Malaga Demonstration: March 15th

(Press Release) March in support of those unfortunate enough to live in a house under threat of demolition by the Junta de Andalucía. Thousands of Europeans who bought their houses in good faith now face the frightening prospect of the demolition of their homes.
This march is organised by Save Our Homes Axarquía (www.soha.es) in protest against the actions of the Junta de Andalucía, and will be supported by marchers from Cartama, Almería, Mijas and other towns and provinces of Andalucía and the Valencian Community.
We ask three things of the Junta:
1. That no new demolitions be ordered.
2. That where houses must be demolished reasonable compensation must be paid in advance.
3. That the Junta begin the process of regularisation.
We also believe that the Junta, by its actions, has a policy of punishing the innocent victims of unscrupulous developers, politicians and lawyers.
We march under the slogan of “Punish the guilty, not the victims”.

The march will begin with speeches at:
12.00pm 17th March 2010
La Plaza De La Marina, Malaga

Join with us and fight this injustice.

For more information and copies of the speeches contact press@soha.es

We plan to congregate for speeches at 12 noon in the Plaza de le Marina which is opposite to the gates to the Port of Malaga. We will the cross the road into Calle Marques de Larios and walk up to Plaza de la Constitucion, left into Calle Nueva, left into Calle Alarcon Garcia, right onto Calle Marques de Larios then finish back at the Plaza de la Marina, finishing with some more speeches.
Marta Andreasen, the MEP who stirred José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on the opening of Spain’s six month presidency of the European Union, will attend the demonstration.

*(Almería Readers:) Buses will leave from Arboleas and other Almanzora sites. Book a seat (15€) with Derick at the AUAN (Albox) derick_oldfield@yahoo.co.uk

MARTA ANDREASEN / EUROPARLAMENTARIA

MARTA ANDREASEN / EUROPARLAMENTARIA

“La imagen de España ha caído mucho; la sensación es que la corrupción se extiende a todos los ámbitos”


La europarlamentaria que puso a Zapatero en un apuro ya trabaja para que se congelen las ayudas a España hasta que se dé una salida a los problemas urbanísticos que afectan a residentes extranjeros, como el caso Prior en Vera. En la entrevista concedida a ACTUALIDAD ALMANZORA, la independiente británica Marta Andreasen analiza esta realidad que ha traspasado fronteras y exige al presidente del Gobierno que actúe de inmediato.


Sumarios

“Los derribos de viviendas afectan al turismo y el turismo es, hoy por hoy, la industria más importante de España”

“Zapatero miraba para otro lado, pero mi interpretación es que se sintió muy molesto de que yo sacase ese tema”

“El problema radica en que el Gobierno ha dejado la competencia urbanística a los pueblos, y eso implica descontrol”

“Las cosas evolucionan favorablemente después de que un juez haya ordenado que le den una casa a los Prior”




