Back from summer: the autumn checklist for a community with owners abroad
The junta, the 2027 budget and the reserve fund; the debtor list and the five-year clock; closing the pool by the book, roofs and drains before the rains, certificates and insurance; the community's own Modelo 111 and the new freezing channel — and the owner abroad's mirror list, Modelo 210 by 31 December included.
September changes the sound of a community. The pool empties at six instead of nine, the holiday lets go quiet, and the owners who spent August in their apartments board flights back to Manchester, Hamburg and Milan. For the people who administer these buildings — and for the owners who will not see them again until Christmas — the next three months are the busiest of the year: the junta has to be called, the budget written, the reserve fund checked, the pool closed properly, and a short list of Spanish deadlines met from abroad. This is the checklist we work through for the communities we administer in Fuerteventura, in the order the calendar imposes it.
The junta season: budget, accounts and the debtor list
The law fixes the rhythm. The owners' meeting must be held at least once a year to approve the budgets and the accounts (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, art. 16.1), and it is the administrator's job to prepare, in good time, the plan of foreseeable expenses and propose the means to meet them (art. 20.b). In practice that makes autumn the drafting season: a budget for 2027 built on the real 2026 figures, not a copy of last year's with a percentage on top.
Four things belong on the agenda before the convocation goes out:
The reserve fund. The community must hold a reserve of at least 10 % of its last ordinary budget (art. 9.1.f), earmarked for conservation, repair, rehabilitation and — since the reforms of recent years — accessibility and energy works. A year with a big derrama often leaves the fund below the line; the autumn budget is where it is refilled. We explained how the fund and the derramas fit together in our guide to community fees.
The debtor list. The convocation must carry the list of owners who are behind with their fees, with the warning that they may attend but not vote (art. 16.2). Producing that list in September, not the night before the meeting, is what turns arrears into a recovery plan rather than an embarrassment. The tools — and the five-year clock on each unpaid instalment — are in the arrears guide.
The notice. The ordinary meeting is called with at least six days' notice, stating the business, the place, the day and the hour (arts. 16.2 and 16.3). For owners abroad, six days is a plane ticket; which is why the proxy matters.
The proxy and the address. An owner who cannot attend may be represented by another person with a simple signed writing (art. 15.1), and every owner must give the secretary an address in Spain for notifications (art. 9.1.h). The Act still does not expressly regulate online or hybrid juntas (a reform has been before Congress since May 2026): many communities hold them when the statutes or the junta provide for it and identification and the vote are guaranteed, but the safe route is still the proxy — worth settling with your community if half the owners live abroad. The mechanics, majority by majority, are in our AGM guide for owners abroad.
The building after summer: pool, roofs, water, certificates
The season leaves its marks, and Fuerteventura's short rainy months are next. Before the junta, the administrator walks the building with a list:
The pool. Canarian rules treat a community pool as a registered collective-use pool, with its water-quality log, its seasonal opening and closing, and — depending on the size of the complex — a lifeguard obligation during the season. Closing it properly means a final water analysis, the log completed, the registration data checked and the lifeguard contract wound up on the date it says. We return to the pool rules in detail later this month.
Roofs, terraces and drains. The first autumn rain finds every blocked outlet and every loose terrace tile. A clean of the roof drains and a look at the terraces in October is cheaper than the damp claim in December — and the liability question, who pays for water coming through the ceiling, is one we will deal with as a piece of its own.
Water. Read the communal meter against the supplier's invoices before the accounts close: a leak on the community side shows up as a gap between the two, and the earlier it is found the smaller the bill.
Certificates. Lifts, fire equipment, hot-water and pool installations all carry maintenance and inspection cycles; the autumn walk is when their expiry dates are checked and the next inspections booked. For older buildings the technical inspection itself may be due — the ITE guide explains when.
Insurance. The law imposes no duty on a community to insure the building, and the Canary Islands add none — which is exactly why the policy must be read rather than renewed on autopilot: sums insured against today's rebuild cost, the water-damage clause, the liability cover for the pool. Renewal usually falls at year-end; October is when the questions are asked.
