Glossary
Glossary: the words of student accommodation and of maintaining business premises in Spain, explained
The words used to name student accommodation and the upkeep of business premises in Spain, each with its definition, its synonyms and its source. For anyone arriving new to a centre, an operator, an investment or a maintenance team, and for anyone who wants to call things by their name.
Student accommodation
- Colegio mayorA colegio mayor is a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme, integrated into a university: it houses university students and runs cultural and scientific activities for their all-round education. The LOSU defines it as a university institution that only non-profit entities may run or promote.
- Colegio mayor adscritoA colegio mayor adscrito is an affiliated colegio mayor: promoted by a public or private non-profit entity other than the university and linked to it by affiliation, through an agreement. The other kind is the university's own, founded directly by it. Both are colegios mayores with all that this entails.
- Residencia universitaria (university residence)A residencia universitaria is a Spanish university residence: a centre that provides accommodation and services to university students —room, meals, cleaning— without being a university institution. It may belong to the university, be affiliated to it or be private and independent, and any owner may run it.
- Student residenceStudent residence is the generic name for any building that houses students for the academic year with services included: a colegio mayor, a university residence or a private building run by an operator. In Spain it is a label of use and of marketing, not a legal figure of its own.
- PBSAPBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) is a student residence built or refurbished for that use and run by a private operator, with rooms or studios, shared areas and services. The term comes from the British market, and in Spain it is used mainly by investors and operators.
- ColivingA coliving is a building of private rooms or studios with a shared kitchen, lounge and work areas, run by an operator with services included and a community life. It is aimed mainly at young professionals and stays of several months. In Spain it has no national law of its own.
- Flex livingFlex living is furnished, serviced accommodation that an operator lets for stays of variable length, from weeks to months, in complete flats or in rooms with shared areas. It sits between coliving, the traditional residential let and the serviced apartment.
- Build to rentBuild to rent (BTR) is the development of residential buildings designed from the outset to be let rather than sold flat by flat: an institutional owner keeps them and a professional operator runs them. In Spain it is also called promoción para alquiler or residencial en alquiler.
- Nomination agreementA nomination agreement is the contract under which a university reserves a block of rooms in a private operator's residence for one or more academic years and nominates the students who fill them. Depending on how it is drafted, the risk of the rooms left empty falls on the university.
- ColegialA colegial is a university student or graduate who belongs to a colegio mayor, a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme. Decree 2780/1973 sets out three kinds: senior colegiales, with at least a year there, who have earned it; residents; and affiliated colegiales, who take part without living in.
- Reglamento de régimen interno (house rules)The reglamento de régimen interno is the house rules of a colegio mayor or a residence: who governs it, how one gets in, each resident's rights and duties, its timetables and services, and how breaches are dealt with. If the centre depends on a university, it must fit that university's community-life rules.
- Normas de convivencia (community-life rules)Normas de convivencia are the community-life rules every Spanish university, public or private, must approve under Ley 3/2022: they bind the university community and include measures against violence, discrimination and harassment. They reach a colegio mayor or an affiliated residence through its university.
- PBSA operatorA PBSA operator is the company that runs a private student residence day to day: it markets the beds, signs up the residents, manages reception, maintenance and cleaning and organises life in the building. It answers for the building's results to its owner, which is often a different company.
- Asset managerThe asset manager runs a building or a property portfolio on the investor's behalf: it sets the business plan, approves budgets and capital spending, oversees the operator and proposes when to refurbish, refinance or sell. It looks at the residence as an investment, not as a home.
- Property managerA property manager is the person or firm that runs a building day to day on its owner's behalf: collecting rents, hiring and overseeing maintenance and suppliers, looking after whoever lives there and reporting back every month. In a student residence, that role usually falls to the operator.
- YieldThe yield of a property is the ratio between the annual rent it produces and what it is worth. It is used to compare buildings with each other and with other investments, and to value a purchase: the safer the income looks, the lower the yield a buyer will accept.
- Forward fundingForward funding is a way of financing a development in which the investor who will keep the building pays for the construction as it progresses, instead of buying it finished. The developer builds without looking for a loan, and the investor takes on part of the construction risk in exchange for coming in early.
- Forward purchaseA forward purchase is the purchase of a building under construction, agreed before or during the works and paid almost entirely on completion. The developer funds the construction itself, and the investor secures the asset without taking on the construction risk.
- Occupancy rateThe occupancy rate is the share of a residence's beds that are occupied or committed at a given moment or over a period. It is the first figure anyone looks at in a student building, because income depends on it, and so does almost everything calculated afterwards.
- Bed (PBSA)In student accommodation, the bed is the unit a building is measured in: "a 400-bed residence" means it houses 400 residents, whether in singles, doubles, studios or shared flats. Supply, occupancy, income and costs are all counted in beds.
- RebookingRebooking is a resident renewing their place for the next academic year, usually in a campaign that opens months before the current year ends. It is the part of occupancy that does not have to be found from outside, and the clearest sign of whether the people living in the building want to stay.
- Academic yearThe academic year is the period of classes and exams in a university year. In Spain it generally runs from September to June, with two semesters and exams in January or February and in June, and it is the unit in which places in a student residence are usually contracted.
