Pelayo De Salvador likes to delve deep into his profession. Training real-estate agencies; publishing guides and articles: the Mallorca native knows his subject inside out. A conversation with this highly experienced lawyer, who spent seven years working for Madrid law behemoth Garrigues, handling major, big-name deals before returning to Mallorca to start his own firm desalvador. in 2013, could be fraught with jargon and technical terms. Instead, he explains the complexities of Spanish law in a refreshingly simple way.
On the topic of potential legal pitfalls, he holds up a bottle of water. “When you buy some things – this water, for example – you know what you are buying,” he says. “But when you buy a property, you don’t just buy bricks; you buy the bricks and the rights and obligations that come with it. A bottle of water, you just drink it and that’s it. But the house, you have to live in.”
10 YEARS SPENT PROTECTING THE DREAM
Describing Spanish real-estate law as “not complicated, but tricky” Pelayo goes on to stress the importance of thorough, diligent checks. Preventing people from getting into nightmarish situations is something he does every day, and he does it with great poise. “One of the best parts of my job is that people have a dream,” he enthuses, “and we help them to avoid their dream becoming a nightmare. With knowledge and pause, you can in fact be quicker.”
When it comes to knowledge, the dynamic lawyer doesn’t just talk the talk. A regular contributor to industry magazines, he’s also penned books on his subject and keeps abreast of all that’s happening in the legal world. One of the most significant events in recent years has been the change in governing administration – and with it, a major change in the way the law is implemented. “The standards that were correct ten years ago are no longer valid. For instance, in the past it was really common to build illegal parts onto a house. There was no problem, even though the law said it was prohibited. There were no future legal consequences. Now, there are. Maybe there is leakage in the roof, and you cannot change the roof; it’s illegal. So, you really need to know what you are buying, to make a proper buying decision.”
Text by Anna Mason | Photos by Sara Savage
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