community expenses such as garbage collection that may or may not be included in the monthly rent

The community of property owners of a residencial housing estate. This board elects a representative (president) who speaks for the community in all outside matters, and is responsible for the upholding of the estate. He therefore has the right to assign orders to craftsmen when necessary. His work and decisions are often not controlled very closely and since "little favours" are a matter of course in Spain when giving away orders, long time presidents of housing estates drive amazing large cars. Comunidad also means monthly charge for upholding. The amount is set by the board and is usually somewhere between 50€ to 250€ per month. There are housing estates without Comunidad but these in general seem very messy because nobody is responsible and things don´t get done by themselves.

Community of Owners in complex or block of apartments. President, Treasurer and Secretary are appointed by the owners to administer the communal areas conduct expenditure from the service charge etc.