Do I need a permit to enclose my terrace?Alicante, Valencia, Murcia

Almost always yes, although the procedure is usually simple. The town hall asks for a responsible declaration, a prior notice or a minor works licence, depending on the municipality and the type of enclosure. In a block of flats, the Horizontal Property Act also requires a three fifths majority of owners to enclose terraces.

This article summarises national and regional law and the procedure pages of the town halls of Alicante, Valencia and Murcia as they stood in October 2026, with a link to each source. On top of the law, every building has its own community rules, which can set the colour or model of the enclosure, so keep them to hand before you ask for a quote.

If you want the practical summary without the legal articles, it is on our page about permits to enclose a terrace or penthouse. Here we go one step further: what each rule says, where it is published, and when a light enclosure stops being a quick formality and needs a licence.

The Horizontal Property Act 49/1960, in its consolidated text on the BOE, names terrace enclosures explicitly. Article 10.3.b lists them among works that alter the structure or fabric of the building and need both administrative authorisation and approval by the owners meeting. Article 17.4 sets the majority: three fifths of all owners, who must also hold three fifths of the shares.

Article 7.1 lets each owner alter the elements of their own flat, as long as this does not affect the safety of the building, its structure or its outward appearance, and the community is told beforehand. A glass curtain can be seen from the street and changes the facade, so telling the community is not enough: the owners meeting has to agree.

• Majority to enclose terraces: three fifths of owners and of shares (Article 17.4).
• Deadline to challenge a meeting decision: three months, or one year if it breaks the law or the community rules (Article 18.3).
• Absent owners: their votes can count in favour if they do not object within 30 calendar days, with exceptions your administrator should check (Article 17.8).
• If the community has already approved a standard enclosure, yours has to match it.

Article 69 of the Common Administrative Procedure Act 39/2015 defines the responsible declaration (declaración responsable) as a signed document stating that you meet the requirements, hold the paperwork that proves it and will keep meeting them. A notice (comunicación) is simpler: you give the authority the data it needs. With either one you can start on the day it is filed.

A minor works licence (licencia de obra menor) works the other way round: the town hall reviews the file and authorises the work before it starts. Which enclosure follows which route is not set by national law but by the planning law of each region and the bylaw of each town. That is why the same system is processed differently in Alicante, Valencia and Murcia.

• Responsible declaration: you file the complete paperwork and can start; the checks come later.
• Prior notice (comunicación previa): a short notice of the work, meant for very simple minor works.
• Minor works licence: you wait for the town hall’s decision before installing.

Alicante has a council page for the minor works responsible declaration for work in homes. It takes effect as soon as it is filed with complete documents, and the construction tax (ICIO) has to be declared within one month. The same page excludes maintenance work that affects the facade above ground floor, and any job that needs scaffolding on the public street.

For those cases the council points to the minor works licence in Alicante, which is decided within two months of the file being complete. Under either route the work must start within three months and finish within six. If your terrace enclosure is on an upper floor and changes the facade, ask the planning department whether the declaration covers it or a licence is needed.

In the Valencian Community the rule book is the consolidated Land Planning, Urban Planning and Landscape Act (Legislative Decree 1/2021). Article 232 lists what needs a licence, such as new buildings or work of heritage significance on protected buildings. Article 233 places renovation that does not alter the building’s structure under the responsible declaration.

Valencia city council applies that law through its planning licence bylaw. It offers a responsible declaration for renovating facades, roofs and party walls of unprotected buildings: work can start once all the documents are in, with the fee paid beforehand. Listed buildings cannot use this route, and scaffolding on the street needs its own permit.

The Region of Murcia follows its Planning Act 13/2015 of the Region of Murcia. Article 263 keeps the licence for, among other things, work on buildings with specific protection. Article 264 sends to the responsible declaration any renovation that does not substantially change the outward composition, volume or envelope, or replace the main structural elements. Article 265 keeps the prior notice for minor works with no project.

Murcia city council publishes a responsible declaration for carrying out works that allows the work from the moment the complete file is registered; the council then has fifteen working days to ask for a licence or more information. For very simple jobs there is the prior notice at Murcia’s Licensing Office, filed together with proof of ICIO payment.

With a responsible declaration the work starts before anyone reviews it, but the review still comes. Article 69.4 of Act 39/2015 says that an essential inaccuracy or false statement, or failing to file the declaration at all, stops the activity from the moment it is discovered. The authority can also require the previous situation to be restored.

In practice, restoring the previous situation can mean taking the enclosure down. The community of owners has its own route if the work was done without the meeting’s approval. The exact penalties depend on the regional law and each council’s bylaw, so a neighbour’s experience tells you little about your own case.