More and more people are interested in purchasing properties located on rustic land, especially foreigners.

Due to their particularity, these types of properties may have their water supply provided by wells. Therefore, it is essential that your lawyer carry out extensive legal searches, avoiding unpleasant surprises.

Water supply of wells and law

It may well be that the supply comes from a community well. If so, it is essential to know in which property it is located and the utility contracts that affect the rest of the properties that receive water, because, should there be no contract or should there be insufficient protection for properties that benefit from it, there can be a risk of cancellation of the water supply.

Another aspect to be taken into account is the legality of the wells that supply water, whether these be individual or communal, as in many cases owners are not aware that in order to avoid future problems, the wells must have the appropriate licenses, as their absence may result in negative consequences.

Therefore, as article 104 of the Andalusian Water Act states, inquiries as to whether there are sufficient licenses may be carried out by the authorities, the authority´s agents and the river guards during their survey functions.

As outlined by the law, the mentioned persons enjoy free access to the installations without prior notice, respecting the limits of the home. Therefore it is important to be fully aware that the absence of the license for a Well is deemed as a serious offence, which could have serious consequences, including a fine of up to 300,506.61 Euros.

Furthermore, in the event that the damage caused by the Well were considered a severe offence, it must be noted that, apart from the sanction for the illegal conduct (a fine of up to 601,012.10 Euros), complimentary sanctions could be imposed, such as the cancellation of the authorization or license for water use, suspension of the same for a year and even restrictions on obtaining loans, subsidies or government aids in environmental matters.

The Town Planning Department at Lexland Abogados has wide experience in this type of properties and will advise the client regarding the property´s situation, as well as regarding the best action to undertake when the water supply is provided by a well.