We have sort of joined our local neighbourhood association which seems to be a bit of a shambles, as although we applied 2 years ago, due to their bank problems, none of our contributions have been made.  It seems none of the members have paid in the past two years…...

Some issues have arisen and I would like to know a bit more about what they are supposed to do for our money, and if there are any rules on how they should be run.  For example, we have never seen any minutes of meetings, have no copies of documents proving our membership etc. etc….  It is a difficult situation as the President is a very nice person with whom we have become friends and I know she fights a losing battle to get things done.

I looked on Spain Expats site for info and this rather unhelpful comment came up:

‘The first thing to note is that if you have property in Spain that is completely self-contained, then this article is not for you.’

So what if we do have property in Spain that is completely self contained?  Is there an article for us?  And if so where please?

Although we are still part timers in Spain we very much want to be involved in the local community and pay our way but we can’t afford to hand over money without knowing where its going…..

Can any one point me to where I can get some information please?

Hi Floriana, I am not an expert on this matter.. but hope these few words can start you in the right direction..
I am guessing by ‘neighbourhood association’ you are referring to you Urbinization Community?  I am a bit surprized that your President’friend is not able to give you a good low down on how these work. Basically, as far as I know (I am a renter not an owner - so I don’t join in these things).. each urbinization is considered by the local town hall/Junta de Andalucia as a private urbinization - and therefore, has a committiee and ways of doing things internally. Normally the ‘community fees’ are there to pay the urb town hall waste disposal, sometimes water etc and other ‘community/shared things’ (eg if you had a gardner employed to do all the public areas withing your community). 
As regards the apparent shambles/inaccuracies you are talking about.. a community commitee is only as good as its members.  As these are all voluntary posts - you level of ‘service’ will only be as good as your committee/president. (Some friends of mine volunteered to be joint presidents, as basically no one else in the comm wanted to do a thankless, unpaid job… then these lazy people had the audacity to complain about the pair - even though they were actively doing something/making sure the comm was running as well as possible).
I would ask around in other urbinizations of thier experience.. but I know there are good ones and bad ones…

Good luck!
sj

Hi Susanspain - thanks for response but I perhaps didn’t make it clear, we are not in an urbanisation.  We are in a suburb of a town comprising private houses, Spanish owned holiday homes, huertas, small fields etc.  We pay directly for IBI, Basura, Electric, etc.  The area is next on the town’s list to be Urbanised and there is a lot of talk, speculation about what it will cost, etc. and people taking measurements occasionally, but it could be years…..

In the suburb are several Comunidads comprising two or three streets I believe, run by a President, A Secretary and a Treasurer.  Membership is purely voluntary but as ours appeared to be fairly active, has had the roads tarmacd, provided some street lighting etc., we wanted to contribute and be involved in our local community.

So this is nothing like the the urbanisation communities which deal with communal facilities such as gardens, pools lighting and so on.  And this is why I can’t seem to find any info.  As I pointed out above, the info is not for me apparently, but Spain Expats neglect to advise what is for me!

Perhaps it may help for you to post on the LEGAL page as there are a couple of Spanish Legal Beagles who are very helpful with this type of question,

My knowledge is limited, but I can relate my experiences,

There are various Associations/committes that I have seen in Spain

The Community association for urbanisation/ or just a block of apartments is use a self governing affair which comprises of the members of the define area, IE one Block of Apartments with shared facilities or maybe three or four blocks with shared facilities, there will usually be a meeting point wherein minutes etc are published for all to see. There is usually an elected president who looks after the day to day, interfaces with the council and takes care of any requests etc, then a meeting on a regular basis where the committee (I hate that word) work through the issues and requirements.

In Villages and small district type urbanisation(population mainly spanish) there is usually an association of neighbours (asociaci?n de los vecinos), which is run very much on the same lines, but in all the meetings i have been to you will need a very good understanding of Spanish, and as you say Chaos seems to be the order of the day, The Spanish are extremely vocal, passionate and loud about things they care about and are not frightened of stating and standing their ground!!!!!. Saying that ours seems to work well, over the last few years, we have had mains water connected, electricity upgraded, rubbish collection now FOC, and even the tracks around the village tarmaced (well done the Alcalde!!). This has not cost any of us a penny, so they do work, They are now working on a new plan for the urban area, with the aim of controlling the future development of the area, and have even managed to get the main road diverted around the village!!. They organise the Fiestas, local walks to enjoy the area, food and drink events, and last year we had the school used as hall for an international food festival (Ok sounds a bit grand), but the residents were invited to make and bring dishes from their own country/locality, it was a great day, but a lot was learnt about whats going, on, tasting different foods, (gaspacho YUK!!)  and meeting new people to the area, !! all great fun.

We pay about 45? a year for expenses (Mostly wine and fireworks!!)

As Susan says above, it only works when the residents actively support the association and ensure they have a clear mandate to act on the communities behalf.

I’m not sure whether the associations have any rights legally, but I believe on the new urbos, they have to have a written charter which is part of the contract of sale, defining the rights and rules of the community!!.

Hope this helps, but please bear in mind this experience only, so you need to check on the facts etc,

I am the president of a very small community totalling 4 houses.  We have numerous problems.  The first one being that two of our comminity members spend quite a lot of time in prison and as a result are never here and do not pay any community fees.  The fees have not been paid for over three years.  The people who are living in the third house have refused to pay fees and when they have been approached have said they do not want to have anything to do with the garden and pool.  I tried to maintain the garden and pool out of my own money.  I cannot do this any longer and as a result the garden is now a desert and the pool empty and requiring a lot of attention.

I called a meeting last year when three people out the four were here.  It was agreed that all outstanding charges would be paid and the pool and garden restored.  They have been missing for the last year and I am back to square one again.

My question now is - Is it possible to dissolve this community and divide the garden into four separate units, so each house would be responsible for their own garden.

I know that I can take legal action against these members but unfortunately there is no money in the kitty to employ a solicitor.

Floriana - 01 April 2008 09:58 PM

We have sort of joined our local neighbourhood association which seems to be a bit of a shambles, as although we applied 2 years ago, due to their bank problems, none of our contributions have been made.  It seems none of the members have paid in the past two years…...

Some issues have arisen and I would like to know a bit more about what they are supposed to do for our money, and if there are any rules on how they should be run.  For example, we have never seen any minutes of meetings, have no copies of documents proving our membership etc. etc….  It is a difficult situation as the President is a very nice person with whom we have become friends and I know she fights a losing battle to get things done.

I looked on Spain Expats site for info and this rather unhelpful comment came up:

‘The first thing to note is that if you have property in Spain that is completely self-contained, then this article is not for you.’

So what if we do have property in Spain that is completely self contained?  Is there an article for us?  And if so where please?

Although we are still part timers in Spain we very much want to be involved in the local community and pay our way but we can’t afford to hand over money without knowing where its going…..

Can any one point me to where I can get some information please?