Unfortunately, not everybody is respectful with other’s rights. This is especially frequent when living in a community. In some cases, it is just a consequence of mixing cultures; in others the reasons could be the lack of education of some neighbours; or we can even find cases in which the misbehaviour is just an easy revenge against the community or any particular neighbour.   

          First of all we have to distinguish among several kinds of misbehaviour and nuisance to the communities or neighbours, because all of them should be faced in a different manner:

          a) The misbehaviour could be considered in some cases a criminal offence. For instance, if you are threatened, hit, attack, robbed by a neighbour or he cause intentionally a damage to your belongings, this would be a criminal offence.

In the same way, it would be a criminal offence if a neighbour in the community causes any intentional damage or steal any communal elements.

          In these cases, the neighbour or the community, as the victim of the criminal offence, will have to report this situation to the Court, Police or Guardia Civil and they will deal with the situation.

          b) Sometimes, the behaviour is not against the criminal law but is causing troubles to the community. For instance, someone uses the pool out of time allowed or break in any other way the rules of the community.

The Horizontal Property Law regulates in the article 7.2: “ The proprietor and the occupant of the flat or premises are not allowed to develop activities which are forbidden by statutes for being harmful for the property or because they infringe the general provisions about annoying, unhealthy, noxious, dangerous or illicit activities. Supposing this is the case, the way to proceed would be:

The President of the community, on his own initiative or that from the proprietors or occupants, will require the one who is carrying out banned activities on this section the immediate ceasing of them, as official warning to take disciplinary action against him/her.   

If the offender persists in his behaviour, the President, by getting a previous authorisation from the Proprietors Board, duly summoned to such effect, will be able to file a cessation action against him/her. It will be carried out adjusting to the rules which regulate declaratory proceedings if the actions are not foreseen on this clause.

Once the claim has been put in to the offender, together with a certificate of the reliable requirement and of the certification from the agreement adopted by the Board of proprietors, the Judge will be able to determine the immediate ceasing of the forbidden activity with preventive character, under provision of committing disobedience crime. He will be able to decide as well all provisional measures that were necessary to ensure the discontinuance order effectiveness. The claim will go against the proprietor and, in its case, against the occupant of the house or premises. 

If the judgement were approved, he could decide, besides the definitive ceasing of the forbidden activity, and the compensation for damages and prejudicial consequences which proceeds, the privation of the right to use the house or premises a term under three years, in accordance to the seriousness of infraction and damages caused to the community. If the offender were not the proprietor, the order could declare extinguished definitely all his rights concerning the house or premises as well as his immediate dispossession.

          c) In other situations, the behaviour cannot be considered a criminal offence but it is against the municipal By-laws, so the community has the possibility either to call the local police to report that someone is breaking the by-laws or can just simply start the previously mentioned procedure to take legal actions in court.

          Many of the misbehaviour are against the by-laws of the Town halls, so we should take advantage on this.  

          As Courts in Spain are very busy and this procedure will take a long time, I will always recommend to call the Police, when possible, as the most effective and cheapest way to stop this kind of behaviour, especially when we are facing problems from holiday makers that are just 15 days in the property and there is no way to get any court decision within this period of time.           Unfortunately, this is a problem we have to face in the Coast every summer, so, please, be aware about it, and take into consideration that Local Police in many towns are very cooperative in order to put an end on this kind of nuisance against the municipal by-laws.