When the Property Registry certifies there is no issue and then denies the NRA on the same ground

Published February 2026 · Reading time: 10 min · SALAMA LEGAL SLP · Jacob Salama, Lawyer ICAMALAGA 11.294

An increasingly frequent situation: the owner asks the Property Registry for a certificate, receives confirmation that there is no statutory prohibition of tourist activity, invests in the dwelling, applies for the NRA and… receives denial based precisely on a clause that was supposedly cleared. The doctrine of own acts and good faith come into play.

The doctrine of own acts (estoppel)

Established by the Supreme Court in numerous judgments, it prevents acting against one's own prior acts when those acts have generated legitimate expectations in third parties acting in good faith.

Applicability to the registry case

• The certificate is a public document with legal effects.
• The owner relied on it in good faith.
• If the Registry contradicts itself, there is breach of legitimate expectation.

Limits

• The Property Registry's positive certificate does not bind the DGSJyFP.
• If the prohibition is in the deeds, the Registrar must apply it regardless of the prior certificate.
• The own-acts argument has weight in liability claims more than in registry challenges.

Strategy

1. Preserve the original certificate.
2. Document the investment based on the certificate.
3. Claim damages and lost profits to the Administration (Article 32 LRJSP).
4. Open the statutory amendment via meeting.