- Summer stayA summer stay is the use of a student residence's beds in the months when the academic year leaves them free: summer schools, language groups, conferences, sports teams or short stays. It keeps the building from standing empty all summer, but it changes completely how the building runs.
- Studio and cluster flatThese are the two most common types of place in a private student residence. A studio is a self-contained unit with its own bed, bathroom and kitchen; a cluster flat is a shared flat with several private bedrooms, almost always en-suite, around a shared kitchen and living room.
- En-suite roomAn en-suite room is one with its own bathroom, reached only from the bedroom, instead of sharing the one on the corridor or in the flat. In a student residence it is the most visible difference between types of place, and one of the first things anyone choosing a room looks at.
- Common areasA residence's common areas are the spaces all residents share outside their own room: reception, study rooms, shared kitchens and lounges, the laundry, the gym, terraces and corridors. They are part of what is on offer, and also what suffers the most wear and needs the most rules.
- Full boardFull board is the arrangement in which the residence provides, on top of the room, all three meals of the day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is the norm in colegios mayores (Spanish halls of residence) and in many Spanish university residences, and it means knowing every day how many people will eat.
- Security depositA security deposit (fianza) is the cash sum a tenant hands over when signing a lease in Spain to guarantee they will meet the contract. The Urban Leases Act makes it compulsory: one month's rent for a residential lease and two months' rent for a lease for other use (art. 36.1).
- Place reservationA place reservation is the step by which someone admitted to a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) or a residence confirms they will take up their place the following year, often by signing the terms and paying an advance. Until then, the place can go to someone else.
- Waiting listA waiting list is the ordered list of people who applied for a place in a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) or a residence and did not get one because it is full. When a place frees up, it goes to the next person under the residence's criteria.
- AdmissionsAdmissions is the process by which a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) or a residence decides who gets a place for a year: call for applications, application, selection under its criteria and notice of the result. In a colegio mayor, the entry rules must be in its house rules.
- Resident assistantA resident assistant, or floor tutor, is often a senior student or a graduate who lives on a floor of a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) or a residence and is its residents' first point of contact: welcomes newcomers, looks after community life and refers the rest on.
- Consejo ColegialThe Consejo Colegial is the body through which residents take part in the life of a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme). Under Decree 2780/1973 it is made up of senior colegiales (art. 14.1); each college's house rules set its make-up and functions.
- Director of a colegio mayorThe director of a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) is the rector's delegated authority in the college and answers for how it runs (Decree 2780/1973, art. 9). The rector appoints them, and their duties include admitting and disciplining residents.
- International studentAn international student is someone who takes all or part of their education in a country other than their own. In a Spanish residence that covers both someone here for a whole degree and someone on an exchange semester, and with them come a different language, paperwork and calendar.
- ErasmusErasmus is the European Union programme that promotes and funds academic mobility: it lets university students spend between three and twelve months studying in another European country. It began in 1987, is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam and since 2014 has been called Erasmus+.
- Public university residenceA public university residence is one owned by a public university, or by another public authority, that houses university students. Those a university founds itself must give access through a public, objective and transparent procedure, and that university's Statutes set how they are governed.
- Facilities land useFacilities land use (uso dotacional) is the use that Spanish town planning reserves for public facilities and services: schools, health centres, cultural, sports or service buildings. Whether a colegio mayor or a student residence fits on that land, or on residential land, is decided by each municipality's plan.
- Habitability certificateA habitability certificate (cédula de habitabilidad) is the document certifying that a home meets the minimum conditions to be lived in under the habitability rules of its Spanish autonomous community. In Catalonia, for example, it is needed to occupy, sell or let the home and to sign up for utilities.
Running the centre
- Maintenance ticketA maintenance ticket is the record of a fault in a residence's facilities (a dripping shower, a broken blind) with what is wrong, where, who reported it and when. It is used to assign the job to whoever fixes it, track the deadline and keep a record of how it was closed.
- SLAAn SLA (service level agreement) is a written commitment to the time and quality with which a service is delivered. In a student residence it usually sets how many hours a maintenance ticket has to be picked up or resolved by type, and it is what decides what counts as overdue.
- Org chart and shiftA residence's org chart is the map of roles (management, reception, maintenance, kitchen, housekeeping) and of who holds each one; the shift says who is on duty in each time slot. Together they answer the question that matters when a message comes in: whose job is it right now.
- Room rackA room rack is the grid that crosses rooms or people with the days of the month and shows who occupies each bed each night. In student accommodation it usually lives in a reception spreadsheet, and arrivals, departures and nights away are all read from it.
- Check-inCheck-in is the recording of a person's arrival at their accommodation: who they are, which room they take and from when are confirmed, and they are handed the key. In a student residence it is concentrated in a few days in September and comes back, on a small scale, with every return.
- Absence logThe absence log is the record of the nights each resident spends away from the residence: when they leave, when they come back and, in many halls, what they eat on the day they leave and the day they return. Porters use it to know who is missing, and the kitchen to avoid counting people who are not there.
- Packed lunchA packed lunch, in a residence dining hall, is the lunch or dinner the kitchen prepares to take away instead of serving it at the table, for residents who have class, a placement or an exam at that time. It is ordered in advance and replaces that meal's serving.
