Rubbish and scrub on private land in Spain

The owner has a duty, not an option

Whoever owns a plot is obliged to keep it in conditions of safety, public health and appearance. This is not civic advice: it is a duty of conservation arising from planning legislation.

That includes clearing scrub, removing accumulated waste and, where appropriate, fencing the land so it does not become an open dump.

The orden de ejecución, and the detail that changes everything

The instrument is called an orden de ejecución: an administrative act by which the council requires the owner to carry out the work needed to meet that duty.

And here is the part almost nobody knows: the council issues it of its own motion OR at the request of any interested party. A neighbour can formally ask for it. There is no need to wait for the administration to notice by itself.

Requesting it in writing, through the register, changes the nature of the matter. It stops being an informal complaint that can be filed away and becomes a request that requires an answer.

What happens if the owner does not comply

Unjustified non-compliance with an orden de ejecución entitles the council to subsidiary execution: it clears the land and bills the owner, up to the limit of the normal duty of conservation.

A penalty route is also available. Some councils process sanctions against owners of uncleaned plots systematically rather than exceptionally.

Why it takes so long, and it is not always the council

Worth knowing so the frustration lands in the right place. Subsidiary execution means entering private property, and that entry must be authorised by a judge once the administrative route is exhausted.

That is the real reason these files are measured in months rather than weeks. It is not municipal inertia: it is a constitutional protection over private property that the procedure has to respect.

For maintenance that recurs annually, such as clearing scrub, ombudsman doctrine is clear: the council must act periodically, using the orden de ejecución and, if necessary, subsidiary execution at the owner's cost. Having cleared it last year does not exhaust the obligation.

What to do, in order

• Document the state with dated photos and the exact location. If the plot has been like this for years, document the recurrence, not just today
• File a written request through the register expressly asking for an orden de ejecución for clearance and, where appropriate, fencing
• If there is fire risk, pests, rodents or access by children, say so: it changes both urgency and legal basis
• If there is no reply in time, failure to resolve has its own routes, including a complaint to the Defensor del Pueblo or your region's ombudsman

What not to do

Do not go in and clear it. It is private property, and doing it yourself can turn the owner's problem into yours.

Do not clear it if the land has been dumped on either: besides the risk, it destroys the evidence the file rests on. Here, clearing before documenting is the opposite of helping.

And do not add anything yourself, not even "while it is there". A plot with waste attracts more waste, and past a point the owner stops being the only party responsible for what is inside.

Why a public record helps here

These files are won on documentary consistency. A plot that is cleared and fills again every spring needs to demonstrate exactly that: that it recurs.

A dated, photographed history built up over months on a public map is the kind of evidence that turns "it is dirty again" into a file with a basis. On CleanSpot each report keeps a photo, a date and coordinates, and reopening the same spot when it reappears is what builds that series.

Sources

• Defensor del Pueblo — Condiciones de seguridad, salubridad y ornato público de un solar (2026-08-30)
• Defensor del Pueblo — Obligación de conservación de un solar (2026-08-30)