Under the Horizontal Property Act (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH), the notice of an owners' meeting (junta de propietarios) must say who is calling it, the agenda, and the place, date and time of the first and second call. It must also list the owners who are behind with payments and warn that they may lose their vote (art. 16.2 LPH). That list goes in the notice sent to each owner, not on the noticeboard. A full template follows.
What the notice has to include
Everything comes from article 16 of the Horizontal Property Act, the national law on communities of owners (comunidades de propietarios):
| Element | What the law requires | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Who calls the meeting | The president or, failing that, the owners promoting the meeting (a quarter of the owners, or owners holding 25% of the participation shares, the cuotas) | 16.1 and 16.2 |
| Agenda | "Indicación de los asuntos a tratar" (a statement of the matters to be dealt with) | 16.2 |
| Place, date and time | For the first call and, where there is one, the second call | 16.2 |
| Arrears list | A list of the owners who are not up to date with payments, and a warning that they lose their vote | 16.2 |
| Notice period | Six days for the ordinary meeting; as much as possible for an extraordinary one | 16.3 |
| How it is sent | Notices are served as article 9 requires | 16.2 |
Three practical points:
- The agenda does not need to be a novel. The Supreme Court requires the matters to be stated "sin una exigencia particularizada y detallista de los temas a decidir" (without requiring a detailed, item by item description of what will be decided), as the Provincial Court (Audiencia Provincial) of Segovia summarised in 2026. But it must let owners know what will be decided: the Supreme Court insists that no owner can be deprived "del previo conocimiento de los temas a tratar" (of prior knowledge of the matters to be discussed) (judgment 572/2020). Every item can be voted on "a salvo el usual de ruegos y preguntas" (except the usual "requests and questions" item, the Spanish equivalent of any other business). Do not put anything there that you want approved.
- Owners can add items. Any owner can ask the president in writing for a matter to be discussed, and the president "los incluirá en el orden del día de la siguiente Junta que se celebre" (will include them on the agenda of the next meeting held) (article 16.2).
- Set the second call now. If there is no quorum at the first call (a majority of owners who also represent a majority of the shares), the second call goes ahead without a quorum. It can be on the same day, half an hour later (article 16.2).
Article 16 does not require you to attach documents. But if you are approving accounts or a budget, say where they can be consulted. It will save you arguments.
The arrears list: who cannot vote
The rule is in article 15.2. Owners who, "en el momento de iniciarse la junta" (when the meeting starts), are not up to date with all debts due to the community, and have neither challenged them in court nor deposited the amount with a court or a notary, "podrán participar en sus deliberaciones si bien no tendrán derecho de voto" (may take part in the discussion but will have no right to vote). The minutes must record who was left without a vote, and neither those owners nor their shares count when the majorities are calculated.
Watch the timing. In a 2009 judgment on a case from Benidorm that came up from the Provincial Court of Alicante, the Supreme Court made it clear: "No porque un comunero conste como moroso en la citación de la Junta se encuentra en tal situación" (an owner is not in arrears just because they appear as such in the meeting notice), because they can pay between the notice and the meeting. The check "ha de verificarse al inicio de la reunión" (must be made at the start of the meeting).
| Situation when the meeting starts | Can they vote? |
|---|---|
| Up to date with payments | Yes |
| Owes amounts already due to the community | No, but they can speak at the meeting |
| Owes, but has challenged the debt in court | Yes |
| Owes, but has deposited the amount with a court or a notary | Yes |
| Was on the list, but paid before the meeting | Yes |
How the list must appear in the notice
Article 16.2 puts it like this: "La convocatoria contendrá una relación de los propietarios que no estén al corriente en el pago de las deudas vencidas a la comunidad y advertirá de la privación del derecho de voto si se dan los supuestos previstos en el artículo 15.2" (The notice shall contain a list of the owners who are not up to date with debts due to the community and shall warn that they lose the right to vote in the cases set out in article 15.2).
So there are two things: the list and the warning. The law asks you to identify the owners. It does not require you to state the amount. Before you add it, remember that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires personal data to be "limitados a lo necesario" (limited to what is necessary) for their purpose (article 5.1.c). If you do decide to include the amount, make it the exact figure on the date of the notice.
What if you forget the list? It does not void the meeting automatically. In the 2009 judgment, the Supreme Court accepted the reasoning of the Alicante court: challenging every resolution because of that omission goes against good faith if the person challenging attended the meeting and did not object to the defect at the start. The "drástico efecto de la nulidad" (drastic effect of nullity) would come into play if a resolution had been passed with the vote of an owner in arrears. Even so, do not take the risk. It is a legal requirement and it costs little to meet.