- Dining-hall cancellationA dining-hall cancellation is the notice that someone will not have lunch or dinner at a particular sitting. It is given before the cut-off time the residence sets, so the kitchen prepares the right number of servings instead of throwing away the ones nobody collects.
- Headcount forecastA headcount forecast is the estimate of how many people will eat at each sitting, built from who lives in the residence, who has said they will not come and how each day of the week usually behaves. It is the number the kitchen uses to decide how much to prepare.
- AllergensAllergens are the substances that cause allergies or intolerances and that EU law requires to be declared: fourteen of them, from gluten to molluscs. A residence dining hall must be able to say which ones each dish contains, even when the food is served unpackaged.
- ParcelsParcel handling in a residence is receiving and holding the deliveries that arrive for residents (parcels, letters, courier items, food deliveries) until each person collects them. It means recording what has arrived, telling the person it is for and keeping a record of the handover.
- Common-room bookingCommon-room booking is the system residents use to reserve a study room, the laundry, the gym or a court in time slots. It sets the opening hours, the capacity, how far ahead a slot can be booked and how many times a week, so the space is shared without arguments.
- Preventive maintenancePreventive maintenance is the work done before something breaks: inspections, servicing and certificates with a due date (lifts, air conditioning, gas or electrical installations) that a residence has to complete so its equipment keeps working and stays compliant.
- CMMSA CMMS (computerised maintenance management system) is the software a maintenance team uses to keep the asset register, work orders, the preventive plan, spare parts and costs. In Spanish it is known as GMAO.
- 24-hour receptionA 24-hour reception is a residence service that has someone looking after the entrance and the phone at any hour, including nights and public holidays. In a student residence it is where forgotten keys, parcels, night-time faults and emergencies all end up.
- Porters' lodgeThe porters' lodge is the post by the entrance of a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence) or a student residence where the porter checks who comes in, takes in parcels and post, hands out keys and is the first contact for residents, families and contractors. It often knows who is inside.
- Night shiftThe night shift is the stretch of time when a residence is covered by fewer people, usually from ten at night until the next morning. In a student residence it covers the door, emergencies and whatever cannot wait, and in Spain work in that period has its own rules under the Workers' Statute.
- On-call dutyOn-call duty is the period when a member of staff, not necessarily in the building, must be able to deal with anything urgent: answer the phone, make a decision or come in. In a student residence it usually rotates between management, maintenance or tutors, especially at night and at weekends.
- Escalation matrixAn escalation matrix is the table that says, for each type of report and each level of urgency, who gets it first, how long they have to pick it up and who it goes up to if they do not. It turns "let someone know" into a rule that holds the same at ten in the morning as at three at night.
- Check-outCheck-out is a person's final departure from their accommodation: the room is inspected, keys or cards are collected, its condition is recorded and anything outstanding is settled. In a student residence it is concentrated in June, and how much of the deposit comes back depends on it.
- Room inventoryA room inventory is the list, signed on arrival, of what is in a room and what condition it is in: furniture, mattress, blinds, walls, sockets, with photos if possible. It is the reference the room is compared against at move-out, and what separates normal wear and tear from damage.
- Access controlAccess control is the system that decides who can enter a building or an area and records when they did: keys, cards, codes, readers or staff on the door. In a student residence it separates residents from visitors and protects areas such as kitchens, plant rooms or residents-only floors.
- Keys and key cardsA residence's keys and key cards are the physical means by which each person opens their room, the front door and the areas they are allowed into. Managing them means handing them out, recording who has which, lending the master key, cancelling lost ones and collecting them at move-out.
- Visitor policyA visitor policy is the set of rules in a hall of residence or student residence about who may come in without living there: at what times, to which areas, whether they must sign in, who answers for the visitor and whether anyone may stay overnight. It is usually part of the rules of conduct.
- Quiet hoursQuiet hours are the period, almost always at night, during which a residence's rules ask people not to make noise in rooms, corridors and common areas so others can sleep and study. Each hall of residence or student residence sets them in its own rules, and they are sometimes extended at exam time.
- Room cleaningRoom cleaning is the service in which residence staff clean each room at a set frequency, from daily to weekly depending on the residence. It covers the bathroom, floors and bins and sometimes changing the bed linen, and it is organised by floor and by shift.
- LaundryA residence laundry is the room with washing machines and dryers that residents use, self-service or staffed, or the service that washes the building's bed linen and towels. It is one of the common areas with the most friction, because there are few machines for many people at the same times.
- Bed linenBed linen is everything that goes on the mattress: sheets, pillowcases, duvet cover or bedspread, blankets and mattress protector. A residence has to decide whether it provides it or the resident does, how often it is changed and who washes it, and it is one of the first questions from anyone about to move in.
- Special dietA special diet is the adapted menu a canteen serves to someone who cannot or does not want to eat the standard one: because of an allergy or intolerance, coeliac disease, religious reasons, being vegetarian or vegan or medical advice. In a residence it needs a record for each person and a kitchen that keeps it in view.
