The Santa Eulària Town Hall has collected €1,778,663.17 from what it describes as the largest urban-planning penalty in the municipality's history, following unauthorised works carried out at a protected property near the Ca na Palava industrial estate.

The case involved a major renovation carried out without the required municipal licence, as well as repeated breaches of orders to stop the works. The municipality has now fully recovered the debt through enforcement proceedings.

More Than €1.7 Million Recovered

The total amount collected was €1,778,663.17.

The debt consisted of:

• €1,378,490.88 in the principal fine
• €275,707.04 in enforcement surcharges
• €120,727.18 in late-payment interest
• €3,560.81 in legal and administrative costs

The original sanction was imposed in 2023, but the municipality has only now completed the recovery of the full amount.

What Happened at the Property?

Municipal inspectors discovered that what had initially been presented as relatively minor works had developed into a full-scale renovation.

The property contained more than 400 square metres of built area across two floors. The works included renovations to the roof and installations, the conversion of a 54.68-square-metre garage into an installation room, and alterations and an extension to an existing annex.

The estimated value of the works exceeded €544,000.

The municipality said the scale of the work went substantially beyond the minor interventions covered by the licences and prior notifications that had been submitted.

The Property Was Protected

One of the factors that significantly increased the seriousness of the case was the age and protected status of the building.

The house dates from before 1956, meaning it is subject to heritage protection under Ibiza's Island Territorial Plan (PTI).

According to the town hall, the works were therefore not permitted on a protected property, further aggravating the calculation of the penalty.

Works Continued Despite Stop Orders

The case also involved more than simply carrying out works without the correct authorisation.

During the administrative proceedings, municipal inspectors found that construction work continued on several occasions despite provisional orders requiring it to stop.

The authorities ultimately determined that three urban-planning offences had been committed: one classified as very serious and two as serious.

The combination of the value and scale of the works, the protected status of the property and the failure to comply with stop orders resulted in the exceptionally high penalty.

Millions in Urban-Planning Penalties Recovered

The record case comes as Santa Eulària continues to pursue outstanding urban-planning debts.

Between January 1 and August 20, 2026, the municipality says it had already collected and closed enforcement cases worth a combined €5.23 million.

During the whole of 2025, the equivalent figure was approximately €7.53 million.

The 2026 figure does not include partial payments or cases that remain open because money is still outstanding.

A Warning Over Unauthorised Building Work

The case highlights the increasingly strict consequences of carrying out major building work without the necessary planning permissions, particularly when protected properties are involved.

What began as works that were presented as relatively small interventions ultimately resulted in a €1.78 million bill after authorities determined that a much larger renovation had been undertaken and that stop orders had been ignored.

For Santa Eulària, the recovery represents not only its largest urban-planning penalty ever collected, but also a significant enforcement action aimed at protecting planning and heritage rules across the municipality.

Source: Noudiari