# Catastro



## Rofa (Dec 3, 2009)

There was a thread started by "Boldlygoes" in July and replied to amongst others by "Xose". I would like to take this a little further. 

When buying or selling property, how much relevance does the Catastro actually have? I always thought the Escritura was the only legal document that mattered. The difference between the information in the Escritura and the catastral information is the the former is generally descriptive, plot bounded by eg roads and maybe with an area. Older rural ones can be plain misleading! The catastro presents of course a map and is very specific. 

Needless to say I am raising this because of a dispute that emerging. There is a guy who claims he owns part of my land - which is an accumulation of plots which were bought by the previous owner many years ago. The only evidence I have seen from him is a section of map from the catastro with a reference number - no owner information. Can I locate the owner on-line? 

How accurate or reliable is the map info from the catastro considered to be by the law.

Thanks


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## JBODEN (Jul 10, 2009)

The catastro is the equivalent of 'land registry' in the UK. It shows the owner of the land & buildings and, if there are any loans (&/or debts) secured against that property.
When buying a property one should first check the register to make sure that the sales details agree with the official records. The land & buildings have a unique registration number and this number should have been included in your escuitura.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Rofa said:


> There was a thread started by "Boldlygoes" in July and replied to amongst others by "Xose". I would like to take this a little further.
> 
> When buying or selling property, how much relevance does the Catastro actually have? I always thought the Escritura was the only legal document that mattered. The difference between the information in the Escritura and the catastral information is the the former is generally descriptive, plot bounded by eg roads and maybe with an area. Older rural ones can be plain misleading! The catastro presents of course a map and is very specific.
> 
> ...


As you say the escritura is descriptive & the catastral is a map & the measurement. They are trying to get these two to link up as my understanding is that what is on the catastro is the legal amount you own & defines the boundaries & measurements, legally. What's on the escritura is a rough description & measurement.
More problems are emerging these days from the use of new technology where they are using sig-pac, google earth & aerial photos to map properties & when you lay over the old property boundaries ,they don't match up !! Then you & your neighbours are left to sort it out & change the catastro so it's correct. I'd go in to your local catastro dept. with all your property details & get them to show you on their computer what they regard as being the legal boundaries of your land. I've always found the ones here to be more than helpful.


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## Mame (Aug 8, 2008)

www1.sedecatastro.gob.es 
put in your catastral number and it will bring up your plot.


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## Rofa (Dec 3, 2009)

gus-lopez said:


> I'd go in to your local catastro dept. with all your property details & get them to show you on their computer what they regard as being the legal boundaries of your land. I've always found the ones here to be more than helpful.


I guess I will have to do that. My lawyer tried to sort it out about 4 years ago - and failed totally. I had a look at the site as suggested by Mame - data protection does not allow general access to plot ownership - so even more reason to make a visit.


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

Rofa said:


> I guess I will have to do that. My lawyer tried to sort it out about 4 years ago - and failed totally. I had a look at the site as suggested by Mame - data protection does not allow general access to plot ownership - so even more reason to make a visit.


Hi Rofa. But it should show you your plot. You know it's yours. Does it show what you expected - shape, M2 etc?

By the way, the ultimate registry in Spain is Land Registry (Registro de la propiedad). Whilst this is voluntary (was a couple of years ago, might not be now), it is known as the definitive article as it ties in with Catastro. So, if Catastro's representation is wrong (and it sometimes is, often on older registrations), they won't register until it's sorted.

This type of work is usually done by a "Perito" not a lawyer. These are the land surveyors used to officiate these things (theodolite the site, graphic it, verify or change catastro, bury posts to mark border lines, and see them through to the deed process, including amendments if required, via Catastro and the Notario. The "Peritos" are hugely busy guys.... thanks to Catastro, including in court (the guy I use is always in court for claim wrangles) 

Good luck with your efforts.
Xose


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Rofa said:


> I guess I will have to do that. My lawyer tried to sort it out about 4 years ago - and failed totally. I had a look at the site as suggested by Mame - data protection does not allow general access to plot ownership - so even more reason to make a visit.


Are you saying you can't get in to look @ your own plot? You should be able too as I've just done mine. If you go to the site click on the box on the left 'Ciudadanos, empresas y profesionales, 'acceso libre ' .You want the 1st one 'consulta de cartografía' When the screen comes up put in your catastral ref. no. then go down & click the box 'rústicos'. You can then enter the poligono number & the parcela number, All rústico properties have this number even if it was a new build on previously farmed land. If you haven't got this no. then you will have to go in to the council offices or the catastral to obtain it. Another thing to bear in mind is that if it does come up it will be with an address that it was 1st registered with , which might not have been used for 100 years! My catastral property address is different from my escritura address which is different from the dirreción postal !! I've actually had stuff delivered by the postman with the catastral address. Used to wonder how it arrived until I realised it was the catastral address. If you put in your postal address it will tell you that this plot does not exist .

If you do get in it will show you the total amount of land you own, what is classed as in production ,what is non-productive i.e house, & what is non-productive i.e. outbuildings, stables , etc. The number would normally be e.g. Poligono 212, Parcela 3
On catastral docs. it's shown as Poligono 212/3. Hope this helps.


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

Rofa said:


> I guess I will have to do that. My lawyer tried to sort it out about 4 years ago - and failed totally. I had a look at the site as suggested by Mame - data protection does not allow general access to plot ownership - so even more reason to make a visit.


...by the way, have you been paying IBI on this property? If so, then the last bill will give you the referencia catastral. If not (exempt for whatever reason) then it will be tough unless you can use a web tool to identify it from sat imagery.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Just had another thought, if when you do get in with your poligono number ,all your neighbours will have the same poligono number but with parcela nos. up or down from yours, so you can check them for boundaries & m2 as well. Actually I've just tried it using the catastral ref only then down & click 'datos y consultos descriptiva y grafica', brings up the details. Also a poligono & pacela number without a referencía catastral does as well.


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## Rofa (Dec 3, 2009)

Sorry but I probably have not made myself clear since my problem seems complex - even more so now I have had a look at my plot on the catastro web site. The main plot is shown - the area as given in the plot data agrees with my escritura but the actual area as mapped is wrong - it's simply too small. It should be 8000 sqm but if I measure the area on the map it comes out about 5000. The problem is that two small plots have not been incorporated - put those in and everything ties in with the escritura - area and boundaries. The two small plots have different numbers of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping to actually see owners names against the plots. They should of course be mine. Problem is where I live there are many plots and nobody knows who owns them - there have been no building permissions here for nearly 40 years and that's when the plots were first sold.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

The best course would be to print a copy of everything that's relevant & go in & discuss it with the catastro staff & get both plots incorporated into your main one. It's quite possible that whoever owned it previously , bought the two plots & never changed the catastro, quite a lot never did. Even when we bought our house & it was registered with the public registery the catastro didn't get altered until I went in & did it. Also with mine, the previous owner sold some land to the comunidad de regantes, they never bothered to register it & it'sstill shown as mine & as far as I'm concerned it is.


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## Rofa (Dec 3, 2009)

gus-lopez said:


> The best course would be to print a copy of everything that's relevant & go in & discuss it with the catastro staff & get both plots incorporated into your main one. It's quite possible that whoever owned it previously , bought the two plots & never changed the catastro, quite a lot never did. Even when we bought our house & it was registered with the public registery the catastro didn't get altered until I went in & did it. Also with mine, the previous owner sold some land to the comunidad de regantes, they never bothered to register it & it'sstill shown as mine &  as far as I'm concerned it is.


OK - will do - sound advice!


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