- Allergen tracesAllergen traces are small amounts of an allergen that can end up in food without being part of the recipe, through a shared kitchen, utensils or fryer. Under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 a "may contain traces" statement is voluntary and does not replace the mandatory allergen information.
- HACCPHACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) is the method a kitchen uses to identify what could make food unsafe, decide where to control it and keep a record showing that it does. In the EU, Regulation 852/2004 requires it of every food business beyond primary production.
- Food handlerA food handler is anyone whose job involves touching food while preparing, serving, storing or delivering it. In a residence dining hall that means the kitchen and serving staff, and whoever runs the kitchen has to make sure they are trained in food hygiene.
- Self-protection planA self-protection plan is the document in which the holder of a centre sets out how to prevent and control risks to people and property and how to respond to an emergency, in coordination with civil protection. It is drafted and signed by a qualified technician and countersigned by the holder.
- Evacuation drillAn evacuation drill is a rehearsal in which the emergency plan is set in motion as if the risk were real: the alarm sounds, people leave by the planned routes, a headcount is taken at the assembly point, and afterwards what went wrong and what needs fixing is assessed.
- LegionellaLegionella is a waterborne bacterium that multiplies between 20 and 50 °C and causes Legionnaires' disease when people breathe in droplets of contaminated water. In a residence the risk lies mainly in the hot water system and the showers, and controlling it is the duty of whoever holds the installation.
- RIPCIThe RIPCI is Spain's Regulation on fire protection installations (Royal Decree 513/2017). It sets how extinguishers, fire hose reels, detection and alarm systems and the rest of active fire protection are designed, installed, maintained and inspected, and who may carry out each check.
- First response timeFirst response time is how long it takes from someone reporting an incident until a member of staff replies or picks it up. It does not measure whether it was fixed, but how long the person who reported it waited to know someone had it. It is given as a median or average over a period.
- Resolution timeResolution time is how long it takes from a fault being reported until it is fixed and the ticket is closed. It is the figure felt by whoever is living with the broken shower, and the one compared with the agreed deadline to decide which tickets are overdue.
- Reopened ticketA reopened ticket is a maintenance ticket that was marked as resolved and is opened again because the problem persists or comes back straight away. It is the clearest sign of a false closure, and the share of reopened tickets among closed ones measures the quality of repairs, not their speed.
- CSATCSAT (customer satisfaction score) is the satisfaction measure asked for right after a specific service, with a short question and a scale of a few options. It is given as the share of all responses that reach the level set as "satisfied".
- NPSNPS (Net Promoter Score) is a loyalty index based on a single question: from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend the service to a friend or relative? It subtracts the proportion of detractors from that of promoters and runs from -100 to 100.
- Satisfaction surveyA satisfaction survey is the questionnaire a residence uses to ask residents or families how they rate a service, an activity or the residence as a whole. It can have one question or several, and it is only as good as its design, when it is sent and how many people answer it.
- AnnouncementAn announcement is the official notice a residence's management sends at once to all residents or to a group: a water cut, a change of hours, a new rule. What sets it apart from a message in a group chat is that it goes one way only and to a chosen audience.
- Study roomA study room is the shared space in a residence meant for quiet study outside the bedroom, with desks and its own opening hours, which are sometimes extended at exam time. When demand outstrips the seats, it moves to booking by time slot.
WhatsApp and artificial intelligence
- WhatsApp Business PlatformThe WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta's platform for organisations to handle WhatsApp at scale from their own software, through the Cloud API, instead of by hand from the WhatsApp Business app on a phone. It comes with its own system of approved templates and sending rules.
- 24-hour windowThe 24-hour window, or customer service window, is the period that opens every time someone messages a WhatsApp Business Platform number: for 24 hours from their last message you can reply freely; once it closes, you can only write to them with an approved template.
- Message templateA WhatsApp message template is a message with a fixed format and variable placeholders (a name, a time) that is registered and reviewed by Meta before use. It is the only thing that can be sent outside the 24-hour window, and each one belongs to a category: utility, marketing or authentication.
- Tech ProviderA Tech Provider, in Meta's terminology, is a software provider that builds the WhatsApp Business Platform into its product and onboards its clients so they can use WhatsApp through it. It has to verify its business with Meta and pass Meta's review of its app.
- AI assistantAn AI assistant is a program that holds a conversation in natural language and, with a language model behind it, understands what it is told even without keywords. In a residence it handles the messaging channel: it answers what is in the house rules, takes requests and passes the rest to a person.
- AI transparencyAI transparency is the requirement that people know they are talking to an artificial intelligence system. Article 50 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 places it on the provider, who must design the system to tell them, unless it is obvious, from 2 August 2026.
- Handoff to a humanA handoff to a human is passing a conversation from the AI assistant to a member of staff, because the person asks for it or because the matter needs a decision. Done well, it reaches a specific phone with the context and, if nobody answers, moves up to the person in charge.
- WABA (WhatsApp Business Account)A WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) is the account in which Meta grouped a business's phone numbers, templates, billing and webhooks on the WhatsApp Business Platform. Since 23 September 2026 Meta has been splitting it in two: a WhatsApp account and a Messaging account.
- WhatsApp Cloud APIThe Cloud API is the WhatsApp Business Platform API that software uses to send and receive WhatsApp messages. Meta hosts it in the cloud: outgoing messages go through the Graph API and incoming ones arrive by webhook. It replaced the On-Premises API, which Meta retired on 23 October 2025.
- BSP (Business Solution Provider)BSP (Business Solution Provider) is the acronym the industry still uses for a company that gives other businesses access to the WhatsApp Business Platform and provides the service to them. Meta's current documentation no longer uses it: it talks about Solution Partners and Tech Providers.
- Verified business accountA verified business account, at Meta, is a business portfolio that has passed business verification: Meta has checked the business's name, address and contact details. On WhatsApp it lets the business write to more people while the window is closed, and it is required to apply for the blue tick.
- Phone number quality ratingThe quality rating is the score Meta gives each WhatsApp Business Platform phone number, and each template, based on how people receive its messages: blocks, reports, and chats muted or archived over the last seven days. It affects the messaging limit and whether a template stays active.
- Messaging limitThe messaging limit is the maximum number of different people a business can write to through the WhatsApp Business Platform while the 24-hour window is closed, within a moving 24-hour period. Meta sets it for the whole business portfolio: it starts at 250 and rises in steps.
- WhatsApp opt-inOpt-in is the permission a person gives a business to write to them on WhatsApp. Meta requires it before sending them templates: the business's name must be clear, as must the fact that the person agrees to receive its messages. It can be collected by SMS, on a website, by phone, in person or on paper.
- Template categoryThe template category is the class Meta assigns each WhatsApp message template to: marketing, utility or authentication. It decides what content the template may carry and what Meta charges for each message sent. Whoever creates the template proposes it, Meta validates it on approval and can change it later.
- Service messageA service message is any non-template message a business sends through the WhatsApp Business Platform within the 24-hour window that a person opens by writing in: text, photos, audio, buttons. It needs no prior approval, and Meta charges for it in a category of its own.
- Coexistence (app and API)Coexistence is Meta's option for connecting a number already used on the WhatsApp Business app to the Cloud API without changing it: software handles the volume while one-to-one messages are still written from the app, with chats mirrored on both sides. It is only enabled through a Solution Partner or a Tech Provider.
- WhatsApp Business appThe WhatsApp Business app is Meta's application for a business to handle WhatsApp from a phone with a business profile: greeting and away messages, quick replies, labels and a catalogue. It was launched in January 2018 for small businesses and needs no programming to use.
- Embedded SignupEmbedded Signup is Meta's onboarding flow that a provider places on its website so a business can connect WhatsApp to its service from a single window: it logs in, chooses or creates its business portfolio and WhatsApp account, verifies the number and enters the display name.
- WebhookA webhook is an automatic notice that one system sends to another system's web address when something happens, without the second one having to ask. On WhatsApp, Meta uses webhooks to deliver every incoming message, and the status of outgoing ones, to the residence's software.
- Interactive buttonAn interactive button is an option shown below a WhatsApp message that is answered with a tap instead of typing. An interactive message can carry up to three reply buttons or a list of up to ten options, and the sender receives which one was chosen.
- Broadcast listA broadcast list is the WhatsApp feature that sends the same message to several contacts at once, but to each one separately: it arrives as a private chat with the sender, any reply is seen only by the sender, and nobody sees the other recipients.
- WhatsApp CommunityA WhatsApp Community brings several groups together in one space, with an announcement group in which only the admins write. It is used to organise a large number of people into subgroups, such as floors, buildings or years, and to reach them all with a single notice.
- WhatsApp ChannelA WhatsApp Channel is a one-way broadcast tool: whoever runs it posts, and followers can read, react and share, but not write. According to WhatsApp, it does not show the admin's number to followers, nor any follower's number to anyone else.
- Language modelA language model is an artificial intelligence model trained on vast amounts of text that generates language by predicting the next word; a very large one is called an LLM. It is what lets an assistant understand a message written in someone's own words and draft the reply.
- HallucinationA hallucination, in artificial intelligence, is an answer a model gives with confidence but that rests on no data at all: a timetable that does not exist, a made-up rule, a service the residence does not offer. It sounds just as convincing as a correct answer.
- Knowledge baseA knowledge base is the organised body of information an AI assistant draws its answers from: in a residence, the house rules, the timetables, the services and the frequently asked questions. When the model looks it up before answering, the technique is called retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
- Speech-to-textSpeech-to-text, or audio transcription, is the automatic conversion of spoken words into written text, also known as speech recognition. On WhatsApp it lets an assistant understand a voice note as if the person had typed it, with the risk of mishearing a number or a name.
- Language detectionLanguage detection is the task of working out automatically which language a text is written in. In a WhatsApp assistant it decides which language to reply in, and what it finds hardest is telling closely related languages apart or handling sentences that mix two languages.
- Machine translationMachine translation is the use of software to turn text or speech in one language into another without a human translator. Today it is mostly done by neural systems and language models, which translate fluently but can go wrong with proper names or with words that have several meanings.
- Human in the loopHuman in the loop (HITL) is the design of an automated system in which a person takes part in its operation, supervision or decisions. In an AI assistant it means there are things the machine prepares or spots, but that a member of staff decides or confirms.
Regulation and data
- GDPRThe GDPR is Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the EU rule that governs the processing of personal data. It has applied directly since 25 May 2018, and in Spain the LOPDGDD completes it. It binds a colegio mayor, a private student residence and a coliving in exactly the same way.
- Controller and processorThe controller is whoever decides what personal data are processed for and how; the processor is whoever processes them on the controller's behalf. In a residence, the centre is the controller of its residents' data, and the software supplier or the caterer that handles them for it is a processor.
- DPA (data processing agreement)A DPA (data processing agreement) is the contract that art. 28.3 of the GDPR requires between the controller and each processor: it sets out the subject matter, duration, nature and purpose of the processing, the type of data and of data subjects, and each party's obligations and rights.
- ROPA (record of processing activities)The ROPA, or record of processing activities, is the document art. 30 of the GDPR requires of controller and processor: what data are processed, what for, whose, who receives them, whether they leave the EU, when they are deleted and under what security measures. It goes to the supervisory authority on request.
- Standard contractual clausesStandard contractual clauses are model contracts approved by the Commission that provide appropriate safeguards for sending personal data outside the EU when the destination country has no adequacy decision. The ones in force are those of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914 of 4 June 2021.
- Ley 3/2022 (university community life)Ley 3/2022 of 24 February on university community life is the Spanish act that requires universities to approve community-life rules with measures against violence, discrimination and harassment, and sets the disciplinary regime for students. It never names colegios mayores: it reaches them through their university.
- Ley 2/2023 (whistleblower protection)Ley 2/2023 of 20 February is the Spanish whistleblower act: it protects people who report breaches of the law and requires private entities with fifty or more workers to have an internal reporting system (art. 10.1.a). The threshold is counted per entity, adding up all its sites, not per building.
- LAU: residential lease or lease for other useSpain's Urban Leases Act (LAU) separates the residential lease (art. 2), which meets the tenant's housing need —even when only one room is let—, from the lease for a use other than housing (art. 3), which is governed by what the parties agree. In a coliving, that choice decides the contract's whole regime.
- Right to erasureThe right to erasure, or right to be forgotten, lets a person have the controller delete their personal data without undue delay if they are no longer needed, if the consent they rested on is withdrawn, if the person objects to the processing or if they were processed unlawfully. Art. 17 of the GDPR governs it.
- LOPDGDDThe LOPDGDD is Spain's Organic Act 3/2018 of 5 December on the Protection of Personal Data and the guarantee of digital rights. It does not replace the GDPR: it adapts Spanish law to it, fills in what the regulation leaves to each State and recognises digital rights. It has been in force since 7 December 2018.
- AEPD (Spanish Data Protection Agency)The AEPD, the Spanish Data Protection Agency, is the independent administrative authority that enforces the GDPR and the LOPDGDD in Spain: it handles complaints, inspects and sanctions, receives breach notifications and the appointment of data protection officers, and publishes guides and tools.
- Data protection officer (DPO)The data protection officer (DPO) is the person, on the staff or engaged from outside, who informs and advises the controller and the processor, monitors their compliance and deals with the supervisory authority and with data subjects. Arts. 37 to 39 of the GDPR and 34 to 37 of Spain's LOPDGDD govern the role.
- Legal basis for processingThe legal basis, or lawful basis, is what makes it lawful to process personal data. Art. 6.1 of the GDPR allows six: consent, contract, legal obligation, vital interests, a public-interest task or official authority, and legitimate interest. Without one of them, processing is unlawful however useful it is.
- ConsentConsent is a voluntary, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of a person's wishes by which they agree, through a statement or a clear affirmative action, to the processing of their data (art. 4.11 of the GDPR). It is one of the six legal bases, and the only one the data subject can withdraw at any time.
- Legitimate interestLegitimate interest is the legal basis in art. 6.1.f of the GDPR: it allows processing when necessary for an interest of the controller or a third party, unless the person's rights and interests override it, especially if they are a child. Public authorities cannot use it when performing their tasks.
- Health dataData concerning health are those revealing a person's physical or mental health status (art. 4.15 of the GDPR). They are a special category: art. 9 prohibits processing them unless one of the exceptions in its paragraph 2 applies. In a residence, the everyday case is the dining hall's allergies and intolerances.
- Children's dataChildren's data are the personal data of people under eighteen. The GDPR calls for specific protection for them and, in Spain, the LOPDGDD sets fourteen as the age from which they can consent on their own to the processing of their data. In a student residence they appear with anyone who starts university at seventeen.
- Right of accessThe right of access lets anyone find out whether a controller processes data about them and, if so, obtain a copy and information on what they are used for, what kind they are, who receives them, how long they are kept and where they came from. Art. 15 of the GDPR governs it, and there is one month to reply.
- Right to data portabilityPortability is the right to receive the personal data one has provided to a controller in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and to pass them to another controller, directly where feasible. It applies where processing is automated and based on consent or a contract (art. 20 of the GDPR).
- Data protection impact assessment (DPIA)A data protection impact assessment (DPIA) is the analysis a controller carries out before starting processing that is likely to pose a high risk to people's rights: it describes the processing, assesses its necessity and its risks, and sets the measures to reduce them (art. 35 of the GDPR).
