Who owns the land???

Hi all,

Is it possible to find out who own the sparse/neglected (few olive trees in situ) piece of land opposite a property we are interested in buying.   Do Spain have the equivalent 'Land Registry' or can you find out at the local Ayuntamiento?  We don't want in a few months/years to find ourselves living directly opposite a building site.  If all else fails we can always write a letter to the little farmhouse nearby..

We looked at one property opposite a building site and all but 2 of the row of 10 were empty.  Gardens overgrown.  Pools empty and dirty. All the time we viewed there was hammering, drilling etc,.   It was so sad and we felt so sorry for the poor owners.  Needless to say it was a very short viewing!