In May 2024, the government of the Balearic Islands passed a decree to simplify and speed up administrative procedures. One of the important aspects of this decree is its effect on the legalisation of illegal buildings. In this context, there are some people calling this an urban planning “amnesty”.

However, the new measures are not so much an amnesty for building offences, as they are a legal pathway to solve the problems of illegality. Under certain conditions, property owners will be given the opportunity to regularise a situation for which there has been no legal remedy in Ibiza for the past 10 years.

A property that has been built without planning permission can be demolished by the government. However, if the government does not bring an action against this property for 8 years, then the property becomes protected and cannot be demolished. (However, this protection has not applied to rustic land since 2019.) Similarly, a building that is protected by grandfathering is not technically legal, but it is tolerated by the administration, as being outside the applicable building standards “fuera de ordenación”.

Up until now renovation work has been prohibited in these types of illegally constructed parts of a building. This new decree allows a limited period of 3 years, within which the property owner can submit a legalisation project requesting that the illegal structures be made legal. This legalisation makes it possible for the property to be considered completely legal. Renovation work may then be carried out in the parts of the property that were formerly considered illegal.

The new decree law only allows the application of legalisation for rural properties (“suelo rustic comun”). The amnesty applies to all illegal constructions in these areas that are older than 8 years. Properties located in developed building areas (“suelo urbano”) are not covered by this law. In the case of protected land areas (“suelo rustico protegido”), the decree only applies to those parts of buildings that were constructed before the urban planning decree of 29 May 2014 was issued. For nature conservation areas (“zona ANEI”), the cut-off date is 10 March 1991 (enactment of the first nature conservation law). Unfortunately, there are some areas of the decree that are not as clearly defined, so we will have to wait and see in practice what the administration’s position will be on these legal grey areas.

The owner of the property to be legalised must pay a fine, which is euphemistically referred to in the decree as a monetary payment (“prestación economica”). In the first year of the regulation 10% of the value of the buildings to be legalised must be paid. In the second year it is 12.5 % and in the third year 15 %. Furthermore, the legalisation application must be accompanied by a technical project describing ecological corrective measures (“medidas correctoras”), such as reducing water consumption or increasing energy efficiency. A basic prerequisite is to prove that the part of the building to be legalised was truly built more than 8 years before. It is not sufficient to just claim that the construction work was carried out more than 8 years ago. Legally tenable evidence (aerial photographs, tradesmen’s invoices) is required to fully prove that the limitation period has expired.

You should first check whether the property in question fulfils all the requirements for the applicability of the decree-law, before submitting your project through an architect or technical architect. When assessing the legal situation, one should consider the positive aspects (access to full legalisation of the property), but also the negative aspects of the legalisation process. According to the decree, once legalised, the property may not be used for tourist rental. This limitation must even be expressly noted in the land registry. The law is in force since the Ibiza Island Council (Consell), which is responsible for urban planning matters, approved the decree on 9 July 2024 by publication in the Official Gazette (BOIB) without making any significant changes.