Torreguadiaro · New build & off-plan
In Torreguadiaro, new build usually means a reform
Torreguadiaro is boxed in: a protected estuary at the southern end, the A-7 along the back, the sea in front, and a village only two streets deep. So a home offered here as new is far more often a licensed reform of an existing beach block than a phase of anything. That changes which protections apply.
- Municipality
- San Roque
- Province
- Cádiz
- Part of
- Sotogrande
Start with the envelope, because in this village it does most of the deciding. The southern end runs into the Paraje Natural Estuario del Río Guadiaro, thirty-five protected hectares in San Roque. The A-7 runs along the back with its exits at 134 and 137. The sea takes the front, and everything between the paseo and the road sits close enough to the shore that the coastal law's servitudes are a live question rather than a formality: Ley 22/1988 sets a protection servitude of one hundred metres inland from the inner edge of the shore and a transit servitude of six metres. In a strip two streets deep, that is not background. It is the first drawing a lawyer should look at.
The second thing to establish is who is selling. Paula's read of this village is that most homes presented as new are refurbishments — a 1980s or 1990s flat stripped back, re-plumbed, its terrace glazed and its interior remade — rather than units from a promoter's programme, with some infill on the inland side of the road. That distinction is not pedantic. A promoter selling before completion owes you a specific set of protections over money paid ahead. A private owner selling a finished refurbishment owes you none of them, and the file you need is a works licence, a set of comunidad minutes and a habitation certificate instead.
What is being built in the village, and what cannot be
This market renews itself rather than expanding. The village filled in gradually across the twentieth century and now runs from the sand to the A-7 in about two streets. Newer infill has gone up on the inland side of the road; the seaward side renews itself flat by flat, as owners strip 1980s and 1990s apartments back to the slab, replace services and glaze terraces. Paula's read is that a buyer told they are looking at new build should establish which of those two they are being shown.
What cannot happen is easier to state, and it is checkable. The Paraje Natural Estuario del Río Guadiaro protects the southern end. The A-7 is the northern and inland limit of the built strip. And along the front, Ley 22/1988 imposes servitudes measured from the inner edge of the shore — one hundred metres of protection servitude, six metres of transit — which govern what can be done close to the water regardless of who owns the title.
The practical consequence is that the paperwork looks different from an off-plan purchase further up the coast. Instead of a masterplan, a payment schedule and an aval, the file here is usually a works licence from San Roque, minutes recording the community's agreement to anything touching the façade or the terrace, a deslinde plan, and a final works certificate. Where a promoter genuinely is selling ahead of completion, the Ley 20/2015 regime applies in full and should be produced in your name — position as at 27 August 2026.
| Motorway access to the village | Torreguadiaro is reached from the A-7 by exits 134 and 137; arriving from Málaga on the AP-7, by exit 133 and then the slip road signed Torreguadiaro. 2026-08-27 |
|---|---|
| The coastal protection servitude | Article 23.1 of Ley 22/1988 de Costas sets a servidumbre de protección of 100 metres inland from the inner edge of the shore, extendable — position as at 27 August 2026 2026-08-27 |
| The transit servitude along the shore | Article 27.1 of the same law sets a servidumbre de tránsito of 6 metres measured inland from the inner edge of the shore — position as at 27 August 2026 2026-08-27 |
| The town hall that licenses the works | Ayuntamiento de San Roque, Plaza de las Constituciones s/n, San Roque, Cádiz — the licensing authority for this barriada, which has no planning agency of its own 2026-08-27 |
| Protection of money paid ahead | Ley 20/2015 continues the regime under which sums advanced on a home under construction are covered by insurance or a bank guarantee and received into a special account — position as at 27 August 2026 2026-08-27 |
| The estuary closing the southern end | Paraje Natural Estuario del Río Guadiaro, San Roque — thirty-five protected hectares, a Zona de Especial Conservación within Natura 2000 since 2013 2026-08-27 |
How this runs, step by step
-
Step 1
Establish what is genuinely new
Specific to San Roque
Ask one question before any other: is this a promoter selling an unfinished home, a promoter selling a finished one, or an owner selling a refurbishment? The answer decides everything downstream — which guarantees exist, which licences you are checking, and whose insurance covers a defect. In this village the third answer is the common one, and it is not a worse purchase, only a different file.