- ¿Cómo se ve desde Inglaterra la problemática de las viviendas ilegales y las órdenes de derribo?
- Bueno, el Gobierno inglés no se ha mostrado muy interesado en el tema hasta ahora. De hecho, mi acción frente a Zapatero durante su comparecencia ante el Parlamento de Europa tenía como objetivo llamar la atención del Gobierno inglés y también de la propia Unión Europea…
Tendremos que ver qué pasa en los próximos tiempos. Por lo pronto, he iniciado un proceso en el Parlamento Europeo para que haya un debate que lleve eventualmente a bloquear los fondos de la UE a España hasta que se solucione esta situación.
- ¿Qué posibilidades hay de que esa iniciativa salga adelante?
- Es difícil, porque tengo que lograr el apoyo de otros grupos políticos. Empezando por los españoles, diría que un grupo está de acuerdo y el otro probablemente no.
Pero el hecho de que se congelen los fondos sería una medida cautelar, hasta que se solucionen las cosas; y provocaría presión para que se arregle la situación… ¡Y eso sería beneficioso para los españoles, porque las viviendas irregulares y las órdenes de derribo afectan al turismo y el turismo es, hoy por hoy, la industria más importante de España!
- ¿Qué opinión le merece la imagen que España está proyectando?
- Muy mala. La imagen de España ha caído mucho y la sensación generalizada es que la corrupción se extiende a casi todos los ámbitos; mientras, no hay una atención por parte del Gobierno central a un tema que puede afectar mucho a una industria importante para el país…
Por otra parte, en la actualidad ya hay fondos europeos que están bloqueados porque ha habido irregularidades en su uso; de manera que hay precedente. Tampoco es lógico que regiones de España reciban ayudas de la UE cuando hay este tipo de problemas urbanísticos que afectan a ciudadanos europeos.
- Habla usted de corrupción generalizada pero ¿qué hay de la seguridad jurídica?
- Mi crítica no va dirigida únicamente a los constructores o los gobiernos que han dado licencias de forma irregular, sino que se extiende también a abogados y jueces. Hay que darse cuenta de que eso crea una muy mala imagen y no sólo en un sector concreto, sino en otras profesiones. Es una cosa muy seria.
- Decía que el Gobierno británico no ha mostrado mucho interés, pero ¿cómo ve esto la sociedad inglesa?
- Bueno, la sociedad está viviendo una crisis económica fuerte. Aunque los gobiernos intenten decir que estamos saliendo de ella, yo puedo decir que los ingleses y los españoles no estamos saliendo de la crisis. ¡Estamos en plena crisis! Y en España, por ejemplo, ésta se debe en gran parte al tema inmobiliario. Todos estos temas tienen mucha repercusión en Inglaterra, la gente se siente afectada…
En mi intervención en el Parlamento Europeo, hablé en representación de ciudadanos de la zona sudeste de Europa y hay muchos que tienen casa en España y que se ven afectados por órdenes de demolición o permisos ilegales.
- Los británicos afectados no se oponen a la demolición si su vivienda es declarada ilegal por un juez, pero sí exigen una indemnización, dado que el inmueble se levantó con la cobertura de una licencia municipal…
- Claro, yo le he pedido a Zapatero una solución; y la solución es que les dejen habitar sus casas, o que les den una indemnización apropiada, con la que puedan adquirir una vivienda similar.
Pero es que la corrupción empieza antes. Mucha gente contrató notarios para hacer la escritura y el notario es responsable de verificar que la casa es legal; hay notarios que no han respondido a una ética profesional.
- Usted le recordó al presidente Zapatero que, lejos de lo que se cree, estos ciudadanos europeos afectados no son precisamente ricos
- En la mayoría de los casos es gente que ha ahorrado toda la vida y que decide invertir ese dinero en España porque el clima es benigno y la vida más agradable. También hay británicos con enfermedades que necesitan este tipo de clima… Hacen una inversión con el dinero de su jubilación. Podemos encontrar un par de casos entre 100.000 de gente con dinero. No se puede desestimar la gravedad del tema.
- En las imágenes de televisión que mostraban la intervención que tuvo usted en el Parlamento Europeo se veía a un presidente esquivo que evitaba cruzar con usted la miraba
- Parecía que miraba para otro lado, pero mi interpretación de la situación es que se sintió muy molesto de que yo sacase ese tema, que era precisamente mi objetivo [Se ríe].
Es haciendo pública esta situación y poniendo al presidente en un apuro cuando uno puede lograr algún éxito. Su cara era de estar pensando en otra cosa, pero estoy segura de que no estaba pensando otra cosa, sino en por qué había tenido la mala suerte de que yo le sacara el tema... El había hecho un gran mensaje sobre cómo va a resolver los problemas económicos de Europa, aunque no puede resolver los suyos…
- ¿Qué respondió Zapatero?
- Respondió diciendo que era consciente y sensible a la situación que vivía esa gente, pero que yo tenía que entender que eso no era competencia del Gobierno central, sino de las autonomías.
- Se lavó las manos…
- Sí, bueno; y además yo no tuve turno de réplica. Pero ya tendré la oportunidad. Zapatero tiene que acudir al Parlamento en junio para dar el discurso de cierre de la Presidencia española y allí estaré yo. Esto es un asunto bastante grave.
- ¿Cuál será su réplica?
- Que el origen de esta situación radica precisamente en que el Gobierno central ha dejado la competencia urbanística a un nivel de gobierno muy bajo, a los gobiernos locales de los pueblos. Y eso implica un desprecio a los controles…
El Gobierno central tiene una gran responsabilidad y es el único que puede solucionar el problema.
- Usted defiende al ciudadano europeo residente en España que sufre problemas urbanísticos pero, ¿conoce algún caso en concreto?
- Sí, y en mi discurso mencioné tres. Uno de ellos son los Prior, cuya vivienda ha sido demolida en Vera. Esta gente está viviendo en un garaje, aunque, afortunadamente, ahora un juez ha ordenado que le den una casa. Al menos, se empieza a ver que las cosas evolucionan favorablemente.
Luego tengo más casos en Alicante y la costa del Sol, sobre todo.
Quiero lanzar el mensaje de que los ciudadanos pueden acudir a mí, estoy elaborando una base de datos con las personas afectadas y hasta he puesto un asistente en mi oficina para lidiar con este problema.
- ¿Son muchos?
- Sí, bastantes. Sólo por correo electrónico he contactado con unas 950 personas.
- ¿Algún mensaje más?
- Sí, un mensaje: hay que seguir el curso legal, esto permite pasar a otras cortes europeas. También es importante que busquen apoyo político.
Y, en cuanto a España y sus autoridades, el mensaje es simple: tienen que mirar por el turismo y arreglar esto. Es necesario encontrar una soluciones a nivel urbanístico, del leyes del suelo, y también para la gente que se ha visto afectada. Hay que compensar a esas personas por los daños que están sufriendo.

