Co-ownership or condominium as a situation in which several people have shared ownership of a property is contemplated in our Civil Code with a capital regulation without prejudice to other specific regulations for figures that have acquired their own substantivity such as the Horizontal Property Law.

Normally the origin of this situation of shared ownership is usually derived from an inheritance, from a liquidation of a community of property or as a consequence of the will of the persons to acquire a property in a shared way.

In contrast to other more modern modalities, such as the shift use, or tourist apartmentsthat of community of property implies the shared ownership of the domain without distinction or division in such a way that one has an abstract title over the whole of the real estate property just like the others without there being a concrete materialized assignment of the same.

The Law regulates the rights and obligations of the various co-owners who, unless otherwise agreed or unless there is a specific regulation of use and enjoyment, have the same right to the use and enjoyment of the property, and this right may not be impaired between them.

Sometimes the co-owners regulate by agreement the individual use, or for specific periods of time, of each one of them, of this property but this is not usually normal because in many occasions the co-ownership is not voluntary but due to a given situation as in the case of an acceptance of an inheritance.

Normally, therefore, this situation of shared ownership in cases of condominium is usually of a transitory nature, although this does not eliminate the conflict that arises in these cases.

Think of the cases of dissolution of marriage and liquidation of marital property where, except in the case that there is an assignment in favour of one of the spouses of the use of the house, there is usually conflict when arranging between the ex-spouses the division of the common property.

It follows from what has been said that the most important question raised by co-ownership or condominium is that of the duration of maintenance in such a situation.

Our Civil Code establishes that no co-owner can be required to remain in such co-ownershipsituation. and hence allows the right of any of them to demand the division of the immovable property and the allocation to each of them of the part that corresponds to them, although this is not normally possible because the immovable property is a property that cannot be divided without prejudice to its nature.

In these cases of indivisibility of the property, the Law establishes that by mutual agreement the parties may agree to sell the property or, in the absence of an agreement, they may request the arbitration of a third party.

Similarly they can do so through the system of sale by voluntary auction, established in the Law of Voluntary Jurisdiction Law 15/2015 of 2 July.

Also and for the cases of disagreement it regulates a judicial procedure of division of common thing that will be carried out by means of the sale of the real estate either through a judicial procedure by means of public auction, or in a notarial way if the parts request it to the Court.

The judicial proceeding for the division of commonproperty is initiated with a lawsuit signed by a lawyer in which, after proving the condition of co-owner of a real estate property, the Court is requested to put an end to the situation of shared ownership.

The Court will notify the other parties and after the period of allegations if there is no agreement on the valuation of the real estate.

An expert is appointed to carry out the valuation of the property and all this as a previous step to the voluntary or forced sale of the real estate.