Comunidad Costs Mallorca

What does the Comunidad cost on Mallorca?

Two figures decide everything: the annual budget adopted by the owners' assembly (Junta de Propietarios), and your participation quota (cuota de participación) — your co-ownership share, which the title deed (escritura) states as hundredths of the whole building. Your contribution is simply the one multiplied by the other, no more and no less. There is no legally fixed amount; it results from the budget that the community sets for itself.

What the law does set, however, are four thresholds, all of which depend on your own contribution: the minimum reserve fund of 10% of the last ordinary budget, the limit up to which accessibility measures are binding even without a resolution, the limit above which a resolved improvement does not bind you as a dissenting voter, and the framework within which you are liable, upon purchase, for the previous owner's debts. The calculator above shows all four in euros — that's the difference between "paying the Hausgeld" and "knowing what the community can actually oblige you to do".

How it's calculated

The calculation itself is a multiplication, but the rules behind it are not. The calculator lays both open:

• Annual contribution = the community's annual budget × your quota. The legal basis is Art. 9.1.e) LPH: every owner bears the general costs "con arreglo a la cuota de participación fijada en el título o a lo especialmente establecido" — according to the quota set out in the title, unless otherwise specified therein.
• Contribution per payment = annual contribution divided by the number of instalments. Whether collection is monthly, quarterly or annual is purely a matter of administrative practice; the law has no requirement on this.
• Share of the special levy = total amount of the derrama × your quota. For mandatory measures, the Junta's resolution under Art. 10.2.a) LPH is expressly limited to "la distribución de la derrama pertinente" — that is, to the distribution, not to the question of whether it happens.
• Monthly contribution = annual contribution divided by twelve. This figure is the yardstick in which the law expresses its thresholds ("mensualidades ordinarias de gastos comunes"). Where collection is not monthly, the twelfth is the customary reading; there is no legal definition of the mensualidad.

The quota itself is set out in the title under Art. 5 LPH and is formed under Art. 3 para. 2 LPH "en relación con el total del valor del inmueble y referida a centésimas" — usable floor area, interior or exterior position, and the presumed use of the communal facilities are the basis of assessment. It does not change simply because you upgrade your flat or let it fall into disrepair.

Worked examples

Below the calculator are three worked-through cases: a small development without a pool and a correspondingly high quota, an urbanisation with a pool and gardener, and the same case with a special levy for the façade. The figures there are generated on every page load from the same calculation as your own result — they are not typed in, and so cannot go out of date.

Special cases that shift the contribution

Garage and storage room often have their own quota

Are the garage (garaje) or storage room (trastero) registered as separate units in the Grundbuch (property register), they carry their own cuota de participación — and you pay for each. Only if they are described in the escritura as accessories (anejo) of your flat are they included in its quota. Anyone who overlooks this systematically calculates too low.

A deviating distribution key in the title

Art. 9.1.e) LPH allows for „lo especialmente establecido" (what is specifically established): the title or the statutes can distribute individual costs differently, for example lift costs by floor or pool costs only to the flats with access. This is permissible and not uncommon on Mallorca. The calculator applies the statutory default case; if your title states otherwise, its standard is decisive.

The urbanisation is often a community of communities

Many Mallorcan complexes are legally an agrupación de comunidades under Art. 24 LPH — several individual communities under one umbrella association. For the umbrella community, the reserve obligation of Art. 9 under Art. 24.3.c) LPH expressly applies only if its Junta resolves so. You then usually pay two contributions: one to your individual community, one to the umbrella community.

Who pays a special levy — seller or buyer

For special levies to finance improvements, Art. 17.11 LPH is clear: they affect whoever is the owner at the time it falls due. A derrama resolved before the purchase but only falling due afterwards is therefore paid by the buyer — even if they were not yet involved in the vote. That is why the minutes of the last meetings belong to the purchase due diligence, not just the debt certificate.

When the community itself has debts

If the community fails to pay a bill, the creditor can, subordinately, hold each individual owner liable under Art. 22.1 LPH — „por la cuota que le corresponda" (for the share attributable to them), i.e. according to the same quota. Anyone who is not themselves in arrears can counter this under Art. 22.2 LPH by arguing that the defaulting owners must first be pursued. It is a second, quota-dependent cost exposure that is barely mentioned in any purchase contract.

The reserve: a lower limit for the balance, not an annual payment

Art. 9.1.f) LPH requires a reserve fund (fondo de reserva), which „en ningún caso" (under no circumstances) may fall below 10% of the last ordinary budgets may lie. Two misunderstandings are widespread and both costly:

• It is a minimum balance, not an annual contribution. If the fund is at the required level, no one owes a further payment. If it is underfunded, a single year's contribution can lie well above that.
• The rate has applied since 2019 and was previously half as high. Anyone reading an older statement will find the old figure there. The calculator uses, for each reference date, the version that applied on that day.

The fund serves upkeep, repair and refurbishment, as well as the accessibility and energy-efficiency measures named in Art. 10.1.b) and Art. 17.2 LPH. The community may also fund building insurance or a maintenance contract from it.