Report from Credit Suisse

In its latest report the Swiss bank issues a finding to the effect that the Spanish economy is far too big to bail out, meaning in effect that the Spanish state debt is so great that if the country had the same problems as Greece, the other members of the EuroZone would be forced to let Spain fall down a hole in order to protect their own interests. The report also adds: "We see Spain as more of a concern than Greece with significant over-leverage, high current account deficit and overvalued housing." This view is also echoed by the head economists in Deutsche Bank who have stated previously that Spain going bankrupt would bring the economies of France and Germany to their knees.

Main Points:

Re: Spain:

➣ A general lack of competitiveness and wages need to fall by 6% until 2014
➣ Spain is overleveraged in both the household and corporate sectors
➣ There is a high current account deficit, standing at 6% in 2009, that means a loss of competitiveness but it also highlights the extent that Spain is dependent on overseas capital
➣ The Spanish Corporate sector has been operating at a deficit for more than a decade
➣ The Spanish housing market is amongst the most overvalued, with prices generally being about 60% higher than the UK and at least 12% above a fair value
➣ At least 90% of outstanding mortgages are variable-rated
➣ The government is unable to control public finances
➣ Over the last decade the population has increased by 16% and 75% of this figure is from immigration

The advantage of countries such as Greece and Ireland is that they are relatively small, only making up 2.78% and 1.8% of the Euro GDP respectively. The large size of Spain - 11% if the Euro GDP makes any kind of bailout much harder

The report also adds this about Greece:

The recently approved version of the new EU Treaty includes a specific article on the procedure for voluntary exit from the European Monetary Union; however it is not meant as a quick fix for competitiveness or fiscal issues, and we highlight the following issues:

➣ A withdrawal from the EMU is not just an issue of competitiveness, it would automatically lead to an exit from the European Union from a legal standpoint and hence the potential loss of other EU benefits;

➣ Any withdrawal must be agreed by other members and cannot happen overnight. This reduces the benefits of devaluation, and this withdrawal would not be a quick fix for the competitiveness problem Greece would re-enter the area soon afterwards at a newer - lower - exchange rate. There are also other issues - there is no currency to revert to and the introduction of a new currency would need time and careful planning (which may not be accepted by the citizens of Greece as the new currency is bound to be weaker). The Greek financial system could be isolated with significant costs to the economy;

➣ A one-sided exit by Greece from the EMU would be a breach of the Union Treaty. If it involves repudiating the debt or any negative consequences for the remaining member economies, they could react by - for example - withholding monies and benefits due to the departing state under other treaties, and could even refuse to recognise the new currency;

➣ Interest rates would be likely to go up sharply and there would be no certainty that even a large depreciation versus the Euro could improve the competitive position of Greece for more than a short period, whilst a new currency would probably be a source of economic noise and stress rather than a boost for competitiveness as Greece could potentially be denied the privileges of the single market, negating any benefits from a devaluation and even cause Greece to redirect its exports to other markets.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE?