-
Step 2
Read the coastal servitudes first
Specific to San Roque
In a village this shallow, the coastal boundary reaches further inland than buyers assume. Ley 22/1988 sets a protection servitude of one hundred metres from the inner edge of the shore, extendable, and a transit servitude of six metres. Have the lawyer obtain the current deslinde plan for the specific block and read the property against it before any works are contracted, not after a builder has quoted.
↗ -
Step 3
Take the licence through San Roque
Specific to San Roque
This village is a barriada of San Roque rather than a municipality of its own, so the works licence and any change of use are decided at the Ayuntamiento de San Roque, Plaza de las Constituciones s/n, and not locally. Build the municipal timetable into the programme. A refurbishment started on the assumption that a licence is a formality is the commonest way a village project overruns its first summer.
↗ -
Step 4
Test whether the guarantee applies
Ley 20/2015 protects sums advanced on a home under construction: insurance or a bank guarantee, and receipt through a credit institution into an account used only for the works — position as at 27 August 2026. That regime is owed by a promoter. Where the seller is a private owner disposing of a completed refurbishment, it does not arise at all, and the deposit protection you actually have is whatever the private contract says.
↗ -
Step 5
Get the community's agreement in writing
Specific to San Roque
Most work here touches something communal, because a front-line flat's terrace, its balustrade and the façade behind it belong to the building rather than to you. Glazing a terrace, altering an opening or moving a drain needs the comunidad's agreement, minuted, before the licence application and not after the builder is on site. A retrospective consent is not always granted, and undoing glazing is expensive.
-
Step 6
Finish the paperwork before the keys
On a genuine new build, do not complete or pay a balance before the licencia de primera ocupación is in the file; it is the document that ties what was built to what was consented and releases the utilities. On a refurbishment, the equivalent discipline is the certificate for the completed works, the updated Catastro description and, where the layout changed, an updated escritura. Then diary the guarantees.
The tax treatment follows what you are actually buying, which is why the seller's status matters before the price does. A first transfer from a promoter carries IVA plus AJD; a resale, including a refurbished flat sold by its owner, attracts Andalucía's transfer tax instead. Paula's lawyer confirms the current rates in writing rather than a page quoting them. Beyond that, budget the works themselves as a separate line: a licence application to San Roque, a technical project where the layout changes, and a contingency for a coastal or community condition that arrives late. In this village the surprise is rarely the price. It is the programme.
GUIDE An indication of where this area sits, not a valuation of any particular home. Ask Paula for a figure you can act on.
Questions about this in Torreguadiaro
-
What does new build actually mean in this village?
-
In practice, two quite different things. On the inland side of the road, infill schemes have gone up on the small pockets of ground that remained. On the seaward side, what is presented as new is usually a deep refurbishment: a 1980s or 1990s apartment taken back to the structure, re-serviced, with the terrace glazed and the interior remade. Ask which one you are looking at, then ask for the licence file that goes with it. The word new does a lot of work in a village this size, and it is not a legal term.
-
Which permissions does a front-line refurbishment need?
-
More than one, and they come in an order. The community agrees first, in a minuted resolution, because a front-line terrace, its balustrade and the façade behind it are elements of the building rather than of your flat. San Roque then issues the works licence from Plaza de las Constituciones, with a technical project where the layout or the openings change. And close to the water the coastal servitudes under Ley 22/1988 govern what is possible at all, so the deslinde plan is checked before a builder is instructed rather than after.
↗ -
Does the deposit guarantee cover a village reform?
-
Only where a promoter is selling a home that is not yet finished. Ley 20/2015 requires sums advanced on a dwelling under construction to be covered by insurance or a bank guarantee and paid through a credit institution into an account used only for the works — position as at 27 August 2026. A private owner selling a completed refurbishment is not a promoter, and none of that applies. What protects you there is the private contract, the arras terms, a proper survey and a lawyer who has read the licence file before any money moves.
↗
— NEXT STEP
Thinking about Torreguadiaro? Ask Paula what is really moving there.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It usually saves a wasted trip.