“Football is football”, said Serbian midfielder and coach Vujain Boškov. It may be a bit obscure, but the phrase captures well the magnetism of the beautiful sport and its ability to mobilize an entire country. It comes with walking around any city in Spain these days. No matter where you are, north, south, east or west, coast or mountain, chances are you will find red flags hanging from the balconies, a spontaneous way to support the National Team.
But… Can they fine you for doing so?
Fines for hanging the flag? Exact. If you open Google and search on the topic you will find a good handful of articles that, for weeks, warn that hanging the Spanish flag from your balcony can be expensive.
It is even likely that some of those articles have reached you through networks. The formulation changes, but its holders They are categorical and leave the same threat, sanctions of several thousand euros: “The Horizontal Property Law confirms it: hanging the Spanish flag on the balcony during the World Cup can lead to fines for the owners of up to €3,000.”
And is that true? Most of these posts refer to the Horizontal Property Law (LPH), the ‘bible’ in everything that refers to coexistence between neighbors in buildings, so the easiest thing is to go directly to it. In the standard we see several articles about what can and cannot be done in homes and common areas, including facades, but there is no direct reference to the placement of a flag. And even less so if it simply hangs from the balcony.
To be more precise, in the seventh article (point ‘1’) the LPH says:
“The owner of each apartment or premises may modify the architectural elements, facilities or services of that one when it does not undermine or alter the security of the building, its general structure, its configuration or external state, or harm the rights of another owner, and must previously report such works to the person who represents the community. In the rest of the property he/she may not make any alterations.”
Does it say anything else? Yes. In the article 9 The LPH also leaves an interesting indication: the owners must “respect the general facilities of the community and other common elements, whether they are for general use or exclusive to any of the owners, whether or not they are included in their apartment or premises, making appropriate use and avoiding at all times causing damage.”
The rule reminds us that every owner has a responsibility: “Maintain his own apartment or premises and private facilities in good condition, in terms that do not harm the community or other owners, compensating for any damage caused by his carelessness or people for whom he is responsible.”
Does a flag represent an alteration? That’s the key. The owner of a home cannot modify the aesthetics of the façade, but it is questionable whether the simple placement of a flag can be interpreted as such. I admitted it recently the government in damn.es: “In the case of a flag, it can hardly be considered an alteration of the façade because it is not a structural element.”
The key is how that flag is displayed. If the homeowner makes a “facade modification”, drilling or installing a rigid and permanent structure, such as a fixed pole that protrudes, there could be a conflict, but the reality is that in the vast majority of cases that circumstance does not occur.
People simply hang flags from balconies or windows with zip ties, clips, or other temporary fasteners. In fact, it is not the first time that flags have been hung during a World Cup and most disappear after the tournament.
Mystery then? No. Beyond the LPH, there are other regulations that could come into play, such as municipal ordinances or community bylaws. Let’s start with the latter. Communities can provide themselves with internal rules that regulate coexistence and what can be done within a property, but these guidelines are by no means omnipotent. Guillermo Cerdeira, professor of Civil Law, explains for example to Newtral that a neighborhood agreement prohibiting the installation of flags would likely be “illegal.”
In any case, if there is a conflict with the community of owners, that does not have to result in fines either. If there is a disparity in criteria as to whether or not it alters the aesthetics of the façade, it would go to trial and, at worstthe neighbor who installed the flag would have to remove it, pay for the necessary repairs to the façade (if any) and face legal costs.
What about local ordinances? It is the other factor in the equation. Especially because not all properties are the same. Regardless of what the LPH or the community statutes say, a newly built building in a modern residential neighborhood is not in exactly the same situation as an old property located in a historic center with heritage protection. In the latter case, modifying a façade can lead to sanctions of several thousand euros. That is in fact the reference taken by the articles that talk about sanctions, not the LPH.
In any case the focus of the problem would be the same: the structural modification of the façade. So much damn.es as Newtral They have spoken with several city councils to find out if they have specific ordinances that regulate this issue (including Madrid and Barcelona) and the answer is the same: no.
What do they say exactly? “As long as it does not involve a fixed installation or an alteration of the façade, it does not generally constitute a municipal administrative infraction,” Barcelona clarifies. “Any conflict related to the use of common elements of the building corresponds to the private sphere.”
This is not the first time that Spanish town councils have been forced to talk about the issue. It happened last October, coinciding with Hispanidad, when a hoax circulated that there was fined 600 euros hang the reddish one.
Image | Pilar Rubio (Unsplash), Turkishhead (Flickr) and Wikipedia
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