The Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands has overturned an eviction order against a woman who continued living in her former family home in Ibiza, bringing a long-running property dispute to a new conclusion.

The case centred on the sale of the house by the woman's former husband to two companies for €210,000 and whether the buyers could be considered good-faith purchasers after being informed that the property was the family's habitual residence.

The TSJ has now ruled in favour of the woman, overturning the decision of the Audiencia Provincial and restoring the first-instance judgment that had rejected the eviction claim.

A Family Home in Ibiza

The property had been owned by the woman's former husband.

Court documents show that the woman and her former husband had been registered at the property since 1996, with their children also registered there from birth.

The property had a mortgage registered in June 2014.

The couple subsequently entered divorce proceedings, creating the background to the later dispute over the house.

The Divorce Proceedings

The divorce proceedings were admitted for processing on February 17, 2021.

On November 5, 2021, provisional measures in the divorce case assigned the use of the family home to the woman.

The use of the property was subsequently maintained in the divorce proceedings, according to the judicial record reviewed in the case.

The dispute later turned on whether that right of use could be enforced against the companies that acquired the property.

The €210,000 Property Deal

On June 17, 2021, the former husband signed an option-to-purchase agreement in favour of two companies, Serisak Work Investment SLU and Sitamo Compartimentación de Oficinas SL.

The agreed purchase price was €210,000, after an earlier negotiated figure of €250,000.

The option was later exercised and the definitive sale was completed on June 30, 2022.

The buyers subsequently sought possession of the property from the woman.

The Burofaxes Became Central to the Case

A key part of the legal dispute concerned communications sent by the woman to the purchasing companies.

On May 24, 2022, she sent burofaxes to both companies informing them that the property was the family's habitual home.

That notification came before the final sale was completed on June 30, 2022.

A second burofax was sent on November 8, 2022, again informing the companies of the situation.

The TSJ considered the first communication particularly important because the companies had been informed about the property's status before completing the purchase.

First Court Rejected the Eviction

The original eviction proceedings were brought as a case of desahucio por precario, concerning occupation of a property without a current enforceable title against the owner.

On December 28, 2023, the first-instance court in Ibiza rejected the companies' claim.

The court considered that the circumstances surrounding the purchase and the buyers' knowledge of the property's family use prevented them from establishing the position required to obtain the eviction.

The companies appealed.

Audiencia Provincial Initially Reversed the Decision

On January 7, 2025, the Fourth Section of the Audiencia Provincial of the Balearic Islands overturned the first-instance ruling.

It accepted the buyers' appeal, classified the woman's occupation as precarious and ordered her to leave the property, warning that a judicial launch could follow if she did not comply.

The appellate court considered the purchasers to be third parties acting in good faith.

Its reasoning included the fact that the option to purchase and the subsequent sale had been registered and that the family-use right had not been registered in the Property Registry.

The Case Reached the Balearic TSJ

The woman then appealed in cassation under Balearic civil law.

The Supreme Court initially examined the procedural question and, in January 2026, ruled that the appropriate court to hear the appeal was the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands because the case involved provisions of Balearic civil law. The case was then transferred to the TSJ.

The TSJ subsequently examined the dispute and reached a different conclusion from the Audiencia Provincial.

Buyers Could Not Rely on Good-Faith Protection

The central issue was the buyers' knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the home.

Article 67 of the Balearic Civil Law Compilation requires the consent of both spouses, or judicial authorisation, for the disposition of rights over the family's habitual home when those rights belong to only one spouse. The provision also protects a purchaser acting in good faith in certain circumstances.

The TSJ concluded that the evidence showed the purchasing companies had received clear information that the property was the family home before the sale was completed.

That prior knowledge undermined their claim to good-faith purchaser protection.

TSJ Restores the First-Instance Outcome

In its July 24, 2026 judgment, the TSJ accepted the woman's appeal and overturned the Audiencia Provincial ruling.

The court restored the first-instance decision rejecting the eviction claim.

The result means that the eviction ordered by the Audiencia Provincial is no longer the operative outcome of the case.

According to the latest published account of the judgment, the ruling is not subject to a further appeal.

What the Court Decided

The ruling does not concern whether the former husband was entitled to own the property or whether the €210,000 sale took place.

The central legal question was whether the purchasing companies could obtain possession of the property through an eviction action despite the circumstances surrounding the family home and their prior knowledge of its status.

The TSJ concluded that they could not rely on good-faith protection in the circumstances established by the evidence.

A Long Property Dispute

The dispute has now moved through several levels of the Spanish court system.

The first-instance court rejected the eviction claim in December 2023.

The Audiencia Provincial reversed that decision in January 2025 and ordered the woman to vacate the property.

The Balearic TSJ has now overturned the Audiencia's decision and restored the original judgment.

The case illustrates the legal significance that knowledge of a property's family status can have when a home is sold during or around divorce proceedings.

The Importance of the Family Home

The case also highlights the specific protection given to a habitual family home under Balearic civil law.

The law recognises that ownership of a property by one spouse does not automatically give that spouse unrestricted power to dispose of the rights over the family's habitual residence without the other spouse's consent or judicial authorisation.

At the same time, the legislation contains protections for purchasers acting in good faith.

In this case, the TSJ's conclusion turned on the evidence that the buyers had been directly informed of the property's family status before the purchase was completed.

Final Outcome

After several years of litigation, the woman has obtained a favourable final ruling from the Balearic Islands' highest regional court for this civil-law issue.

The eviction claim brought by the two purchasing companies has been rejected, restoring the position established by the Ibiza court in December 2023.

The case began with the sale of the former family home for €210,000 and developed into a legal dispute over the effect of that sale on the woman's right to remain in the property.

The decisive factor identified by the TSJ was the buyers' knowledge of the home's status before the transaction was completed.