Spanish Federal Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) orders the demolition of two apartment buildings in Benidorm – 100 million loss expected

The Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) in Madrid has ordered the demolition of two apartment buildings in Benidorm.

Benidorm is a well-known seaside resort on Spain’s Mediterranean coast with a large number of skyscrapers housing holiday apartments and hotels.

The decision of the Tribunal Supremo shows the risks to which investors and owners of illegally constructed real estate in Spain are exposed.

The two high-rise apartment buildings known as „Gemelos 28“, which stand directly on the sea, were built a few metres too close to the coastline. This is not compatible with the Spanish coastal law (Ley de Costas). Although the responsible Spanish building authorities had given a building permit at that time, the two real estates must be demolished now.

The costs for this are estimated at approximately 100 million Euros, as the properties cannot be blown up because of the dense construction, but have to be demolished floor by floor.
The owners of the apartments, for which mostly between 400,000 Euros and 700,000 Euros were paid, are currently the main victims. The investor who built the property at the time is exposed to massive claims for damages.

This case once again demonstrates the importance of extensive and thorough legal due diligence in Spanish real estate projects. Benidorm is not an isolated case. Especially on the Spanish Mediterranean coast there are a number of investment ruins that have been more or less completed, but could never be used, because Spanish courts had ruled this out.