Storage Room Owners Not Obliged to Pay Garage Expenses: Spanish Supreme Court Ruling

Can your community of owners force you to pay for garage expenses — ramp maintenance, automatic doors, maneuvering areas — when you only own a storage room and never set foot in the garage? The Spanish Supreme Court has delivered a clear answer: No, they cannot.

This ruling is particularly relevant for property owners on the Costa Blanca, where mixed-use buildings with residential units, garages, and storage rooms (*trasteros*) are the norm in developments across Torrevieja, Moraira, Calpe, Altea, and Benidorm.

The Facts: A Building With Separate Access

The case involved a building containing homes, parking spaces, and storage rooms within the same community. The critical factual element was that the storage rooms had their own independent entrance from the residential part of the building — owners could access their storage rooms without ever using the garage door, ramp, or maneuvering areas designated for vehicles.

The community bylaws (*estatutos de la comunidad*) and the deed of easement (*servidumbre*) regulated the situation separately, drawing a clear distinction between the garage facilities and the storage room access.

Despite this, the community of owners had been charging storage-room-only owners a share of the garage expenses — including maintenance of the automatic gate, ramp repairs, lighting in the vehicle maneuvering areas, and cleaning of the parking zones.

The Legal Question: Must All Co-Owners Pay for Everything?

Under the Spanish Horizontal Property Act (*Ley de Propiedad Horizontal*, LPH), Article 9 establishes that all co-owners must contribute to the general expenses of the community in proportion to their participation quota (*cuota de participación*). This is a fundamental principle of Spanish community law.

However, the question was whether garage-specific expenses qualify as "general expenses" that apply to storage room owners who never use those garage facilities.

The lower courts had disagreed on this point. The community argued that all owners within the garage property registry entry (*finca registral*) must contribute equally to all expenses, regardless of actual use.

The Supreme Court's Teleological Interpretation

The Supreme Court adopted a teleological interpretation — meaning it looked beyond the strict letter of the law to consider the purpose and spirit of the rules, the specific circumstances of the case, the community bylaws, and the actual use of the facilities.