In the Balearics there are two different clocks and one hinge date. The fine for a serious planning infringement is time-barred after eight years; the demolition order, by contrast, may never expire. And everything changes depending on whether the works were finished before or after 1 January 2018, when the Balearic Urban Planning Act (Ley 12/2017, LUIB) came into force. Knowing which clock applies to what is the difference between a closed problem and a possible demolition twenty years from now.
Two planes that do not touch
A planning infringement triggers two separate consequences: the financial penalty and the duty to restore legality (demolish, rebuild, stop the use). Each plane has its own time limits. The fine being time-barred does not prevent demolition; the demolition no longer being enforceable does not erase a fine imposed in time. Cases are won or lost by keeping the two apart.
The penalty clock
Minor infringements are time-barred after one year and serious ones after eight, counted from the complete termination of the works or the end of the use. Penalties already imposed also lapse if the authority fails to enforce them in time. “Complete termination” is a matter of evidence: half-finished works do not start the clock, and proving the exact date is often the heart of the dispute.
The restoration clock: article 196.2 LUIB
The general rule is eight years, but the LUIB makes the restoration action imperishable in scenarios that in Ibiza are everyday matters: works and uses on rustic land — all of it, not only protected land —, land divisions on rustic land, and actions affecting listed or cultural-interest assets, parks, gardens, open spaces, public infrastructure and land reserved for public facilities. In those cases the authority can order demolition at any time, regardless of how many years have passed and of who owns the property today.
The hinge date: 1 January 2018
Imprescriptibility on ordinary rustic land was introduced by the LUIB. Works fully completed before 1 January 2018 are governed by the previous act (LOUS), under which the restoration action on ordinary rustic land lapsed after eight years. In plain terms: a house finished on ordinary rustic land in 2015 may today be beyond the reach of a demolition order; the same house finished in 2019 never will be. Evidence of the date — official orthophotos, cadastre records, files, invoices, notarial deeds — is the owner’s most valuable asset.
Time-barred does not mean legal
Prescription prevents fining or demolishing, but does not make the works legal: they remain in a situation akin to “out of ordination”, with limits on future works, financing and insurance difficulties, and no access to titles that require legality, such as the habitability certificate or a tourist licence. Selling “the time-barred” as if it were legal is, moreover, a classic source of purchase litigation.
Frequently asked questions
When does the clock start?
From the complete termination of the works or the end of the use. The burden of proving the date favours whoever keeps documentation: keep everything.
My house is on rustic land and was finished in 2010 — can it be demolished?
As a general rule the restoration action will have lapsed under the previous act if the land was ordinary, unprotected rustic land, but every file requires checking the land class, the date and any special protections.
Can the authority revive an old file?
If the action has not lapsed — and on rustic land it does not for post-2018 works — yes. Administrative inactivity creates no rights.
Can time-barred works be registered and sold?
They can be registered as an old building, but buyers and lenders will price in the limits. Declaring the real situation avoids litigation.