A COMMON method for drying clothes could lead to hefty fees in several Spanish cities due to ordinance changes.
Late dinners, tapas and laundry dangling from balconies are all part of daily life in Spain.
But in Lorca, hanging your clothes outside could cost you up to €1,500.
Modifications to update its 2010 ordinance were agreed upon by the City Council, with votes from the PP and Vox parties to protect buildings and stop what they consider ‘antisocial behaviour.’
Fines for an infraction will range between €151 and €1,500 euros, depending on whether the violation is considered minor or serious.
The City Council is specific in its prohibition of ‘acts or behaviours that negatively affect’ buildings and their environment that ‘cause degradation.’
Fulgencio Gil, Lorca’s mayor, emphasised the importance of the issue by claiming to bring order and awareness, while improving coexistence among residents.
‘The conditions of facades, balconies, and elements visible from the street contribute to the general perception of Lorca, so this ordinance aims to promote exemplary behaviour,’ Gil said.
The mayor has also asserted that the move has been backed by social groups and citizens associations.
Lorca isn’t the only Spanish city to crack down on laundry habits.
Faro de Vigo has its own local restrictions against laundry on balconies that are visible from the street, shaking out clothes, emptying mop buckets or hanging decorations that could be dangerous to pedestrians.
Fines for any of these violations could lead to fines up to €750.
Lleida, Tarragona and Girona also include specific details regarding balcony washing in their municipal ordinances.
In 2025, it was said that Barcelona would create new measures to fine people up to €750 for laundry hung outside of windows, claiming it would help preserve building aesthetics.
However, this was apparently already outlined in an ordinance set back in 1999, a rule that did not specifically include terraces.
While Barcelona’s Ordinance on the Use of Public Roads and Spaces (OUVP) states that minor infractions face up to €750, they start around €30 and only go up in ‘highly exceptional cases.’
Madrid also addresses the issue in their Urban Planning Regulations, which explains that clotheslines must have ‘a protective system that makes it difficult to see clothes from the street’ and not ‘integrated into balconies.’
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