Smart Property and Smart Contracts Under Spanish Law in the European Context

Abstract

This article analyses the civil and registry implementation of smart property in real estate in Spain from a European perspective. To this end, a general theory is developed for smart property in real estate and transactional smart contracts, paying particular attention to remedies and property acquisition. Based on the remedies suggested by Nick Szabo in his formulation of smart contracts and smart property, such as the smart lien and the property club, other remedies adapted to our Law will be proposed, due to the ineffectiveness of Szabo’s remedies in the Spanish context. In this regard, attention will be paid to the types of acquisition of real rights, the validity and effectiveness of transactional smart contracts, the remedies for breach of contract, and the modifications to registration that these remedies require. Smart real estate requires the tokenization of property and the linking of the digital asset with the real asset. For this purpose, the functions of tokens and the remote control of real estate, the tokenization of real tradition, and the implementation of property technology (PropTech), in particular, the Internet of Things, will be addressed. Finally, blockchainization of the registry will be examined from the perspective of the Land Registry Interconnection and the Interoperability Model for Land Registers (IMOLA) platform in the EU and Alastria Blockchain Ecosystem in Spain, as well as its legal adaptations regarding registry qualification and registry effects in terms of adverse possession.