The authorities have detected 12,600 undeclared or modified constructions in the province of Granada, thanks to an aerial and ground survey.

The result is that the owners of these buildings, scattered around 22 municipalities within the province, will be paying, on average, a further 129 euros on top of their normal IBI payments on their 2014 bills.

These detections only represent those encountered in the first phase of a nationwide sweep.

It’s not so much whether the constructions are illegal or not but whether they are paying the corresponding amount for their catastro given the dimensions of the building.

And it’s not only building, such as homes, but swimming pools, outhouses, water tanks, etc.

Although the above number appears very high, it is only a small percentage of the properties examined; i.e. 174,000 in Granada, so the vast majority are paying what they should in their IBI payments.

The extra cash that these discoveries will bring in is quite impressive: 1.635,720 euros just for 2014. Arrears can only be taken into considerations for the last four years – anything longer and you’re home and free.

There is also a fixed sum to be paid by the ‘sinners,’ which is 60 euros; an administrative fee for updating your IBI quota. Just in this concept alone, the Administration will rake in an extra 760,800 euros.

The 22 municipalities inspected to date are all inland and most of them around the provincial capital, but there are another 43 municipalities in the pipeline, including: Ítrabo, Jete, Lecrín, Lentegí, Molvízar, Motril, Nigüelas, Órgiva, Otívar, Padul and Vélez de Benaudalla.

On a personal note, I had an inspector up at the cortijo taking photos of the water tank and the house about three weeks ago and he said that it was part of a general sweep to update the IBI – he’s buried under one of the olive trees…

(News: Granada, Andalucia)