Hi Chris Thanks for you really funny article. In Spain there isn't the same concept of a freehold. So, a block automatically sets up an Association (or the equivalent) to decide how the cleaing of common parts is managed and who is to blame for the dogs etc... I often get invited to these large and vociferous meetings - and it is the one time where my lack of Spanish is a god-send. I just look blank when invited and then explain in broken Spanish that 'I don't speak good'. Phew! That gets me out of it for another 6 months. The trouble is, my Spanish is getting better - and they know it! Cheers Neil .

I am sure we will all have some good stories to tell about Residents' Committees/Associations in future years. The first meeting that took place for our Cannes apartment ended in outright war between some of the French Residents, apparently the language was appalling, fortunately we (and other English Owners) couldn't understand it all and the Interpreters refused to translate it. Nothing got decided by the residents and many walked out, the meeting collapsed, but that was the advantage of the Developer appointing a Syndic at handover as they carried on dealing with all the maintenance issues until the Residents sorted themselves out several months later. They fired that Syndic of course, that's what the French do, but we have another Syndic now and everything ticks over the same. Our block has an Italian lady to represent us - you should see her fly, I can't understand a word but she commands attention and I just enjoy the wine she generously dishes out when lecturing us about what we should all be doing next!