What the AEPD says about publishing the names of owners in arrears
The Spanish Data Protection Agency (Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, AEPD) has a clear position, and it has applied it in recent fines.
In its FAQ on owners in arrears, the AEPD points out that the LPH provides for the list in the meeting notice. It considers good practice to be "la notificación de la convocatoria individual por correo, la inclusión en cajetín, o mediante intranet con clave y contraseña, evitándose cualquier medio que pueda suponer el acceso por terceros" (sending each owner the notice individually by post, in their letterbox, or through an intranet with a username and password, avoiding any means that could give third parties access). The noticeboard is only accepted in the situation covered by article 9.1.h, when delivery to the owner's address has proved impossible, and "deberán acreditarse los intentos de notificación" (the attempts at delivery must be proven). In addition, the noticeboard "no deberá colocarse en un lugar de tránsito fácilmente accesible por cualquier persona" (must not be placed in a through area that anyone can easily reach).
Its guide for property managers, which the Agency itself marks as "en revisión" (under review), adds that the authority given by the LPH "únicamente justifica su inclusión en la Convocatoria de la Junta de Propietarios y en el acta" (only justifies including it in the owners' meeting notice and in the minutes). Sending debtor lists to all the neighbours from time to time is not covered either, even if only the flat number appears. The guide mentions an exception when the list is circulated to carry out an express resolution of the owners' meeting. As the Agency has the guide under review, check before you rely on that.
Two cases show how this works in practice:
- In PS/00277/2023, a community put up a note on the noticeboard in the building's entrance, which was locked, listing five apartments and what each one owed. The AEPD fined it €700 for breaching confidentiality (article 5.1.f GDPR) and €300 for a lack of security measures (article 32). It also ordered the community to have a procedure so that the noticeboard is only used when article 9.1.h is met.
- In PS/00056/2024, the community posted a list of unpaid amounts by apartment number on the noticeboard and emailed it to all the owners up to seven times, without it forming part of any meeting notice. The fine was €2,000. The Agency rejected the argument that without names there was no personal data: "el piso es un dato personal que identifica al dueño de la vivienda" (the flat is personal data that identifies the owner of the home).
| Where the list appears | Does it fit the LPH and the AEPD's criteria? |
|---|---|
| In the notice sent to each owner | Yes (art. 16.2 LPH) |
| In the minutes, as owners without a vote | Yes (art. 15.2 LPH) |
| On the noticeboard, after delivery has failed and with a signed record of the attempts | Yes, only in that case (art. 9.1.h LPH) |
| On the noticeboard in the entrance, so everyone knows | No (PS/00277/2023) |
| In emails to all the neighbours outside the meeting notice | No (PS/00056/2024) |
Template notice with the arrears list
Adapt it to your community. The text in square brackets is what you need to fill in or choose. The template is in English so you can see what each part does. If your community sends its notices in Spanish, the Spanish wording is in the Spanish version of this article.
COMMUNITY OF OWNERS [NAME]
[Building address], [postcode and town]NOTICE OF [ORDINARY / EXTRAORDINARY] GENERAL MEETING
By decision of [the president of the community, Mr/Ms name] [or: the promoting owners listed at the end, under article 16.1 of the Horizontal Property Act], all owners are called to the [ordinary / extraordinary] general meeting to be held at [exact place] on [date]:
- At first call, at [time].
- At second call, at [time, at least half an hour later], in the same place, if a majority of owners representing a majority of the shares is not present at the first call.
AGENDA
- Review and approval, if appropriate, of the accounts for the year [year].
- Approval, if appropriate, of the income and expenditure budget for [year] and of the resulting fees.
- Approval, if appropriate, of the statement of owners' debts to the community and authorisation to claim them, including through the courts, under article 21 of the Horizontal Property Act.
- Appointment or renewal of officers: president, [vice-president], secretary and administrator.
- [Specific matter: for example, approval of the quote for repairing the roof and of the corresponding special levy (derrama).]
- Requests and questions.
OWNERS NOT UP TO DATE WITH PAYMENTS
In compliance with article 16.2 of the Horizontal Property Act, as at [date of the notice] the following owners are not up to date with the debts due to the community:
- [Flat or commercial unit]: [owner's name]
- [Flat or commercial unit]: [owner's name]
Please note that, under article 15.2 of the Horizontal Property Act, owners who at the start of the meeting are not up to date with all debts due to the community, and have neither challenged them in court nor deposited the amount with a court or a notary, may take part in the discussion but will not have the right to vote. Anyone who pays in full before the meeting starts may vote.
