declaretion of the building to exist and has been there for a certain amount of time. For the missing piece of land there must made a public declaration at the town hall to see if someone (other then the seller) would claim rights to the land. You can imagine it did take a while and some money before we could apply for a building permit

Mark

Its a shame that a few have to pay for so many ! (think about it !) ginestar area