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE?
Sally Bengtsson / 2010-02-21 07:58:16


For the average British person it is virtually impossible to travel, go shopping or carry out a bank transaction without at least one Spanish business benefitting.

In the same way, a Spanish consumer cannot smoke a cigarette, speak by mobile phone or contract private health care without enriching ‘the coffers’ of a British company.

The economic interdependence between the UK and Spain started to become a reality at the beginning of this century, ten years ago, but the rate it at which it has grown has surprised even those who are experts on this kind of thing.

Spanish investment in the UK is more than Spanish investment in the whole of Latin America, an area twice the size of Europe, which was colonised by the Spanish and where Spanish is the native language. On the other hand, Brits export twice as much produce to Spain as they do to China, and three times more than to its former colony of India.

However, the honeymoon period now seems to have come to an abrupt end. The international crisis seems to have taken its toll on both countries in a very problematical way.

Both countries once boasted the most dynamic economies in Europe, a situation which seems to have reversed recently, with their real estate bubbles bursting. They now both find themselves at the bottom of the heap in terms of regenerating their economies.

The number of British visitors to Spain, which used to represent an important source of income to tour operators and the tourist industry in both countries, went down from 17 million in 2008 to 11 million in 2009. And the British investment in Spain fell dramatically after reaching a peak of 13.5 million euros in 2008, when British Tobacco bought Altadis, a Spanish company.

Despite this, the UK is still the leading foreign investor in Spain, responsible for a third of all foreign investment. There are 320 businesses in Spain, each with British headquarters, the most well known being Lloyds TSB, Barclays, Vodafone, Alliance Healthcare, Nano, BT, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline, who have generated 116,000 jobs in Spain alone. Spanish investment in the UK fell dramatically between 2007 and 2008, by 84.5% to be precise. Spanish companies such as Banco Santander, Ferrovial, Iberdrola, FCC, Abertis, Telefonica and Inditex have a total of 42,819 million euros invested in the UK.

The question is, will the good times return? British and Spanish businessmen and women met last week in the British Parliament, to explore ways of getting out of the crisis. Karen Stock, the President of the British Chamber of Commerce, said, “We can´t just wait for the storm to pass, businesses and governments must work together to get out of the crisis.”

Many British companies complained about the scarce flexibility within the Spanish labour market, the inadequacy of Spanish university education to the needs of businesses, the insufficient investment, and above all, the high level of unemployment. John M Scout, the president of KPMG in Spain believes that the key to encourage businesses to invest in Spain is a stable economy.

He goes on to say, “The government and the autonomous communities should avoid measures which may be popular but are obstacles for businesses.”

British businesses are also interested in collaborating with Spanish companies and investing in Latin America, where Spain has already established some good markets.

Spanish businesses in the UK are closely watching the ups and downs of the pound, in the lead up to the elections. Juan Maria Nin, who works for La Caixa in London, said that the future of the Spanish economy is in Europe and not in Latin America.

The UK is still an attractive market for Spanish companies. It is the sixth largest world economy, and has a population of 62 million people, most of whom have buying power. The average income per capita is 36,300 dollars, compared to 31,000 dollars in Spain.

The British labour market is much more flexible, and unemployment is 8% compared to Spain´s 19%. Grupo Santander already has 300 offices in the UK, since the subsidiary branches Abbey, Alliance and Leicester and Bradford and Bingley adopted the group name. By the end of this year Grupo Santander will have 1,300 branches on British soil.

www.yourloccalnewspaper.info

New wave of corporate failures Nueva oleada de quiebras empresariales

New wave of corporate failures Nueva oleada de quiebras empresariales

From 1 March, the firms whose assets have been devalued properties at risk of ending up in insolvency proceedings A partir del 1 de marzo, las firmas cuyos bienes inmuebles se hayan devaluado correrán el riesgo de acabar en un concurso de acreedores