- Personal data breachA personal data breach is any breach of security that results in the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss or alteration of personal data, or to their unauthorised disclosure or access (art. 4.12 of the GDPR). Losing a staff phone with residents' data, or sending a list by mistake, are breaches.
- International data transferAn international transfer is sending personal data to a recipient in a third country, outside the European Economic Area (the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), or to an international organisation. The GDPR allows it only with an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards or a listed exception.
- Sub-processorA sub-processor is another processor engaged by a processor to carry out part of the work on the controller's behalf, such as the company hosting the centre's management software in the cloud. It can only be brought in with the controller's prior written authorisation (art. 28.2 of the GDPR).
- EncryptionEncryption is the technique that turns data into text nobody can read without the key. The GDPR names it among the security measures of its art. 32 and gives it a practical effect: if encrypted data are lost and the key is safe, it may not be necessary to tell each person affected.
- PseudonymisationPseudonymisation means processing personal data so that they can no longer be attributed to a person without additional information that is kept separately and protected (art. 4.5 of the GDPR). Pseudonymised data are still personal data; anonymous data are not.
- Video surveillanceVideo surveillance means capturing images with cameras to protect people, property and premises. In Spain it is governed by art. 22 of the LOPDGDD: only what is essential of the public street, a visible information sign, and deletion of the footage within one month at most.
- AI ActThe AI Act is Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the European rule on artificial intelligence systems: it bans some uses, sets requirements for high-risk ones and transparency duties for others. It applies directly in Spain, and in July 2026 it was amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744.
- High-risk AI systemA high-risk AI system is one that Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 subjects to its strictest requirements: one that is a safety component of a regulated product (art. 6.1) or one used in an area listed in Annex III, such as admission to education institutions or staff recruitment.
- Deployer (AI Act)Under the AI Act, the deployer is whoever uses an artificial intelligence system under its own authority in a professional activity (art. 3.4). A residence that contracts an assistant to deal with its residents is one; the company that develops and sells the assistant is the provider.
- AI literacyAI literacy is the skills, knowledge and understanding that allow people to use artificial intelligence systems in an informed way and to see their opportunities, their risks and the harm they can cause (art. 3.56 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act).
- LOSU (Organic Act on the University System)The LOSU is Spain's Organic Act 2/2023 of 22 March on the University System, which replaced the 2001 Organic Act on Universities and has been in force since 12 April 2023. For university accommodation it matters above all because of one provision: the one that defines the colegio mayor.
- Temporary residential lease (LAU)A temporary residential lease meets the housing need of someone away from their habitual home for a justified cause that can be proven, including leases of single rooms. Royal Decree-law 29/2026 added it to Spain's Urban Leases Act: it lasts more than thirty-one days and, as a rule, no more than twelve months.
- Ley 1/2025 (food loss and waste)Ley 1/2025 of 1 April on the prevention of food loss and waste is the Spanish act that requires anyone serving food to prevent waste before discarding and, unless exempt, to have a prevention plan from 2 April 2026. A residence's dining hall is covered as an "other food service provider".
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 is the European rule on food information provided to consumers, applicable since 13 December 2014. It sets what must be said about a food and how; of what a mass caterer serves unpackaged, the only compulsory information is the allergens.
- Harassment protocolA harassment protocol is the written procedure an organisation uses to prevent sexual and sex-based harassment and to handle complaints. For staff in Spain it is required by art. 48 of Organic Act 3/2007 and art. 12 of Organic Act 10/2022, with no headcount threshold; between residents, the route is a different one.
- Independent Whistleblower Protection AuthorityThe Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority (A.A.I.) is the Spanish state body created by Ley 2/2023 to run the external reporting channel, protect people who report and penalise breaches. Royal Decree 1101/2024 approved its statute, and it has operated since 1 September 2025.
Maintaining business premises
- Corrective maintenanceCorrective maintenance is the work done once something has already failed: repairing the cold room that will not cool, replacing the blown fluorescent tube, unblocking the changing-room drain. It differs from preventive maintenance, done on a set date, and from predictive maintenance, done when a reading gives warning.
- Predictive maintenancePredictive maintenance decides when to step in from the actual condition of the equipment, measured with readings such as temperature, vibration or power draw. It does not wait for a breakdown, like corrective work, or for a fixed date, like preventive work: it acts when a reading says a fault is coming.
- Work orderA work order is the written instruction that assigns a maintenance job to a specific person or company: what needs doing, on which piece of equipment or where, with what priority and by when. When it is closed, the hours, the materials used and what was done are recorded.
- MTTRMTTR (mean time to repair) is how long it takes, on average, to get a failed piece of equipment working again. It is worked out by adding up the time spent on all the repairs in a period and dividing that total by the number of repairs in the same period.
- MTBFMTBF (mean time between failures) is how long a repairable piece of equipment runs, on average, between one breakdown and the next. It is worked out by dividing the operating hours in a period by the number of failures recorded in that same period.
- Maintenance KPIsMaintenance KPIs (key performance indicators) are the few figures that show whether a business's maintenance is working: how long it takes to respond and to repair, how often each piece of equipment fails, how much of the time it is available, whether preventive work is done on time and how many faults come back.
