The English phrase promises something Spanish law does not offer: a permit granted after the fact. What the law does have is a route to get a finished building onto the property register once it can no longer be ordered demolished. Below is what that route is, what the registrar checks first, and the one number this page will not give you.
A notary cannot simply write a new building into the deed. For a building declared while under construction, the notary has to be handed the authorisation that the planning legislation requires. That is the moment most missing paperwork surfaces, and it surfaces at the sale rather than at the build.
Para autorizar escrituras de declaración de obra nueva en construcción, los notarios exigirán, para su testimonio, la aportación del acto de conformidad, aprobación o autorización administrativa que requiera la obra según la legislación de ordenación territorial y urbanística, así como certificación expedida por técnico competente y acreditativa del ajuste de la descripción de la obra al proyecto que haya sido objeto de dicho acto administrativo.There is a separate route for buildings that can no longer be ordered demolished because the enforcement period has run out. It is not a permit granted after the fact: it is a way of getting the finished building onto the property register, and the wording is careful to say so.
No obstante lo dispuesto en el apartado anterior, en el caso de construcciones, edificaciones e instalaciones respecto de las cuales ya no proceda adoptar medidas de restablecimiento de la legalidad urbanística que impliquen su demolición, por haber transcurrido los plazos de prescripción correspondientes, la constancia registral de la terminación de la obra se regirá por el siguiente procedimiento:Before that route works, the registrar checks two things: that no enforcement file has been noted against the property, and that the land is not public or burdened with a public right of way. An open enforcement file blocks it, which is why finding out early matters more than fixing it quickly.
A tales efectos, el Registrador comprobará la inexistencia de anotación preventiva por incoación de expediente de disciplina urbanística sobre la finca objeto de la construcción, edificación e instalación de que se trate y que el suelo no tiene carácter demanial o está afectado por servidumbres de uso público general.And the town hall is told. Registrars must report these entries to the municipality, and where the entry was made without a municipal certificate, the town hall is required to respond and have its position noted on the register. Getting a building onto the register is therefore not the end of the conversation with the council.
Los Registradores de la Propiedad darán cuenta al Ayuntamiento respectivo de las inscripciones realizadas en los supuestos comprendidos en los números anteriores, y harán constar en la inscripción, en la nota de despacho, y en la publicidad formal que expidan, la práctica de dicha notificación.How long the enforcement period runs is the first thing everyone asks, and it is not in the national law. That period is set by the legislation of the autonomous community, and it differs between them; some types of land have no limitation period at all. There is no national number, so this page does not give you one.
Ask the town hall for the position on your specific plot, and ask early. An enforcement file that has already been noted against the property blocks the register route entirely, and that is not something a later fix can undo.
Source checked on 2026-08-18: BOE, Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015, texto refundido de la Ley de Suelo y Rehabilitación Urbana, artículo 28.
Before you start work, the question is which route applies: planning permission in Spain.
Not in the way the English phrase suggests. Spanish law does not describe a permit granted after the fact. What it describes is a procedure for getting a finished building onto the property register once the period for ordering its demolition has run out, which is a different thing with different consequences.
The national law does not say. It is set by the legislation of the autonomous community and differs between them, and on some categories of land no limitation period runs at all. Anyone giving you a single national figure is guessing.
At the sale. A notary has to be handed the required authorisation before writing a new building into the deed, so paperwork that was never obtained tends to surface years later, when the owner is trying to sell.