Access control for community garages in Spain: options, owners’ vote and data protection

The problem with old remotes

Many garages use fixed-code or easily copied remotes. Over the years there are more remotes than spaces: former tenants, copies of copies, garages. And because they all transmit the same thing, you cannot cancel one without cancelling all.

If you own in an urbanisation or apartment block in Spain, this is decided collectively by the *comunidad de propietarios* (owners' community), usually through its administrator.

The four solutions

The norm is to combine two: a main one and a fallback. On the last option, see number plate recognition.

What a manageable system gives you

• Cancelling access for someone who sells or stops renting — useful with holiday lets and absentee owners.
• Limiting credentials per space.
• Knowing which credential opened in an incident.
• Temporary authorisations for removals or building work.

The owners' vote

The garage door is a shared element, so changing its access system is decided at the owners' meeting (*junta*), by the majority required under article 17 of the Horizontal Property Act. Which majority applies depends on the type of work: check with the community administrator before calling the meeting.

The resolution should cover:

• which system is installed and what it costs;
• how many credentials each space gets and how extras are paid for;
• who manages additions and removals (administrator, president, company);
• whether there will be cameras and what they will capture.

If there are cameras or plate recognition

The AEPD, in its fact sheet on cameras in residential communities, states that:

• installation in shared areas requires an agreement of the owners' meeting, which should reflect the number of cameras and the area covered;
• information signs must be placed at the entrances to the monitored area;
• cameras may only capture shared areas, and of the public street only the minimum strip at the entrance;
• the community is the data controller and must include this in its record of processing;
• access to footage must be restricted.

Footage is kept for a maximum of one month (more detail).

The door matters too

Before investing in the control, check the automation: photocells, safety edge, CE marking and up-to-date maintenance (barriers and doors). The access system only gives the open command; the safety of the movement depends on the door.

Recommended steps

1. Inventory: spaces, users, remotes in circulation.
2. Two or three comparable proposals (how to compare them).
3. Agenda item and owners' vote.
4. A replacement schedule with a cut-off date for old remotes.
5. Written rules of use — in English as well if many owners are not Spanish speakers.

We work with communities across the Valencia region and can prepare the paperwork for the meeting: parking access control.