Court Ruling in Bendinat: Developer Ordered to Pay Over Three Million Euros

Court ruling in Bendinat: Developer ordered to pay over three million euros

What the case reveals about the downsides of hotel conversions in Mallorca

In the small town of Bendinat, where cypresses and golf-course views shape the landscape, a construction project has ended up in court: a Spanish regional court has obliged a developer to pay more than three million euros to the executing construction company. The core of the dispute is a contract signed in February 2020; after roughly five months the craftsmen stopped work — officially because invoices remained unpaid. The developer later responded by alleging construction defects, but did not present a technical expert report to support those claims. No further facts are available from the records presented. Similar disputes have gone to court elsewhere on the island, for example the Sa Torre trial over €200,000.

Key question: How can the island prevent unclear billing and work stoppages from ruining small firms and leaving residents with unfinished projects? This is not merely a legal technicality — it affects the local fabric: subcontractors, suppliers, tenants or buyers hoping for completion — all are left out in the rain when cash flows dry up more abruptly than the construction noise.

Critical analysis: Mallorca faces known pitfalls: construction contracts without strict securities, payments made based on progress without independent, binding inspections, and court proceedings that often take a long time, as in the major real estate fraud in Palma. The developer's claim of defects without providing a technical inspection weakens their position in court and suggests that financial disputes may have been more important than an objective assessment of the work. For the construction company involved, this apparently resulted in a protracted fight for compensation — culminating in the court ruling. A judgment helps financially, but the legal process consumes nerves and liquidity.

What is often missing from public debate are concrete indications of how payments for conversion projects can be secured. There is too little discussion of the role neutral certified inspectors should play, how escrow accounts or guarantees can be used, and how municipalities could respond more decisively to half-finished projects. The consequences for neighbors are also rarely visible: a site that stands idle changes the streetscape and daily life. Anyone jogging on the Paseo de Bendinat in the morning often sees only scaffolding, site containers and abandoned hydraulic equipment — this is everyday reality, not a theoretical problem.

Concrete solutions: First, standard contract templates for conversions (hotel to apartments) should require clear, standardized securities: escrow accounts or staged guarantees that tie payments to verified construction progress. Second, an independent, binding construction inspection report should be required before payments are released — no agreement on defects without neutral expertise. Third, municipalities should introduce mandatory reporting of site stoppages and set minimum deadlines for resumption or dismantling so residents and local businesses do not live with half-built structures for years. Fourth: mandatory mediation before escalation into costly court cases could save time and money; alongside other rulings that affect owners' rights, such as the ruling protecting property owners in Mallorca, clearer securities and processes would strengthen confidence.

Everyday scene: On a windy morning in Bendinat, an elderly woman sits on a bench near the construction fence, feeds seagulls and shakes her head at the abandoned crane. Nearby, two craftsmen discuss unpaid supplier invoices; their truck, its company logo covered, sits in the lot — ready but without work. Scenes like this repeat around the island — and they cost more than money: they erode trust in the construction sector.

Punchy conclusion: The court ruling is a partial victory for the construction company involved, but it is not a solution for the industry. With clearer securities, neutral expert reports and municipal capacity to act, many of today's disruptions could be avoided. Mallorca needs transparent rules for building — otherwise sites will only change the color of the problem instead of making it disappear.