Two thresholds that decide on resolutions

Twelve monthly instalments: accessibility without a vote

Accessibility measures requested by an owner with a disability or over seventy are, under Art. 10.1.b) LPH, binding without a resolution of the Junta, as long as the share allocated annually to the individual owner, after deduction of public subsidies, does not exceed twelve ordinary monthly instalments. What is compared is the allocated share, not the total price of the measure — anyone who sets the lift builder's invoice against their annual contribution is mistaken by the reciprocal of their quota.

Three counterpoints prevent this limit from being a blank cheque. It ceases to apply if public subsidies reach 75% of the costs. It ceases to apply if the applicants bear the extra amount themselves — Art. 10.1.b) states this expressly. And an effectively passed accessibility resolution binds the community well beyond that, under Art. 17.2 Para. 2 LPH.

Three monthly instalments: when an improvement does not bind you

If the Junta resolves, with the required three-fifths majority, on an improvement — a new installation, a new service, an upgrade that is not required for upkeep, habitability, safety or accessibility —, and your share of the installation costs exceeds three ordinary monthly instalments, then the resolution does not bind you as a dissenting voter under Art. 17.4 LPH, and your quota is not changed. If you later wish to make use of the benefit after all, you must pay your share retroactively, together with statutory interest.

Two distinctions matter here: upkeep measures are not improvements — the limit does not apply to a leaking roof. And for energy-efficiency measures under Art. 17.2 LPH, the dissenting voter's right is expressly excluded; there, even those who voted against also bear the cost.

On purchase: what you are liable for with the property

Under Art. 9.1.e) Para. 3 LPH, the purchaser is liable with the acquired property for the arrears of previous owners — limited to the portion already due in the year of acquisition and the full calendar years before it that the law specifies. This is a liability in rem (afección real) It doesn't reach into your other assets, but the property itself is liable for it. It covers all general costs from these years, and under Art. 10.2.c) LPH also special levies for compulsory works — the range shown by the calculator therefore tends to be set too low rather than too high.

The countermeasure is found in the same article: the seller must state in the escritura that they have paid the community fees, and provide a certificate from the secretary countersigned by the president (certificado de deudas con la comunidad). Without it, the escritura may not be executed, unless the buyer expressly waives this requirement. It must be issued within seven calendar days of the request. Where it fits into the property purchase process and what the notary does with it is explained in the respective guides.

Deadlines, forms and the path to the money

• Ordinary meeting: at least once a year, to approve the budget and accounts (Art. 16.1 LPH). The invitation to the junta ordinaria must arrive at least six days beforehand (Art. 16.3 LPH); for extraordinary meetings, a notice period that still reaches everyone involved is sufficient.
• Second call: If the first attempt fails to reach a majority by both number of owners and shares, the meeting is held on second call without a quorum requirement — on the same day after half an hour, or within eight calendar days with three days' notice (Art. 16.2 LPH).
• Challenging a resolution: three months from the date of the resolution, or one year in the case of resolutions contrary to law or the bylaws; for absent owners, the period runs from service of the minutes (Art. 18.3 LPH). Anyone wishing to challenge a resolution must be up to date with their outstanding contributions or deposit them (Art. 18.2 LPH).
• In case of payment default: The community's claims accrue interest from the due date; the junta may set interest rates higher than the statutory rate and may resolve to temporarily withdraw services, as long as this is not abusive (Art. 21.1 LPH). Anyone who has not paid by the start of the meeting and has not challenged or deposited the amount loses their voting right — the right to attend and speak remains (Art. 15.2 LPH).
• Payment order procedure: The community recovers arrears through the proceso monitorio (Art. 21.2 LPH), using a settlement certificate issued by the secretary and signed by the president. If the debtor objects, the community can obtain a provisional attachment without providing security (Art. 21.4 LPH).

Who decides what: bodies and majorities

Voting weight does not follow headcount alone, but always the quotas as well. Routine administration is decided by a simple majority of those present, counted by both heads and quotas. The law requires three-fifths of all owners and quotas, among other things, for setting up or abolishing shared services such as a concierge or security (Art. 17.3 LPH), for structural divisions and additional storeys (Art. 17.6 LPH), and for decisions on holiday letting. Accessibility measures and the installation of a lift require a majority of owners who at the same time represent a majority of the quotas (Art. 17.2 LPH). For energy-efficiency measures, a simple majority is sufficient, as long as the amount apportioned annually does not exceed twelve monthly contributions.

Holiday letting: since 2025, even a 'yes' requires a formal resolution

Art. 17.12 LPH has been reworded with effect from 3 April 2025. Since then, every explicit resolution by which the community approves, restricts, ties to conditions, or prohibits tourist letting requires three-fifths of the owners and three-fifths of the quotas. The earlier interpretation — 'allowed as long as no one forbids it' — no longer holds without further ado.

