Painters in Marbella: villas, urbanisations and blocks turning 50
We paint homes inside and out, and the shared parts of buildings, across the whole of Marbella, from San Pedro de Alcántara to Las Chapas. Here, two local rules change how the job is planned: the building inspection arrives when a building turns 50, and since January 2026 painting work under 10,000 euros needs no prior authorisation, except in the historic centre.
We get to San Pedro de Alcántara, Nueva Andalucía, Elviria, Las Chapas, Puerto Banús and the centre of Marbella.
From a villa’s facade to a living room in Venetian plaster
Each service is explained in full on its own page. These are the ones most often looked for, for a house or a building in Marbella.
Facades
For the outside of a villa or a building, with the finish each wall calls for.
Facade waterproofing
For a wall that lets the water in, which on the seafront is never forgiven.
Communities of owners
For what the neighbours share in an urbanisation or a building, and the works its ITE turns up.
Venetian plaster
For a living room or a hallway finished in Venetian plaster, applied in thin coats and polished.
Painting a flat or house
Inside: an apartment, a house or just a couple of rooms.
Facade restoration
For when the inspection report asks for work on the facade before any paint.
In Marbella, the ITE arrives at 50
The ITE (Inspección Técnica de Edificaciones, the periodic building inspection) is governed by a municipal bylaw published in the Málaga provincial gazette on 22 November 2013, and today also rests on the regulations of Andalusia’s planning law, the LISTA.
The first report has to be handed in during the year following the building’s 50th anniversary, then again every ten years. It falls to the owners: the person or company that owns it, or the community of owners when the building is divided into flats and commercial premises.
The inspection does not only look at whether the building is well maintained. According to Marbella’s planning department, it also checks compliance with accessibility rules and the building’s energy efficiency. The energy performance certificate is handed in together with the official inspection form.
For anyone painting, the date matters: a 1970s block thinking of painting its facade may have the inspection coming up, and the sensible order is for the paint to follow what the report says, not to go ahead of it.
From the list to the works
What happens to a building with its ITE in Marbella, according to the council’s planning department.
The building appears on the listEvery year, street by street
Each year the council publishes, street by street, the properties that have to submit the inspection. The 2026 list covers those turning 50 and those renewing it because they passed it in 2016.
A surveyor checks the whole buildingYour own home is not enough
The ITE covers the building as a whole, even if your home is one flat in a block. It is signed by a qualified professional, usually an architect, a building surveyor (aparejador) or a building engineer, and submitted with the energy performance certificate.
It is submitted free of chargeOnline or at a registry office
In Marbella there is no fee for submitting it. It goes in through the official registry: online at the council’s electronic office, with Cl@ve (the Spanish government login), a digital certificate or an electronic ID card, or at a registry office, such as the town hall’s on Plaza de los Naranjos or the one in San Pedro de Alcántara.
If it fails, three monthsTo file a declaration or apply for a licence
The owners have three months to file a declaración responsable (a signed statement that lets certain works go ahead) or apply for a building licence for the works that bring the building back to safe, healthy and usable condition. When the works are finished, they report it by providing the final completion certificate and the standard form.
Failing to submit it is a planning offence, and carries a fine of between 600 and 2,999 euros.
How a building’s works are organised after a failed report: facade restoration.
Painting in Marbella, with the 2026 paperwork
In January 2026 the council’s Local Government Board approved a planning instruction to put building licences in order. It sets out three routes: what needs a planning licence, what goes through a declaración responsable, and what is exempt from any prior control.
What it means for painting was summed up by the councillor for planning when presenting it: “minor works with a budget below 10,000 euros, such as coatings, painting or certain interior installations, do not require prior authorisation or payment of the corresponding fee, except in areas with special protection, such as the historic centre”.
The instruction also strengthens the declaración responsable, which lets the works start as soon as the requirements are met. In return, the council does not accept incomplete applications and makes a single request to correct them: if there is no reply, the application is treated as withdrawn.
In practice, what decides it is the cost of the job and where the house is: if the quote goes over 10,000 euros, or the home sits inside the old town, the procedure is checked before starting. The full instruction is published on the council’s website.
Three things to check before painting in Marbella
Check the list before the colour
If your block turns 50, or passed the inspection in 2016, it may be on the 2026 list. Better to know before painting the facade: if the ITE calls for works, the painting goes into those works and the scaffolding goes up only once.
A quote with a clear total
The January 2026 exemption depends on what the job costs: below 10,000 euros, painting needs no prior authorisation. With a written, itemised quote you know which side of that line yours is on.
In the historic centre, ask first
The streets of the old town are an area with special protection, and the exemption does not reach them. There, before choosing the colour of a facade, you check with the planning department which procedure applies.
What people ask most in Marbella
Do you work across the whole of Marbella?
Do you work across the whole of Marbella?
Yes: in the centre and in San Pedro de Alcántara, Nueva Andalucía, Puerto Banús, Elviria, Las Chapas and the rest of the urbanisations. Tell us which part of town the property is in and what you would like painted, and we will come over to take a look.
Do I need a licence to paint my house in Marbella?
Do I need a licence to paint my house in Marbella?
As the councillor for planning explained when presenting the January 2026 instruction, minor works costing less than 10,000 euros, such as painting, need no prior authorisation and pay no fee, except in areas with special protection, such as the historic centre. Above that amount, or inside that area, check first which procedure applies.
How old must a building in Marbella be for its ITE?
How old must a building in Marbella be for its ITE?
The first report goes in during the year following the building’s 50th anniversary, then again every ten years. It is submitted by the owners or, where the building is split into flats and shop units, by the community of owners.
What happens if the community does not submit it?
What happens if the community does not submit it?
According to Marbella’s planning department, failing to submit the ITE is a planning offence, with a fine of between 600 and 2,999 euros.
Do you do Venetian plaster in Marbella?
Do you do Venetian plaster in Marbella?
Yes, it is one of the jobs we do, indoors. Its page explains what it is, how it is applied and which walls suit it, so you come to the visit knowing what to ask for.
For Venetian plaster: Venetian plaster, what it is and how it is applied.
Where this comes from
Quotations from Spanish-language documents are our own translations.
What would you like painted in Marbella?
Tell us the area, whether it is a villa, an apartment or the shared areas of a community, and whether the building is on the ITE list. With that we visit and send you a written quote, broken down item by item.