Costas land grab fight goes on (Kingston Upon Hull East Liberal Democrats)

Kingston Upon Hull East Liberal Democrats <mbristow6@yahoo.co.uk>

Costas land grab fight goes on

March 23, 2010 3:00 PM
Originally published by Diana Wallis MEP

Spanish property Diana Wallis MEP says the fight goes on to put an end to the practice of 'land grab' in Spain, whereby foreign nationals in southern Spain are watching their homes being bulldozed through an 'interpretation' of Spanish Coastal Law.

Speaking after the meeting of the Petitions Committee in the European Parliament in Brussels today which dealt with the matter, Diana Wallis MEP, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on the Committee, said: "Many people are in the same situation. It is not something affecting just non-Spaniards, as many Spaniards have been caught up by this as well.

"This issue has been going on for years and people have become increasingly desperate.

"Whether they bought their property as an investment, a holiday home or for retirement, European citizens are being faced with the prospect that their property could be taken away from them or their ownership is limited to 30 years. There are serious doubts as to the adequacy of the Spanish government's offers of compensation.

"Although the Coastal Law was passed in 1988 it is now being implemented retroactively and, it seems, quite arbitrarily. For example, I spoke to a petitioner yesterday who said the law is now being implemented to cover houses built in the 1960s alongside man-made sea water canals. To me the whole thing offends against everything that is European.

"The Spanish Presidency of the EU has given us a new dynamic for addressing this injustice, and yesterday I was able to confront the Spanish Minister present at the meeting here in Brussels. Although not yet positively resolved in the way we would like, at least the case is going to remain open and the Commission has to go away and look at the new position post Lisbon Treaty."

"My advice to potential buyers of properties along the Spanish Costas would be that the law remains unclear, so it is a case of 'buyer beware'."

NOTES:

1. The Spanish land grab issue has arisen in instances where citizens have purchased properties in southern Spain in accordance with local law, after which regional authorities have informed them that any new property must be designed for specific purposes e.g. agricultural use. Home owners are then required to bulldoze their own properties, otherwise the regional government will do so and charge them for the cost

2. The European Parliament resolution of 26 March 2009 on the impact of extensive urbanisation in Spain on individual rights of European citizens, on the environment and on the application of EU law, based upon petitions received (2008/2248(INI))- the Auken Report: