Short answer. Yes for yourself, with limits for others. Article 757 lets you, as donor, set a condition that the donated property reverts to you in any case. Reversion in favour of a third person is allowed only if all of them are living at the time of the donation; otherwise that reversion is void, though the donation itself survives.
What the law says
Reversion may be validly established in favor of only the donor for any case and circumstances, but not in favor of other persons unless they are all living at the time of the donation.
Civil Code, Article 757 — Reversion Of Donated Property. Read the full provision →
Reversion to the donor is broadly allowed
The law lets a donor build in a return clause for himself with a very free hand. Article 757 provides that reversion may be validly established in favor of only the donor for any case and circumstances. So you may donate property and stipulate that it comes back to you if some event happens or some condition fails — for instance, if the donee dies before you, or does not use the property as intended. Because the reversion runs to you, the donor, the article places no special restriction on the circumstances you may choose. This gives you real control over a gift while you are still alive to reclaim it.
Reversion to a third person is tightly limited
The freedom narrows sharply once you try to send the property to someone other than yourself. Article 757 allows reversion but not in favor of other persons unless they are all living at the time of the donation. So you may name a third person as the one to whom the property reverts, but only if that person — and every such person, if more than one — is alive when the donation is made. The rule blocks you from setting up a chain of reversions to people not yet born or a line of successive takers stretching into the future, which the law does not permit a donor to create this way.
A void reversion does not kill the donation
What happens if you overstep? The article answers gently. Any reversion stipulated by the donor in favor of a third person in violation of what is provided in the preceding paragraph shall be void, but shall not nullify the donation. In other words, if you name a third-person reversion that breaks the living-at-the-time rule, only that reversion clause fails. The donation to the donee remains valid and takes full effect, freed of the offending reversion. The law would rather save the gift and strike out the improper condition than let a defective reversion clause bring the whole donation down with it.
What this means in practice
The safe and flexible course is to reserve reversion to yourself, since the law lets you do that for any case you like. If you want a substitute taker to receive the property, make sure that person is alive at the time of the donation, or the reversion in their favour will simply be void. A reversion clause is also different from imposing a mode or charge on the donee, or from a donation that takes effect on death — those are governed by other rules. Used within Article 757's limits, a reversion lets you make a gift now while keeping a defined path for the property to return if things do not go as planned.