Renovations

correct anything inside ok everything outside needs town hall permission.  If your property has an AFO then you are not allowed to add any extra building size to it on build anything else like a garage on the site.

Thanks thats great.

When the time comes I can recommend... Almeria Builders, all work is done with legal papers obtained. 

Best of Luck... we moved over in July live 8 min drive from Albox Town and Love it here.

Thanks for that, I plan to do most things myself but expect roofing repairs will be beyond my level of skill so a good builder will be invaluable. 

If you buy a old cortijo that needs modernizing you need to be sure whether you need to apply for a major works or minor works permission.   For the former, you'd need an architect's plan which may cost around 2,000 euros on top of what you have to pay but the minor works permit is obviously  a lot cheaper.  If you need to re-roof it's classed as major works.  You need to give an estimate of what you plan to do and the cost (labour and materials).  

A word of warning, we had neighbours who renovated a large cortijo on a minor works permit and the Técnico from the town hall made a surprise visit to take a look.  He told them they had been way out with their estimate and they ended up having to get an architect to do a plan and paying the extra es well for a major works permit as they had re-tiled the roof and and also flat roofed an adjoining animal shed to make a granny annex.

One last thing to mention is to check that the property is not in a protected zone if it is in rustic land as this could affect your plans regarding what you may be allowed to do.  Good luck.