Internal wall removal on the Costa del Sol, including load-bearing walls with your engineer

Partition or load-bearing: what kind of wall is it?

The first question in any internal wall removal is whether the wall carries load. A partition (tabique) only divides space and can be knocked down without changing how the building stands; a load-bearing wall (muro de carga) transfers the weight of slabs, roofs or upper floors to the foundations, and removing it without a replacement can crack the slab above or worse.

Clues help but do not decide. Thickness, the direction of the floor joists or beams, a wall that lines up with walls on the floors above and below, or a façade-to-corridor wall in the middle of the plan all point to structure. Plans held by the community or the original builder can confirm it. In the end, the judgement belongs to a técnico competente, and on a structural wall we ask to see that assessment before quoting. Our guide on how to tell whether a wall is load-bearing explains the signs in detail.

How is a partition wall knocked down?

Knocking down a partition is a short job when it is prepared properly. The internal wall removal process we follow is the same in almost every apartment:

1. Locate services. Sockets, switches, water pipes and sometimes gas or drainage run inside partitions. Circuits are isolated and pipes capped by the relevant installer before the first blow.
2. Protect. Floors that stay are covered, adjoining rooms are sealed with sheeting, and the flat door is closed off from the landing.
3. Cut the edges. Where the wall meets a ceiling, a floor or a wall that remains, the junction is cut first so that the demolition does not tear plaster or tiles beyond the line.
4. Take it down from the top. The wall is removed course by course with hammers, chisels and an electric breaker, never pushed over in one piece.
5. Clear and clean. Brick and plaster are bagged separately, the floor is swept and the opening is left ready for the builder to make good.

A typical partition in a coastal apartment is single-leaf brick with plaster on both faces. Some later buildings use plasterboard on metal studs, which comes out faster and produces gypsum waste that must be kept apart from ceramic rubble.

Load-bearing wall removal: what has to happen first

To remove a load-bearing wall safely, three things come before any demolition: a design, propping and agreement. The técnico defines the new beam or frame, how it rests on the remaining structure and the order of operations; temporary props take the load while the wall is opened; and the people who share the structure are informed.

We carry out the demolition stage of structural wall removal: we work to the técnico's sequence, open the wall in the stages it specifies, and coordinate dates with whoever installs the new structural element so the props are never removed before the beam takes the load. If what we find on opening the wall differs from what the design expected – a hidden pillar, a steel lintel, a different slab – work stops and the técnico is called before anything else is done.

Do you need a permit to remove a wall in Spain?

It depends on whether the work affects structure, the building's distribution and protection status, and on the municipal ordinance. In Andalusia partial demolition of buildings is done by declaración responsable since 2024, unless the building is protected or in a protected setting, where a licencia urbanística is required; each town hall details the documents it wants. In Málaga city a works declaración responsable comes with a project or technical report signed by a técnico competente, a technical certificate and photographs.

For structural openings the técnico's documentation is needed anyway, so the question of the permit is usually answered by the same person. We do not file the paperwork, but we tell you what the town hall typically asks for and fit our dates around it. The guide do you need a permit to remove an internal wall in Spain? covers the cases one by one.

Walls in apartment blocks and the community of owners

In a building under propiedad horizontal, the Ley 49/1960 requires the community to be informed before walls, structure or façade elements are demolished, and works affecting common elements need the agreement of the owners' meeting. A partition between your own kitchen and living room is not the same as the structure that holds up the neighbour's floor; your administrator will know how your community treats each case.

In practice we ask for the administrator's contact, agree the dates and hours of noisy work, and protect the lift and stairwell before any rubble leaves the flat. If you need help explaining the work to the community, the guide on strip-outs in a community of owners sets out what to send.

Knocking through: kitchen-diners and open plans

The most common reason to knock down a wall on the coast is to join a closed kitchen to the living room. A knock-through usually involves more than one wall: the dividing wall itself, part of a corridor, sometimes a door frame or a built-in cupboard. It also exposes the kitchen's services, which is why many owners combine it with a kitchen strip-out so that the room is emptied once rather than twice.

Before deciding, check where the extractor duct, the gas supply and the drainage run, because they decide where the new kitchen can go. When the knock-through is part of a complete renovation, the page on full interior strip-out explains how the whole apartment is emptied in one sequence.

What affects the cost of removing a wall?

The cost of wall removal depends on the wall more than on its length. The main factors are its construction (plasterboard, single brick, double brick, stone or concrete), its height, the services inside it, whether it is structural and needs propping and coordination, how far the rubble has to be carried and whether there is a lift. We do not publish prices; the network's interior demolition cost page explains how these factors are weighed, and we send a written quote after seeing photos or visiting.

What to send us

• A photo of each face of the wall and of the ceiling and floor where it meets them.
• A sketch or plan showing the wall in the flat, and any plans the community holds.
• The técnico's assessment or design if the wall may be structural.
• The municipality, floor and whether there is a lift.
• Your preferred dates and the contact of the administrator or whoever has the keys.

You can send everything by e-mail to oficina@demolicioninteriormalaga.eu or by WhatsApp, in English.