19.02.10 - 02:16 JULIAN LARRAZ VALENCIA.
What does the law say? Not counted, during 2008 and 2009, impairment losses recognized in the annual accounts arising from property, investment property and stocks. ¿Qué dice la ley? No se computarán, durante el ejercicio 2008 y 2009, las pérdidas por deterioro reconocidas en las cuentas anuales derivadas del inmovilizado material, las inversiones inmobiliarias y las existencias. Effective January 1, 2010 yes. A partir del 1 de enero de 2010 sí.
How has this come about? The Government issued a moratorium on how "exceptional" is the hardening of the crisis in late 2008, shortly after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. ¿Cómo se ha llegado a esta situación? El Gobierno publicó la moratoria de manera «excepcional» ante el endurecimiento de la crisis a finales de 2008, poco después de la quiebra de Lehman Brothers. Currently, the losses will be even greater. Actualmente, las pérdidas que se tendrán que contabilizar serán aún mayores. However, the Government has not announced any changes. Pese a ello, el Gobierno no ha anunciado cambio alguno al respecto.
There are just 10 days to one of the horizons as black as can be imagined in the current crisis. Quedan 10 días para uno de los horizontes más negros que se puede imaginar en la actual crisis. The end of the period of the Royal Decree Law 10/2008 of December 12 will bring companies throughout Spain to a critical situation. El fin del periodo de vigencia del Real Decreto-Ley 10/2008 del 12 de diciembre llevará a las empresas de toda España a una situación crítica. Their accounts will undergo a radical change that is going to lead to technical bankruptcy, especially those firms that have lots of real estate. Sus cuentas van a sufrir un vuelco radical que les va a llevar a una situación de quiebra técnica, especialmente a aquellas firmas que tenga bienes inmobiliarios. Javier Castrodeza, partner at Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira, warned yesterday that beginning March 1, the wave of bankruptcy proceedings may be huge. Javier Castrodeza, socio de Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira, alertó ayer de que a partir del 1 de marzo la oleada de procesos concursales puede tener una dimensión enorme.
"In December 2008, the Government provided for a vacation of two years in which losses of assets and fixed assets should not be counted. «En diciembre de 2008, el Gobierno preveía una vacatio de dos años en la que las pérdidas de activos e inmovilizado no debían contarse. That allowed them not to face going broke. Eso permitía no tener que afrontar el concurso. Unfortunately, this action ended on 31 December 2009 ', Castrodeza said yesterday, adding: "This means that many companies have not accounted for this in their capital losses, but, as of Dec. 31, they will have to do so". Desgraciadamente, esta medida acabó el 31 de diciembre de 2009», explicó ayer Castrodeza, que añadió: «Esto significa que muchas empresas no tienen contabilizados en sus fondos propios las pérdidas pero, a partir del 31 de diciembre pasado, tienen que hacerlo».
As explained by a partner of Cuatrecasas in a session held by the APD and organized by this same office and La Caixa, the problem at this point is that companies may have a lack of capital from 1 January 2010 in which, two months on in this position, they will have to submit to a meeting of their creditors on March 1. Según lo explicado por el socio de Cuatrecasas en una jornada de APD organizada por este mismo despacho y La Caixa, el problema llegado a este punto es que las empresas pueden tener una carencia de fondos propios a partir del 1 de enero de 2010 por lo que, pasados dos meses en esta situación, deben presentar el concurso de acreedores el próximo 1 de marzo.
The purpose of the measure, on which Elena Salgado, Minister of Economy, has failed to announce an extension, will primarily affect developers but also all those companies that hold real estate (warehouses, premises ...), i.e. almost all. El fin de la medida, sobre el que Elena Salgado, ministra de Economía, no ha anunciado su prórroga, afectará fundamentalmente a promotoras pero también a todas aquellas empresas que tengan bienes inmuebles (naves, locales...), es decir, casi todas. In the current delicate situation, they will have to factor in these new losses in their accounts, joining with companies that are on the razor's edge, and the decree may push them towards an obligatory meeting of creditors, with the inevitable result of more than 90 % who go there ending up in liquidation. A la delicada situación actual, se les va unir estas nuevas pérdidas que deben aflorar en sus cuentas por lo que a las empresas que están en el filo de la navaja el fin del decreto les puede empujar hacia el concurso de acreedores del que más del 90% de las que allí acuden acaban en liquidación.
Unknown risk Riesgo desconocido
There is also a dangerous aggravation. Además, hay un agravante peligroso. Many companies believe themselves in a solvent position and, by the end of this decree, they will have a high risk of insolvency. Las empresas se creen en situación de solvencia y, por el fin de este decreto, y tienen un alto riesgo de caer en insolvencia. In the belief of being out of danger, they are not preparing for the bankruptcy process by which any of their creditors, including those to whom they are on track in their payments schedule, could force a bankruptcy (case brought by the creditor with injurious costs to the debtor). Por su creencia de estar fuera de peligro no están preparando el proceso concursal por lo que cualquiera de sus acreedores, incluso estando al corriente del pago con ellos, podría forzarles a un concurso necesario (proceso promovido por el acreedor y en el que el deudor sale perjudicado).
The office that specializes in financial advice to companies in crisis, disputes and business litigation, maintains that: "What the legislature has to consider is, if given the changes that have hit the economy and medium term prospects, which are not very positive, either we face a problem of a cyclical market and must apply an extension or if the problem is structural and it will need a stronger initiative". Desde la oficina especializada en asesoramiento financiero a empresas en situación de crisis, disputas y litigios empresariales, se sostiene: «Lo que tendrá que plantearse el legislador es, si dada la evolución que ha sufrido la economía y la perspectivas a medio plazo, que no son muy halagüeñas, si estamos ante un problema de tipo coyuntural de mercado y aplicar una prórroga o el problema es estructural y hace falta una iniciativa más contundente».
'Grave mistake of the Government' «Grave error del Gobierno»
The economist and business consultant Fernando Giner said that besides the damage that will hit the productive fabric of the Valencian area to this decree, it appears that the Government has not been able to understand the magnitude of the current crisis. El economista y asesor de empresas Fernando Giner asegura que, además del daño que va a generar al tejido productivo de la Comunitat el fin del decreto, se pone de manifiesto que el Gobierno no ha sido capaz de comprender la magnitud de la actual crisis. "The legislature thought that by this time, we would be already in recovery. «El legislador pensaba que, para estas fechas, estaríamos ya en la recuperación. The government has made a serious miscalculation in thinking that the housing problem was cyclical and not structural, as it is proving. El Gobierno ha tenido un grave error de cálculo al pensar que el problema inmobiliario era coyuntural y no estructural, como se está demostrando que es». Giner also warns of a possible negative reaction in stock markets as companies have to go computing the loss of value of property "in a market that continues heading downwards". Giner, además, avisa de una posible reacción negativa en los mercados bursátiles conforme las empresas tengan que ir computando las pérdidas de valor de sus inmuebles «en un mercado que sigue a la baja».