- Facility managementFacility management (FM, also facilities management) is the coordinated management of a building and the services that keep it running: maintenance, cleaning, security, utilities and space, so that the people working or staying inside can get on with their own job without thinking about the building.
- Authorised maintenance companyAn authorised maintenance company (empresa mantenedora) is one entitled to maintain regulated installations, such as fire protection (RIPCI) or heating, cooling and hot water (RITE). It files a declaration with the regional government, but the owner of the premises remains responsible for the maintenance being done.
- Statutory maintenanceStatutory maintenance (mantenimiento técnico-legal in Spain) is the set of inspections and servicing that the law requires a business's installations to undergo, with how often, who may carry them out and what paperwork is kept. It is distinct from the maintenance a business chooses to do on its own account.
- Pest controlPest control is the set of measures to stop insects, rodents and other animals getting into and settling in a business's premises, and to get rid of them if they do. In a food business it is compulsory: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires adequate procedures to control pests.
Rules for business premises in Spain
- Activity licence (licencia de actividad)The licencia de actividad is the prior municipal licence to run a business from premises in Spain. Today it is the exception: Ley 12/2012 bans it for retail and the services in its annex up to 750 m², where a self-declaration is enough, and outside that annex the region and the town hall decide.
- Horizontal property (propiedad horizontal)Horizontal property (propiedad horizontal) is the Spanish legal regime for a building divided into flats or commercial units: each has its own owner and shares the common parts with the rest according to its share. It is governed by Ley 49/1960 (LPH), except in Catalonia, whose Civil Code has its own rules.
- Accredited inspection body (OCA)An OCA is an inspection body (organismo de control): an accredited, independent organisation that checks that an installation complies with its Spanish industrial safety regulation. It carries out, for example, the periodic inspections of a business's low-voltage wiring, lifts and fire protection.
- Electrical installation certificate (CIE)The electrical installation certificate (CIE), known in Spain as the ‘boletín’, is the document the installation firm signs when it finishes, extends or alters a low-voltage installation. It is filed with the autonomous community and, without the stamped copy, the distribution company cannot connect the premises.
- Building logbook (Libro del Edificio)The building logbook (Libro del Edificio) is the record of the finished works handed over to those who use the building: the design and its changes, the handover certificate, the parties involved and the instructions for use and maintenance, with a maintenance plan. The LOE (art. 7) and the CTE (art. 8) require it.
- Building assessment report (IEE) and ITEThe building assessment report (IEE) certifies the state of repair, accessibility and energy efficiency of a block of flats. Spanish national law only says the authorities may ask for it (art. 29.1 TRLSRU); when and how often, and the ITE inspection, are set by each autonomous community or municipality.
- Property manager (administrador de fincas)The administrador de fincas is the person who manages an owners' community in Spain: drafts the budget, sees to upkeep, orders urgent repairs and collects and pays. The Horizontal Property Act simply calls this role the ‘administrador’ and lets an owner or a professional fill it (arts. 13 and 20).
- Special levy (derrama)A derrama is a one-off sum shared out among the owners in a Spanish owners' community to pay for a specific piece of work or improvement, on top of the regular service charge. The Horizontal Property Act uses the word in its arts. 10.2.a) and 17.11 without ever defining it.
- Reserve fund (fondo de reserva)The fondo de reserva is the money every Spanish owners' community must set aside for upkeep, repairs, renovation, accessibility and energy-efficiency works. The Horizontal Property Act sets its minimum at 10 per cent of the latest ordinary budget (art. 9.1.f); Catalonia has its own rule.
- Coordination of business activities (CAE)Coordination of business activities (CAE) is the duty of companies and self-employed workers working at the same time on the same premises to cooperate on health and safety. The holder of the premises tells whoever comes in about its hazards and emergency arrangements (art. 24 LPRL and RD 171/2004).
- Occupational risk prevention planThe occupational risk prevention plan is the document through which a Spanish employer builds health and safety into how it is run: who does what, with which procedures and with what resources. Art. 16 of Ley 31/1995 requires it from the first employee, and it rests on the risk assessment and prevention planning.
- Right to disconnect (desconexión digital)The right to disconnect (desconexión digital) is an employee's right not to be contacted by email, phone or messaging outside working time, so that their rest, leave, holidays and privacy are respected. It is recognised by art. 88 of the LOPDGDD and art. 20 bis of Spain's Workers' Statute.
- Complaint form (hoja de reclamaciones)The hoja de reclamaciones is the official form a customer uses to put a complaint in writing against a Spanish business that sells them goods or services. The form, the notice saying it is available and the procedure are set by each autonomous community; national law allows fifteen days at most to reply.
- Self-declaration (declaración responsable)The declaración responsable is the document in which whoever runs an activity in Spain states, on their own responsibility, that they meet the requirements, hold the papers to prove it and will go on meeting them. It lets them start on the day it is filed, with checks afterwards (art. 69 of Ley 39/2015).
- Food traceabilityFood traceability is being able to follow a food through every stage of production, processing and distribution. Art. 18 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 requires every food business to know who supplied each product and which businesses it supplied in turn: one step back and one step forward.