The same majority can set special cost quotas for the let flat or an increased share of the community costs; the increase may not exceed twenty percent. All these resolutions explicitly have no retroactive effect. Whether you get a licence at all is decided separately under Balearic tourism law — see our guide on the ETV licence in Mallorca.

What's included in the community fees

Not included is the insurance of your private property; for that you need your own home contents insurance in Spain. Also not included is the local property tax: You pay the IBI to the municipality, the community fees to the community. Both run in parallel, and both are often lumped together when buying.

The fact that you don't use the flat does not exempt you: Art. 9.2 LPH explicitly states that non-use of a service does not release you from the obligation to pay — the only exception being the right of the dissenting voter under Art. 17.4 LPH.

Statutes and house rules

The estatutos are recorded in the Land Registry and bind every legal successor as well; they regulate what goes beyond the law — pet keeping, use of communal facilities, renting out. The house rules (reglamento de régimen interior) are the simpler level: simple majority, no registration, binding on residents and tenants. Before buying, both should be on the table, together with the minutes of the last two to three meetings. These reveal whether a renovation is pending, whether there is litigation, and whether holiday letting is restricted — also worth checking in the Land Registry.

Structural alterations to your own unit

The basic rule: Anything that affects the external appearance or communal parts requires the approval of the Junta. An interior renovation without any external effect does not. A visible outdoor air-conditioning unit, an awning, a photovoltaic system on the communal roof definitely do — and, in addition, usually a municipal permit as well. Anyone who builds without a resolution risks having to remove it again at their own expense.

The most common mistakes made by German-speaking owners

1. Ignoring meetings. Anyone who neither attends nor grants a proxy finds out about the special levy from the invoice.
2. Buying without a certificate of no debts.Liability attaches to the property, not to the seller.
3. Transferring German WEG thinking (homeowners' association mindset).Voting weight follows the quota; an owner with a large unit can structurally dominate.
4. Confusing community fees and IBI.One is a private-law matter, the other a municipal tax.
5. Letting the challenge period lapse.Three months pass quickly, and after that even an unfortunate resolution becomes final and binding.
6. Only calculating the quota of the flat.Garage and trastero often have their own quotas.

Your rights as an owner

The duties are listed above — the rights are mentioned less often and are just as concrete:

• Participation and voting rights at every meeting, as long as you are up to date with your due contributions (Art. 15.2 LPH); those who don't pay may still attend and speak, but not vote.
• Right of inspection of the community's accounts, minutes and contracts — the basis for being able to assess a special levy in the first place.
• Requests for the agenda: Every owner can request in writing that the meeting address a topic; the president must include it (Art. 16.2 LPH).
• Calling an extraordinary meeting, if a quarter of the owners demand it, or owners who together hold 25 % of the quotas (Art. 16.1 LPH).
• Challenging unlawful resolutions in court within the deadlines of Art. 18.3 LPH.
• Representation: You don't have to travel there yourself — a written power of attorney is sufficient (Art. 15.1 LPH). For owners who don't live on the island, this is practically the most important sentence in the whole law.

Before buying: what you should have shown to you

• Land registry extract (nota simple) checked for encumbrances — see Checking the Spanish land registry
• Community debt certificate (certificado de deudas) obtained from the administrator
• Read the annual statements of the last two years and the minutes of the last three meetings — that's where planned special levies are listed
• Checked the statutes for restrictions on holiday letting
• Know the amount of the community fees, your share and the state of the reserve fund — and entered them above
• Reviewed the building's energy performance certificate (Energy Certificate Spain)
• Enquired about ongoing legal disputes of the community and noted the Administrador de Fincas

On sale the obligation is reversed: then you must present the certificate to the buyer, and outstanding arrears either reduce the price or block the completion date. An hour spent reading the files before the purchase is the cheapest part of the whole purchase process — and the only one where an unpleasant surprise doesn't yet cost anything. More on the market and the regions at a glance Property in Mallorca.

Legal basis and status

The relevant law is the Ley 49/1960, de 21 de julio, sobre propiedad horizontal in its consolidated version, published by the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE-A-1960-10906). The law on horizontal property ownership is state law; the Balearics have not enacted any deviating regulation on this matter. For this page, the consolidated version was read as last amended by Real Decreto-ley 7/2026 (in force since 22 March 2026), accessed on 6 September 2026; the provisions relevant to the calculator — Art. 3, 5, 9, 10, 15 to 18, 21, 22 and 24 — are not affected by this. The figures in the calculator come from this page's fact register; the calculator itself displays the sources and dates stored there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Comunidad is not a bureaucratic add-on, but the structure through which your property is connected to the rest of the complex. Two figures — budget and share — determine what you pay; the same two figures determine what the community can obligate you to do and what you're liable for when buying. Anyone who knows them reads a meeting's minutes differently: not as a formality, but as a preview of their own bill.

Related Calculators

The running costs of a property in Mallorca consist of more than just the community fees. You'll find an overview of all calculators in the Calculator Section; directly related are the IBI as the municipal property tax and the imputed income tax for non-residents.