Anyone selling or letting a house or other property in Catalonia from 3 October 2026 onwards must provide the buyer or tenant with a certificate confirming the presence or absence of asbestos Provide: a certificate stating whether asbestos is present in the premises. This follows from the Law 8/2026 of 2 July on the eradication of asbestos, a law passed by the Catalan Parliament which will come into force on 3 July 2026 in the Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC) and was published on 17 August 2026 in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE No. 201).
The law applies to all property on Catalan territory, regardless of the owner’s place of residence or nationality. Belgian and Dutch owners of a flat or villa on the Costa Brava, the Costa Daurada or in Barcelona are therefore fully subject to it. Properties built before the Spanish asbestos ban of 2001–2002 are of particular concern: these include corrugated asbestos cement roofs, water tanks, drainage pipes and façade cladding made of fibre cement (which in Spain is often uralita (as mentioned).
What exactly is going to change?
The certificate for sales and lettings
Article 21.2 stipulates that the certificate “must be provided when a property is sold or let”. The obligation therefore applies to both the sale and the letting of any property, not just residential properties. Article 5(d) formulates the same provision as a right of the purchaser or tenant.
The certificate reflects the situation at the time of issue. Until the implementing regulations are in place, it must at least state:
- whether there is any visible asbestos;
- the condition in which the asbestos-containing materials are stored;
- what risks they pose to people.
The Generalitat is yet to lay down in regulations who is authorised to issue the certificate and what its exact format will be. The certificate is based on a visual inspection and therefore offers no guarantee that there is no hidden asbestos present.
Entry in the Land Registry
The seventh supplementary provision stipulates that certification of the presence of asbestos must be recorded in the Land Registry when a transfer for valuable consideration is registered. Asbestos is thus recorded as a piece of information that remains part of the property’s registration history.
Find out more about the property register and the Land Registry.
Owners’ obligations
Owners who do not carry out asbestos work professionally must:
- Do not work on or remove materials containing asbestos yourself;
- report known asbestos sites to the relevant authority;
- to allow inspections to take place and to cooperate with them;
- Once asbestos has been identified, clear the premises of such materials and take the necessary measures for their removal.
Removal may only be carried out by a specialist company listed in the new Catalan register of authorised asbestos contractors. Deadlines set by the competent authorities for removal are binding.
Property managers, estate agents and other professionals
The property manager (property manager) must inform owners about the presence of asbestos and ensure that they provide the certificate to the buyer or tenant. Professionals acting in a consumer-facing capacity, such as estate agents, must state the presence or absence of asbestos in every offer, promotion and advertisement for the sale or letting of properties.
Neighbourhood nuisance
The third final provision amends Article 546-13 of the Catalan Civil Code concerning unlawful emissions. The release of asbestos fibres is now expressly classified as a prohibited emission, which provides neighbours with a civil law basis for an injunction and a claim for damages.
Entry into force, time limits and penalties
The Act will come into force three months after its publication in the DOGC, i.e. on 3 October 2026. No transitional arrangements are provided for ongoing sales or tenancy cases; the only transitional provision concerns the recognition of supervisory bodies.
Failure to produce the certificate constitutes a minor offence, punishable by a fine of between 100 and 3,000 euros. Having asbestos work carried out by an unauthorised company or illegally dumping asbestos waste constitutes a very serious offence, punishable by fines ranging from 30,001 to 100,000 euros. Fines and penalty payments (ranging from 150 to 3,000 euros, payable every six months) are paid into the new Fund for the Eradication of Asbestos.
According to the Collegium of Architects of Catalonia The specific sanctions regime will only become fully operational once the implementing regulations have been approved. This does not alter the civil law risks: a buyer or tenant may rely on the absence of the certificate.
What does this mean in practice?
You’re selling. Have the certificate drawn up before you put the property up for sale: the estate agent must state whether or not there is asbestos in the property in the advert. Attach the certificate to the provisional contract of sale (contrato de arras) and in the notarial deed. If asbestos is found, this will be taken into account in the price negotiations and in the agreements regarding who is responsible for its removal.
You are buying. Request the certificate before signing the contrato de arras, not just at the solicitor’s office. You should also check whether the property is listed in the Catalan Register of Materials Containing Asbestos. A negative certificate does not rule out the presence of hidden asbestos; for older properties, a technical inspection is still advisable.
You let out property. The obligation also applies to tenancy agreements entered into on or after 3 October 2026, and the law makes no distinction based on the type of tenancy, meaning that holiday and seasonal lettings are, in principle, also covered. Keep the certificate with your tenancy file so that you can hand it over to each new tenant.
Has asbestos been detected? Do not attempt to remove it yourself. Only use a company listed in the Catalan register of authorised asbestos contractors, and enquire about the grants that the Generalitat and the local councils will be awarding through the new Fons per a l’erradicació de l’amiant.
Flat in co-ownership. Asbestos is often found in communal areas, such as roofs, pipework or water tanks. The property manager must inform the owners. In principle, removal from communal areas requires a resolution by the general meeting of co-owners.
In conclusion
Catalonia is the first Spanish region to have a fully-fledged asbestos law, and the requirement for a certificate will apply to all sales and lettings from 3 October 2026. As the implementing regulations have not yet been issued, it remains unclear who will be authorised to issue the certificate and what exactly it must contain. Please take this uncertainty into account in your planning and in your contractual agreements.
Confianz assists Belgian and Dutch owners and buyers with the purchase, sale and letting of property in Spain. Do you own a property in Catalonia, or are you planning a transaction? Please contact contact Get in touch with us; we’ll look into which obligations apply to your case.