The community's own paperwork: withholdings, arrears, the freezing channel
A community of owners is a taxpayer in its own right, and the autumn has three dates for it:
1–20 October — Modelo 111. The tax regulations name communities of owners expressly among those obliged to withhold: on the pay of their own staff and on the fees of professionals they engage. The third-quarter return is due between 1 and 20 October, the annual summary in January. Filing late is how a community's account ends up on the wrong list.
2 November — the new freezing channel. From that date Spanish banks execute the tax office's account freezes overnight, before the branch opens. It concerns owners more than communities — a freeze on the account that pays the fees turns a returned receipt into arrears within a month — but a community behind with its own withholdings is exposed in the same way. The mechanics, and the protected-income rules, are in the account-freeze piece.
Before the year closes — the stale debts. Each unpaid instalment prescribes five years after it fell due, as the Supreme Court confirmed in late 2025. Debts from 2021 that are still on the list this autumn are the ones to act on now, through the community's own quick recovery procedure.
The owner abroad's own list
The community's calendar has a mirror image for the owner who lives elsewhere:
Modelo 210, 2025 tax year — by 31 December 2026. A non-resident who owns and does not let must file and pay the imputed-income return for 2025 by the end of this year. It is the last year of that calendar: from the 2026 tax year the return moves to a window running from 1 April to 31 December of the following year. The obligations guide sets out the whole list, IBI included.
IBI and the waste charge. Several Fuerteventura town halls collect them in an autumn window. Set the direct debit before it opens; a returned municipal receipt carries a surcharge and, eventually, its own freeze.
The fee account. Keep the account that pays the community funded for the whole winter, on a mandate that does not depend on a card's expiry. If a receipt bounces, tell the administrator the same week.
The proxy. Sign it before you leave, in favour of someone who will actually attend.
Keys and an emergency contact. Someone on the island must be able to open your door for a leak — the law obliges you to allow access for common repairs (art. 9.1.c) — and the community must know who that is.
A checklist you can forward
For the community — president and administrator
Draft the 2027 budget on real 2026 figures; refill the reserve fund to 10 %.
Produce the debtor list in September; start recovery on debts approaching five years.
Call the ordinary junta with six days' notice; collect the proxies of the owners abroad.
Close the pool by the book: analysis, log, registry data, lifeguard contract.
Modelo 111 by 20 October; the annual summary in January.
For the owner abroad
Modelo 210 for 2025 by 31 December; diary the new April–December window from 2027.
IBI and waste charge: direct debit before the municipal window.
Fee account funded; proxy signed; Spanish address for notifications on file.
Keys and an emergency contact known to the community.
Where we come in
Every line above is work we do for the communities we administer — the budget, the convocation, the debtor list, the pool closure, the certificate calendar, the community's own tax filings — with owners abroad kept informed in their language and their proxies, addresses and payment mandates on file before the season ends. This is what community administration looks like with us — and this is where a conversation starts.
Common questions
When must a community hold its annual meeting?
At least once a year, to approve the budgets and the accounts (LPH art. 16.1). The law fixes no month; most communities meet between October and the first quarter, once the year's accounts can be closed. The ordinary meeting is called with at least six days' notice.
I live abroad — can I still vote at the junta?
Yes, by proxy: a simple signed writing naming the person who will represent you (art. 15.1) is enough. The Act does not yet expressly regulate online or hybrid meetings (a reform has been before Congress since May 2026): some communities hold them when their statutes or the junta provide for it, but the proxy remains the safe route. Owners in arrears may attend but cannot vote until they pay or deposit the debt.
What is the reserve fund and how much must it hold?
A fund the community must keep for conservation, repair and rehabilitation works, and since recent reforms for accessibility and energy works too, of at least 10 % of its last ordinary budget (art. 9.1.f). A year with a large derrama often leaves it short; the autumn budget is where it is topped up.
Does the community itself have tax filings in autumn?
Yes. A community of owners must withhold income tax on its staff's pay and on the fees of the professionals it engages, and file Modelo 111 quarterly — the third-quarter return between 1 and 20 October — plus the annual summary in January.
