Who is legally required to remove asbestos in Spain?

Do private owners have to remove asbestos by a deadline?

No general rule in force sets a fixed date by which private owners in Spain must remove asbestos cement that is in place and undisturbed. The often-quoted year 2028 comes from Ley 7/2022, de 8 de abril, de residuos y suelos contaminados, but it refers to something narrower.

Under its fourteenth additional provision, town halls had to draw up, within one year of the law's entry into force, a census of installations and sites with asbestos, and higher-risk public buildings are to be dealt with before 2028. That is an obligation on public administrations, not a removal deadline for your villa's garage roof.

So for a private owner the realistic question is not "when must I remove it?" but "when does it make sense, and what applies when I do?" Our post on whether it is worth removing uralita in good condition deals with the first half.

Who is allowed to carry out the removal?

Here the law is clear. Real Decreto 847/2026, de 21 de octubre, which replaced Real Decreto 396/2006 and has been in force since late October 2026, provides that only companies registered in the RERA may demolish or remove materials containing asbestos, and only under a plan de trabajo approved by the labour authority of the province where the work is done. The start of works is notified in advance.

In Andalusia, the RERA is kept by the Junta de Andalucía and the work plans are approved by the provincial Delegación Territorial of the labour Consejería. In practice this means: once you decide to act, the asbestos part of the job belongs to a registered company, whoever else is involved.

When does a demolition make removal unavoidable?

If a building or part of it is going to be demolished, the asbestos cannot simply come down with the rest. Ley 7/2022 requires hazardous substances, especially asbestos, to be handled safely and never mixed with other waste (art. 30.1), and since 1 January 2024 selective demolition is mandatory (art. 30.3). Non-hazardous waste must be sorted into wood, mineral fractions, metals, glass, plastic and gypsum.

In practical terms, the asbestos elements are removed first and separately by the RERA-registered company, and the ordinary demolition follows. That is exactly the sequence of our asbestos removal before a demolition service. For the general waste rules behind selective demolition, Derribos Industriales Málaga has a guide on construction and demolition waste rules in Spain.

Communities of owners: who decides

In buildings under propiedad horizontal, the asbestos is often on common elements – the roof of the block, shared tanks, downpipes, a common garage. Under Ley 49/1960 de Propiedad Horizontal, works affecting common elements need the agreement of the owners' meeting, and the community must be informed before walls, structure or façade elements are touched.

That makes the community, through its meeting and its administrador, the decision-maker for common asbestos elements. How costs are shared is a separate question that depends on the community's own rules and agreements; we deal with the organisation of such jobs on our asbestos in communities of owners page.

Businesses, landlords and builders

Different roles bring different duties around asbestos work, even when nobody is obliged to remove the material by a date:

For large agricultural and industrial roofs, see asbestos in warehouses and farm buildings.

What the law does not say

Because so much circulates on forums and in sales calls, it helps to be explicit about what you will not find in the rules summarised here:

• A date by which every private home must be asbestos-free.
• A rule that sound asbestos cement must be removed before a property is sold.
• Permission for owners or general builders to remove "small amounts" themselves.
• Permission to dispose of asbestos cement with household waste or ordinary rubble.

If someone presents one of these as law, ask for the exact reference. Rules change – Real Decreto 396/2006 was itself replaced in 2026 – so always check the current text.

Owners of plots and ruins

A separate duty sometimes gets confused with asbestos rules. Owners must keep solares clean and safe; if they do not, the town hall can order the clearing and carry it out at the owner's expense, as the ordinances of Málaga and Mijas provide. That duty is about the general state of the land, not specifically about asbestos – but a ruined outbuilding with broken uralita on an abandoned plot is exactly the situation in which both topics meet.

In that case the order of work is the same as for any demolition: the asbestos cement is removed first and separately by a RERA-registered company, then the ruin is demolished and the plot cleared.

Who this article is for

This overview is written for the people who most often ask the question: foreign owners of villas and fincas, buyers in the middle of a purchase, members of a community of owners and businesses with older warehouses in the provincia de Málaga. It is general information, not legal advice for a specific case; for that, your técnico, administrador or lawyer is the right person.

What we can do is the practical part. Retirada de Uralita Málaga is not RERA-registered: the asbestos removal is carried out by a RERA-registered company that works as our subcontractor under its own approved plan, and we coordinate the rest of the demolition and the job. If you are comparing providers, our asbestos removal contractor checklist helps you ask the right questions.