A recent ruling by the Directorate General for Legal Security and Public Faith has set a technical precedent in the real estate sector of southern Gran Canaria. The legal dispute, brought by Belcasti Capital (a family office of the Castillo Bello family from Las Palmas), represented by Mr. PFCB, challenged the limits for georeferencing private elements within horizontal property regimes. The case highlights the tensions between the physical reality of real estate complexes on the southern coast and the current land registry criteria for land delimitation.
The controversy arose when the owning company requested the individualized georeferencing of three specific properties: 'Reception', 'Service Building', and 'Swimming Pool Bar Kiosk'. These properties, resulting from a horizontal division of a parent property, were submitted to the San Bartolomé de Tirajana Property Registry No. 1 with positive cadastral graphic validation reports. The aim was to ensure that each building, situated on delimited portions of land within the complex, would have its own georeferenced graphic representation, distinct from that of the parent property.
The property registrar rejected the initial application, arguing that there is no legal basis for individually georeferencing private components of a building under horizontal property ownership. According to this interpretation, mortgage law only allows for the registration of a building's footprint in cases of new construction, thus preventing the fragmentation of elements that, legally, remain integrated as portions of a common whole.
The representative of Belcasti Capital, SLU challenged this decision, arguing that the classification confused vertical horizontal property—high-rise buildings—with horizontal property on a horizontal plot or real estate complex. According to their argument, since these are independent units on the ground, with clear physical boundaries and functionality, the regulations would allow for their individual georeferencing. The appellant maintained that denying this registration ignores the physical reality of the complex, where each unit occupies an independent plot of land, making it necessary to adjust the registry description to accurately reflect the cartographic reality.
The governing body has analyzed the substance of this issue, delving into the technical distinction between real estate complexes and traditional horizontal division. The resolution emphasizes that, while horizontal property ownership maintains the legal and functional unity of the land and airspace as common elements, real estate complexes allow for organizations where ownership of common services is shared. The key point lies in whether the legal act implies a fragmentation of actual land or whether, on the contrary, the single registered configuration of the original property must be maintained.
This case highlights the growing complexity faced by owners of large tourist and service complexes in southern Gran Canaria when updating their mapping. The need for accurate georeferenced data has become a market requirement to guarantee legal certainty in transactions, even though this technical demand sometimes clashes with the rigidity of mortgage regulations originally designed for conventional apartment buildings.
The resolution calls for an interpretation that harmonizes technical reality with the land registry record, recognizing that the trend toward the complete digitization of properties in the archipelago requires clear criteria regarding the extent to which horizontal divisions should be treated as individual plots or as indivisible parts of a larger property. The business sector in southern Gran Canaria follows these guidelines, aware that the correct registration and the solvency of its assets depend directly on resolving this tension between the cartographic representation and the land registry entry.