PROXIES
If you cannot attend, you may be represented by another person through a signed document (article 15.1 of the Horizontal Property Act). A template is attached at the end.
ABSENT OWNERS
Absent owners who were duly called and who, once informed of the resolutions, do not express their disagreement to the secretary within 30 calendar days, by a means that records its receipt, will be counted as votes in favour, except in the cases excluded by article 17.8 of the Horizontal Property Act.
DOCUMENTS
The accounts, the budget and the quotes for works are available to you at [place, opening hours or access address].
PERSONAL DATA NOTICE
This notice contains personal data that the Horizontal Property Act requires to be communicated to the owners. It is for the use of the owners of the community only: do not publish it or forward it to third parties.
[Place], [date].
[Signature] President: [name]
[Signature] Secretary-administrator: [name]
And the proxy form, to attach to the notice:
PROXY FOR THE MEETING OF [DATE]
Mr/Ms [full name], owner of [flat or commercial unit] in the Community of Owners [name], appoints Mr/Ms [full name of the representative] to represent them at the [ordinary / extraordinary] general meeting on [date], at first or second call.
[Optional: voting instructions for each item on the agenda.]
[Place], [date].
Signed: [owner's name]
How to send it
The notice with the arrears list is sent to each owner separately, to the address in Spain they have designated or, if they have not designated one, to their flat (article 9.1.h). If you own in Spain but live abroad, that is worth knowing: without an address in Spain on record, the notice goes to the property itself. For the ordinary meeting, the notice must arrive at least six days in advance, counted from receipt. We walk through it with dates in the notice period for an owners' meeting. To avoid counting by hand, our owners' meeting notice calculator gives you the earliest safe date for the meeting from the day the notice arrives. If some owners have given you an email address for notices, first read what the courts say about calling a meeting by email or WhatsApp.
For those emails, Certified email sends the document to the whole list at once from your firm's own domain. For each owner it records delivery, the opening of the message and the download of the document, with date, time and IP address. Each document carries a SHA-256 fingerprint that can be checked on a public verification page. Despite the name, it is not a qualified service under the eIDAS Regulation and it does not replace a burofax (a registered letter with certified content and proof of delivery). So if someone disputes it, the judge weighs it freely as electronic evidence (article 43.1 eIDAS and article 326.3 of the Civil Procedure Act, the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC). The open is a pointer; the download is the strong proof.
If item 3 on the agenda ends in a claim, the next step is in how a community of owners claims unpaid fees. And if you want to take the work of preparing and sending notices for many buildings off your plate, see automation for property managers.
If the community is in Catalonia
The Civil Code of Catalonia has its own list. Its article 553-21.4 requires the notice to set out "de forma clara y detallada" (clearly and in detail) the agenda; the date, place and time; the warning that, for certain resolutions, the votes of absent owners are counted with the majority; and "la lista de los propietarios con deudas pendientes con la comunidad por razón de las cuotas" (the list of owners with outstanding debts to the community for their fees), who "tienen voz pero no tienen derecho de voto" (may speak but have no right to vote). In addition, the documents for the matters on the agenda must be sent with the notice, or the notice must say where they are available (article 553-21.5).
Mistakes to avoid
- Putting the notice with the arrears list up in the entrance for everyone to see. The noticeboard is only valid when personal delivery has failed.
- Sending debtor lists to all the neighbours outside the meeting notice, even if they only show the flat number.
- Forgetting the warning that owners in arrears lose their vote. The law asks for both the list and the warning.
- Refusing a vote to someone who paid between the notice and the meeting. What counts is the moment the meeting starts.
- Approving matters under requests and questions. If you want a vote on it, give it its own item.
Sources
- Law 49/1960 on Horizontal Property (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal), arts. 9, 15, 16, 17 and 21.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection Regulation, arts. 5 and 32.
- Law 5/2006 on Book Five of the Civil Code of Catalonia, art. 553-21.
- Civil Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil), art. 326, and Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS), art. 43.
- Supreme Court: judgment 466/2009 of 2 July and judgment 572/2020 of 3 November.
- Provincial Court of Segovia, Section 1, judgment 260/2026.
- AEPD: FAQ on listing owners in arrears, guide on data protection and property management, proceeding PS/00277/2023 and proceeding PS/00056/2024.
This article explains the law and published court criteria as of the update date. It is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer on a specific case.