4 March 2010 Per Svensson (Ciudadanos Europeos):
50% of construction promoters in technical bankruptcy

Company laws (Ley de Sociedades Anonimas and Sociedades de Responsibilidad Limitada) require companies with debts greater than half the value of their share capital, to dissolve. The Government temporary suspended this requirement in December 2008 until 1st January 2010. However, the suspension has not been renewed or extended, and a representative for the association of the 14 biggest promotion companies says that now 50% of all property companies are in this situation and may, therefore, technically be under obligation to dissolve.
The 14 largest property companies lost 2,614 million euros in 2009.

Cinco Dias 19/02/10: Montar un negocio en España, cada vez más difícil

Cinco Dias 19/02/10: Montar un negocio en España, cada vez más difícil

La economía española retrocedió once puestos entre 2008 y 2009 en el 'ranking' de países que ofrecen más facilidades para hacer negocios, donde pasó a ocupar el puesto 62 frente a la posición 51 del año anterior, según un informe elaborado por el Banco Mundial, la Corporación Financiera Internacional y Palgrave MacMillan destinado a investigar las regulaciones que favorecen la actividad empresarial y aquellas que la dificultan.

19-02-2010 - En concreto, el informe destaca que en España el proceso de creación de una empresa requiere diez etapas y un tiempo medio de espera de 47 días, lo que sitúa al país en el puesto 146 entre los 183 países analizados a la hora de comenzar un negocio, frente a la posición 139 del año anterior. Por contra, España se sitúa en el puesto 19 a la hora de cerrar una empresa.

