If you have bought — or are about to buy — an apartment on the Costa del Sol and plan to knock it into shape, three things decide whether your project runs smoothly or stalls for months: your community of owners must not object to anything that affects the building, your builder needs the correct municipal licence (an obra menor for cosmetic work, an obra mayor for anything structural), and you may not touch a load-bearing wall without an architect's project and formal permission. Get those three right and a full flat renovation in Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola or Benalmádena is entirely routine.
This guide sets out exactly how apartment reform works in Andalucía in 2026, where it differs from the neighbouring Costa Blanca, Costa Cálida and Costa Almería, and what it all costs. It is written for international buyers, so we keep the legal Spanish minimal and the practical numbers front and centre. If you are still deciding whether to renovate at all, our broader renovating property in Spain 2026 permits and costs guide gives the national picture, while this piece drills into flats specifically.
Spanish property law splits your flat into two zones. There are private elements — the interior of your apartment, which you own outright and can generally remodel — and common elements (elementos comunes): the structure, façade, roof, communal pipes and cabling, the building's frame and load-bearing walls. Common elements belong to the whole community of owners, so touching them needs consent even if they happen to sit inside your flat.
In practice, that means you are free to redo kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, non-structural partition walls, wiring and plumbing within your own unit. But the moment your project touches the building's skeleton, a communal riser, the façade, or the shape of a balcony, the comunidad de propietarios — and often the town hall — enters the picture.
For purely internal, non-structural work the answer is usually no — but you should still notify the administrator in writing, because you will be using the lift and stairwells for skips and materials, and generating noise. Many Costa del Sol communities have statutes (estatutos) that set working hours (typically 9am–1pm and 4pm–7pm on weekdays, nothing on Sundays and public holidays) and ban heavy work in July and August in tourist-heavy blocks.
Where your work affects a common element, you need the community's agreement, and the threshold depends on what you touch:
The safest route is to write to the administrator before you start, describe the work, and ask for the point to be minuted at the next meeting or approved by written resolution. An unauthorised alteration to a common element can be ordered reversed by a court at your expense — an expensive way to learn the rules. Understanding how your building is run and funded helps here; our guide to community fees in Spain 2026 explains how the comunidad works and who decides what.
Every Andalusian town hall (Marbella, Estepona, Mijas, Fuengirola, Benalmádena, Manilva and the rest) divides building work into two licence categories. Which one applies drives your cost, your timeline and how much paperwork your architect prepares.
| Feature | Obra menor (minor works) | Obra mayor (major works) |
|---|---|---|
| Typical scope | Kitchens, bathrooms, floors, plaster, wiring, non-structural partitions, painting | Structural changes, removing/opening load-bearing walls, terrace enclosure, changing layout of habitable rooms, façade alterations |
| Architect's project required? | No (a simple technical memo may suffice) | Yes — full proyecto by architect/engineer + dirección de obra |
| How you apply | Often a declaración responsable (responsible declaration) — start once filed | Full licence application; you must wait for grant |
| Typical wait | Days to a few weeks | Several weeks to a few months |
| Community consent | Only if common elements touched | Almost always required |
Most flat refurbishments that stay within the private interior — the classic "gut the kitchen and both bathrooms, retile, rewire, new floors" job — fall under obra menor. In many Costa del Sol municipalities you file a declaración responsable with a builder's budget and can begin work almost immediately, subject to inspection. The moment your plan involves the structure, a full obra mayor licence is unavoidable.
On top of the licence itself you pay the ICIO (Impuesto sobre Construcciones, Instalaciones y Obras), a municipal tax charged on the budgeted cost of the works. Andalusian councils set their own rate within the legal ceiling; on the Costa del Sol it is commonly around 3–4% of the works budget, plus a separate licence/administrative fee. Budget for it: on a €40,000 reform that is roughly €1,200–1,600 in ICIO alone, before your architect and builder.
This is where DIY dreams meet Spanish reality. A load-bearing wall (muro de carga) carries the weight of the building above it. In older Costa del Sol blocks — many built between the 1960s and 1980s — internal walls are frequently structural, unlike modern reinforced-concrete-frame buildings where most partitions are non-structural.
You may not remove, open or even significantly weaken a load-bearing wall without:
Cutting into a structural wall without this is not just illegal — it endangers every flat above yours and can void your insurance. If you are unsure whether a wall is structural, this is exactly the kind of question a survey answers before you commit; see our note on when a structural survey on the Costa del Sol is worth it. Ideally you establish load-bearing walls before exchanging, so you can price and plan the reform realistically — and even use it as leverage; our guide on negotiating the property price shows how a reform budget can inform your offer.
The licensing logic — obra menor vs obra mayor, community consent for common elements, architect's project for structural work — is broadly the same across Andalucía, Murcia and the Valencian Community, because it flows from national planning and property law. What varies is the exact municipal ICIO rate, the local speed of the town hall, and, crucially, the purchase tax you paid to acquire the apartment in the first place. Since your reform budget sits on top of your all-in acquisition cost, it is worth seeing the full picture.
| Region / Costa | Resale ITP (2026) | New-build stamp duty (AJD) |
|---|---|---|
| Costa del Sol & Costa Almería (Andalucía) | 7% | 1.2% |
| Costa Cálida (Murcia) | 7.75% (not the old 8%) | 1.5% |
| Costa Blanca (C. Valenciana) | 9% from 1 June 2026 (11% above €1M; the notary signing date decides) | 1.4% |
On resale, remember the tax base is the higher of the price you pay or the cadastral valor de referencia — many buyers are caught out when the reference value exceeds a keenly negotiated price. On top of ITP or IVA, budget notary (~0.2–0.5%), land registry (~0.1–0.25%), lawyer (~1% + IVA) and a gestoría (~€300). Rule of thumb: resale all-in ~10–13%, new build ~12–15%, with Andalucía at the lower end.
For flats bought to renovate and let out, factor your reform into your yield calculation from the start — our buy-to-let yields guide for Costa Cálida and Almería is a useful sense-check, and if you plan holiday lets you will also need to clear the tourist rental licence (VFT/VUT) rules for Andalucía.
For purely internal, non-structural work you don't need the community's approval, but you should notify the administrator in writing because of noise, skips and lift use. Anything touching common elements — façade, structure, communal pipes, terraces — does require the community's consent.
An obra menor covers minor, non-structural work (kitchens, bathrooms, floors, painting) and can often start via a declaración responsable. An obra mayor covers structural changes and requires a full architect's project, a granted licence and, usually, community consent.
Only if it is non-structural, or — if load-bearing — with an architect's structural project, an obra mayor licence, community consent and professional site supervision. Removing a load-bearing wall without these is illegal and dangerous.
You pay the ICIO tax, commonly around 3–4% of the budgeted works cost on the Costa del Sol, plus a separate licence/administrative fee. So a €40,000 reform typically carries roughly €1,200–1,600 of ICIO before professional fees.
The core logic (obra menor/mayor, community consent, architect's project for structural work) is the same nationwide. What changes is the local ICIO rate, town-hall processing speed and — importantly for your overall budget — the purchase tax you paid: 7% resale in Andalucía versus 9% in the Valencian Community from June 2026 and 7.75% in Murcia.
Yes. Knowing which walls are load-bearing before you exchange lets you price the reform correctly and avoid discovering an open-plan dream is impossible. A structural survey is well worth it for older Costa del Sol blocks.
Mediter Real Estate helps international buyers find and renovate apartments across the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Costa Cálida and Costa Almería — from spotting reform potential before you buy to connecting you with trusted architects, licensed builders and gestorías. Contact Mediter Real Estate today and let us help you buy and reform with confidence.
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