New build in Villajoyosa: the six documents to see before you hand over a reservation
What can be asked for today
The master plan, the car park and the facade: three drawings that correspond to three real documents.
Six papers decide whether the building will exist
A new scheme in Villajoyosa is judged on six documents, not on a visualisation. Building permit, the zoning of the plot, the dimensioned plan of your own home, the written specification, the guarantee on the money you pay early, and the identity of the company that signs. Each has a different issuer and a plain answer. They are in Spanish, and most of them are administrative documents written for other professionals. So this page does two things at once: it says what each paper is for, and which words to find on it. «Not ready yet» is a legitimate answer to some of these and a serious one to others, and below it is spelled out which is which.
Licencia de obra: issued by the town hall, and it has a file number
This is the municipal permission to build the designed scheme on that specific plot. It is granted by the ayuntamiento — here, the town hall of la Vila Joiosa — after reviewing the project, and it leaves a trail: an expediente number and a resolution that can be quoted. Ask for the number, not for a screenshot of the architect's email. On the document itself, four things are worth finding even with no Spanish: the words licencia de obra and the file reference (número de expediente), the date, the referencia catastral of the plot, and the description of what is authorised. Compare that catastral code with the one on the plot you were shown; they must be the same. Anyone may consult a municipal licence file, so this is not a favour you are asking for. If the licence is granted, the scheme has passed the planning filter and what remains is to build. If it is applied for, the town hall can still require changes. If it has not been applied for, what you are looking at is a design: there is then no basis for asking you to pay for a specific home, and any sum you do hand over needs a written destination and a written route back.
The zoning of the plot: what the plan allows to be built there
Before the permit comes the planning. Every plot has a classification — urbana, urbanizable, no urbanizable — and a calificación that fixes use, buildable volume, height and setbacks. This is public: the town hall issues it, usually as a cédula or informe urbanístico that any interested party may request. On that sheet, the words to look for are uso (permitted use, you want residencial), edificabilidad (buildable area), altura máxima or número de plantas and retranqueos (setbacks). One Spanish convention trips up buyers from northern Europe: the ground floor is planta baja and the floor above it is planta primera, so a building of «baja más tres» has four levels, not three. This is the check almost nobody makes and the one that prevents the most disappointment. A visualisation showing four storeys where the plan allows three is not an ambitious project, it is a project that will change. And if you are told the land is «en trámite de reclasificación» — in the course of being rezoned — you are looking at a planning operation rather than a home, and the developer does not control how long that takes.
The dimensioned plan of your own home, with both surfaces
The commercial plan of a typical floor is not enough. You need the plan of the specific home, with measurements, and the two surfaces stated separately: útil, the floor you can walk on, and construida, which includes the enclosing walls and a proportional share of the common parts. Comparing one home's construida with another's útil is the most common comparison error there is. The plan is signed by the architect who authored the project and must match the one in the municipal file. Ask for it to be attached to the contract as an annex, together with the tolerance on surface variation that is accepted. If «the definitive plans are not ready yet», the design is not closed: you can keep talking, but you cannot sign for a home that is still being drawn.
The memoria de calidades is the only place materials become enforceable
This written specification describes floors, joinery, glazing, insulation, climate control, electrical installation, sanitaryware and the finishes of the common areas. It is drafted by the design team for the developer and it is the document against which, at the end, you measure whether you were given what you bought. A show flat does not replace it; a show flat is a sample, and samples change. Two clauses deserve attention. The one allowing a material to be replaced by another «de calidad igual o superior» — of equal or higher quality — is normal, but it should require written approval rather than become a blank cheque. And a specification naming actual brands and models is worth more than one promising «primeras calidades», first quality, which measures nothing. If the specification is still open, ask which items are missing: an undecided tile colour is ordinary, an undecided level of insulation is not.
The guarantee on money paid before completion
This is the document that turns an early payment into a bounded risk. Spanish law requires sums a buyer hands over before delivery to be paid into a special account, separate from the developer's other funds and earmarked for the construction, and to be secured by a bank guarantee (aval) or an insurance contract in the buyer's favour. It is issued by a bank or an insurer, not by the developer, and you should receive an individual certificate in your own name for every amount paid. Keep it with the transfer receipt, check that the name on it is spelled as in your passport and that the amount matches the transfer to the cent: if the works are not completed, that certificate is what recovers the money. Here «not ready yet» has one meaning and admits no nuance: nothing protects your payment. Waiting until the guarantee exists before transferring is entirely reasonable, and a solid developer understands it without argument.