Por su parte, la lista de países con las mayores facilidades para hacer negocios aparece encabezada por Singapur por cuarto año consecutivo, seguido de Nueva Zelanda, Hong Kong y Estados Unidos, que también repitieron sus posiciones del año anterior.

Desde el año 2004, el informe 'Doing Business' analiza las reformas en la regulación de los países dirigidas a mejorar las condiciones para hacer negocios en los países, que en la última edición del informe, correspondiente al periodo entre junio de 2008 y mayo de 2009, alcanzaron un nivel récord de 287 reformas en todo el mundo debido a la crisis financiera y económica.

Un total de 131 economías acometieron 287 reformas, un 20% más que en el año anterior. Las reformas fueron dirigidas en su mayor parte a facilitar la apertura y gestión de las empresas, fortalecer los derechos de propiedad intelectual, mejorar la eficiencia en la resolución de las disputas comerciales y los procedimientos de suspensión de pagos.

A este respecto, el documento destaca la alta actividad reformadora registrada en el Este de Europa y Asia Central, así como en Oriente Medio y el Norte de Africa, ya que en la primera región 26 de las 27 economías reformaron la regulación de las empresas y en la segunda región fueron 17 de las 19 economías las que acometieron reformas.

Cinco Días

Expansión: 19/02/10: La aportación del turismo al PIB cae a su mínimo histórico

La contribución del turismo a la riqueza nacional vuelve a su cota mínima del 10,3% catorce años después. De vuelta a los noventa. El sector lleva una década creciendo por debajo del conjunto de la economía. Sus problemas no son achacables sólo a la crisis

19-02-2010 -

Había quien preveía, con bastante voluntarismo, que el turismo iba a sortear la crisis con mejor salud que otros sectores. Pero el argumento de que el gasto en viajes estaba plenamente interiorizado por el ciudadano, y por ello se mantendría, quedó fácilmente desmentido por la realidad: en el segundo semestre de 2008 las cifras de llegadas de viajeros, pernoctaciones,
ingresos... empezaron a derrumbarse. Y los optimistas que auguraban que, con el sector de la construcción noqueado, el turismo podía tomarle el relevo como motor de la economía, ven ahora cómo su teoría también se incumple.

La aportación del turismo al producto interior bruto (PIB) español ha ido menguando en la última década. Año tras año, desde la máxima cota del 11,7% alcanzada en 1999, la parte de la riqueza nacional generada por el sector turístico va perdiendo fuelle. Y cayendo. La aportación de la industria turística al PIB se hundió en 2009 hasta su mínimo histórico, situándose en
el 10,3% de la riqueza total, según la estimación para el pasado año que se recoge en un amplio informe de la consultora Aguirre Newman.

El dato coloca la contribución del turismo a la economía española en niveles de mediados de los noventa. La cuota del 10,3% del año pasado iguala el mínimo que se registró en 1995, según la serie histórica que comenzó a elaborar el Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) ese mismo año. El último dato oficial del INE, que elabora su Cuenta Satélite de Turismo con un año de decalaje, corresponde al ejercicio 2008 y refleja que la aportación turística al PIB se quedó en el 10,5%.

La crisis no es excusa
España sigue siendo una potencia turística mundial, aunque haya perdido el año pasado su tradicional segunda posición en el ranking mundial en beneficio de Estados Unidos. Sin embargo,el sector, que lleva años jactándose de ser líder, ha ido perdiendo competitividad a raudales.

La crisis ha tenido un duro impacto en la actividad turística, particularmente afectada por la contracción del consumo tanto en España como en nuestros principales mercados emisores (singularmente Reino Unido y Alemania). Pero la crisis económica no es la causa del menguante peso del turismo en la menguante economía nacional.

"España es uno de los pocos países del mundo en que el turismo no crece más que el conjunto de la economía", subraya José Luis Zoreda, vicepresidente del lobby turístico Exceltur. 2010 será el décimo año consecutivo en que el sector turístico crece a un ritmo inferior que el PIB nacional. "Una década con peor comportamiento que el conjunto de la economía demuestra que los problemas del sector no están sólo relacionados con la crisis", sostiene.

