Century old beach houses in Guardamar lose their shield: demolition looms again

They have stood there for over a century, front doors opening straight onto the sand: the houses of Playa Babilonia in Guardamar del Segura. But their legal lifeline has been cut. Spain’s Constitutional Court is keeping the article suspended with which Valencia wanted to shield the buildings from demolition, putting the demolition files back on the table. For anyone with an older property on the Spanish coast, this case carries an uncomfortable lesson.

What the court decided

The Valencian government passed its own coastal law last year containing article 17: clusters of older buildings could be designated as centres of special ethnological value, and so escape the wrecking ball. The national government took the law to the Constitutional Court, which automatically suspended the article when it accepted the case in March. This summer brought the real blow for Valencia: after weighing both sides, the court decided to keep that suspension in place until the final ruling, because the buildings could otherwise cause irreparable damage to the coast. Only one small part of the law, on an inventory Valencia can use to request adjustments of coastal boundaries, may operate for now.

Nearly a hundred houses with their feet in the sand

Playa Babilonia is no ordinary row of houses. The buildings went up around a century ago, in the era when engineer Francisco Mira forested the dunes of Guardamar to halt the advancing sand. They stand on public coastal land and existed all those years by grace of concessions, and that is exactly where it pinches: those concessions have expired. The state ordered demolition on grounds of safety, environmental rules and the retreating beach, and won backing from the Audiencia Nacional and the Supreme Court. The area also falls within the European Natura 2000 network. The Valencian law was the residents’ last straw; with the suspension, the demolition procedures can start moving again.

Why Madrid is winning this fight

The heart of the case is competence, not heritage. The Spanish constitution places the management of the public coastal domain with the state: it decides where the legal coastline runs and what may remain standing within it. According to the national government, Valencia’s law effectively tried to block demolition decisions already confirmed by the courts, and that is no longer regional planning but an intrusion into state powers. The court provisionally agreed and even named Playa Babilonia explicitly as an example. Note: the final verdict on the law is still to come. But as long as the suspension runs, the article offers no protection.

The lesson for owners of old coastal properties

This case is about Guardamar, but the mechanics apply along the entire Spanish coast. Properties on public coastal land are almost never held in full ownership: you use them through a concession with an end date, and once it expires the state decides on renewal or removal. Regional protection rules cannot simply override that, as this ruling shows. Buying an older property close to the sea? Check the legal position before you sign: where the coastal boundary (the deslinde) runs, whether the property rests on a concession and until when it lasts. A notary or specialised lawyer can dig that out. Want to buy safely? Read our guide to buying a house in Spain too.

About the authorLeonie

Leonie lives on the Costa Blanca. She writes about daily life on the coast: the markets, the walks and everything you only discover once you actually live here.