Who signs: the company, its code and its register
The commercial name of a scheme and the company that signs the contract do not always coincide, and it is the second one that becomes obliged to you. Ask for the full registered name and the tax identification, and verify them yourself: in Spain, an extract from the Registro Mercantil; if the company is registered in another European Union country, that country's commercial register plus the online validation of its VAT number in the European system. Look at the authority of the person who will sign, too — a sales agent rarely has power to bind the company, and asking for a copy of the power of attorney is ordinary practice between businesses. SAVO is designing a building in this municipality, and the group's European contracts are signed by UAB Savo investicija, company code 304499183, VAT number LT100011304015, registered office at Gerosios Vilties g. 27-131, Vilnius, Lithuania. Both numbers can be checked without asking us: the Lithuanian register of legal entities holds the company code, and the VAT number validates in the European system. It is the same verification this page recommends making with any developer.
Where SAVO's project in Villajoyosa stands today
Applying the list above to our own case, the answer is short. SAVO's project here is at design stage: there are 3D visualisations of the building beside the bay and a master plan drawing with the pool, the padel court, the rooftop terraces and the underground parking. Nothing is built, nothing is for sale, no price is published and no start of sales has been announced. Which means that today we could not hand you half the documents on this page, and we say so before you ask. In the meantime the list works just as well with any other developer in the comarca, which is what it is written for. And there is one check you can already make on us: the group has been on the market since 2006 and builds in Spain, Lithuania and the Kyiv region, and in Vilnius and the Kyiv region there are finished, inhabited buildings that can be visited. A developer is judged on what has been delivered, not on what has been drawn.
Villajoyosa, Costa Blanca, Spain
- Villajoyosa and la Vila Joiosa are the same town: the second is its name in Valencian, and both appear in official documents, so a buyer will meet either spelling. It belongs to the Marina Baixa comarca in the province of Alicante, and its centre lies about eight kilometres along the coast from Benidorm.
- The fishing port is still working and the lonja still auctions the day's catch, which is why the town's economy does not rest entirely on the summer season.
- Chocolate has been made here industrially since the nineteenth century: the Valor factory and its museum are in the town, and cocoa sits alongside fishing, retail and construction in the local economy.
- The painted houses along the old seafront are the image the town is known by; tradition holds that each fisherman painted his own so he could recognise it from the sea. The quarter is a protected ensemble, so façade, joinery, roof and colour are conditioned by the town hall — which changes the budget and the timetable of any renovation there.
- The Roman past is visible: the Torre de Sant Josep, a funerary monument, stands just outside the centre, and the municipal museum displays the finds from the Roman town the modern one sits on.
- The TRAM tram stops in the town: one direction leads to Benidorm, the other to Alicante. The N-332 runs through the municipality, the A-7 and AP-7 give access inland, and Alicante-Elche airport is around forty kilometres away.
- Hospital Marina Baixa, the public referral hospital for the whole comarca, is inside this municipality — a detail that weighs for anyone buying to live here all year rather than in August.
- For a buyer the practical difference from Benidorm is scale: the seafront is not vertical, the buildings are lower and new construction is far scarcer, so each individual scheme counts for more in the decision and comparable sales are harder to find.
Questions about new-build on the Costa Blanca
- 01
Can a home in SAVO's Villajoyosa project be reserved today?
No. The project is at design stage and what exists are 3D visualisations and the master plan drawing. There are no homes for sale, off plan or otherwise, no prices and no announced start of sales. When that changes it will be said on this page, with the terms in writing.
- 02
What do I do if a developer asks for money and the permit has not been granted?
You can decide to wait. If you decide to proceed, insist that the document state which account the money goes to, on what condition and within what period it comes back, and that the refund not depend on the permit arriving. Without a granted permit there is no basis for the purchase of a determined home.
- 03
Does the guarantee on sums paid on account also cover late delivery?
That is not its purpose. It covers repayment of what you handed over if construction is not started or not finished. The consequences of delay are governed by the contract: with no clause fixing them, the delay ends up paid for by the buyer, in time and in rent.
- 04
Can I ask for these documents in English?
You can ask the developer for translations and a good one will provide them, but the originals are Spanish and only the Spanish text is the document. For anything you sign, the usual answer is a sworn translation, and for the deed itself an official interpreter. Municipal papers come in Spanish or Valencian and are not translated for you.
Ask about Villajoyosa
Say what you want to know about this area: what is being built, what stage it is at, or which documents to ask for before reserving. The person who handles the Spanish market answers.