Can they limit spending?

Q.- In our community AGM we voted to limit spending by the president to €1,000. Now he has spent €6,000 and even used much of the money to pay for repairs of the stone walls enclosing our private gardens, which all of the townhouses have. He says he can legally do this and our administrator backs him up. Is there anything we can do to bring him under control?

D W (Costa Blanca)

A.- Properly, the community should have voted to authorise the repairs. Nevertheless, if the repairs seem to be urgent, the president can authorise the expenditure. You seem to be under the impression that your gardens are ‘private’. They are not in fact private. They are property of the community.
Your private property ends at the outside wall of the building. Your garden space is assigned for your private use, but it is owned by the community. So your president has not used community funds to repair private walls. Even one community member can go to court against the president if he claims that his private interests are prejudiced by the president’s action.
Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090