Según los datos de Exceltur (que agrupa a una treintena de las mayores empresas turísticas del país), en 2009 mientras que el PIB general retrocedió en un 3,6%, el Índice Sintético del Turismo Español (una suerte de PIB turístico) cayó un 5,6%. Y en 2010, el desfase se mantendrá: el consenso de analistas augura que la economía española retrocederá un 0,5% y,
según Exceltur, el turismo decrecerá un 0,8%. Otro año sin sumar.

"2009 no sólo supone el peor año de toda la serie histórica sino que además se confirma la tendencia iniciada en el año 2000 por la que el sector turístico mantiene un peor comportamiento que la media de la economía", se apunta en el informe de Aguirre Newman. "No es por lo tanto la actual situación de contracción económica la que está afectando únicamente a nuestro mercado turístico, sino que el comportamiento del sector en los últimos 10 años muestra problemas estructurales que se traducen en una pérdida continuada de competitividad", explica la consultora.


Reformas pendientes
Los problemas, lejos de estar vinculados a las vacas flacas de hoy, tienen un sesgo abiertamente estructural. Pero nadie en el sector parece dispuesto a emprender las reformas imprescindibles. España sigue anclada un modelo de turismo de masas de bajo precio que ya no puede competir con los destinos emergentes del mediterráneo, que ofrecen un producto similar un 30% más
barato; sigue sin reposicionar un producto y unas infraestructuras que van
quedándose obsoletas; el sector sigue sin emprender la necesaria concentración de un tejido empresarial exageradamente atomizado y dominado por pequeñas empresas familiares de gestión conservadora... Y sigue, y sigue, y sigue...

"Muchas de las ventajas competitivas que soportaban al sector turístico vacacional español están desapareciendo sin que se muestren claras la nuevas ventajas que lo van a sustentar y lo van a hacer viable y sostenible en el medio plazo", apunta el estudio de Aguirre Newman. "Es esencial si se quiere que España se siga manteniendo en las primeras posiciones como destino turístico a nivel mundial". ¿Queremos?

David Page Polo
Expansión

AUAN Press release - 20.2.2010

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release –20th February 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Representatives of the AUAN met with César Martín Cuadrado, Manager of the “Asociacion de Desarrollo Rural del Almanzora”, the Rural Development Association of the Almanzora Valley, in Vera on Tuesday 16 of February as part of their aim to raise awareness of the specific problems of houses ‘fuera de ordenacion’ in the Almanzora Valley, and to press for intelligent solutions.

The Development Association, which is a business development agency with very good links to the EU is independent of political parties. It covers 26 municipalities and numerous Mayors of the Almanzora Valley are members. The Association is well respected and manages the PRODER program which administers EU funds. AUAN is grateful to Sr Cuadrado for the opportunity given to them to explain their concerns.

AUAN continues to advocate an intelligent and consensual solution agreed between public bodies, interested associations and political parties. This latest meeting follows on from previous meetings with the PP, the IU and the Defensor del Pueblo.

Open letter from Keith Donovan - English/Castellano

Mr. K.R. Donovan

A.P. 1358

Urbanización Camposol Golf,

Mazarron – 30875,

Murcia,

Spain

Mobile - +34 680954160

01-02-2010

Dear Sir,

The Spanish police are to be applauded for their superb detection work in every sphere and at every level of Spain’s community!

Over the last 3 months alone we have read of the seizure of tons of Cocaine and other drugs and the arrest of the perpetrators.

Every day we read of the arrest of more people on corruption charges up and down the length of the county.

Murders are tracked down and brought to justice as are ETA terrorists and their helpers.

So, how IS it that the Property Developers, Promoters and Construction companies appear to be above the laws of Spain?

This group appears to find every way they can to duck or evade or get around the laws of Spain written so as to protect the house buyers!

It appears that the Government of Spain still does not understand what is going on and have injected Spanish taxpayer’s money into the banks that backed the builders and as a result have lost BILLIONS of Euros. Through there own stupidity and greed the banks expect the Spanish people to bail them out.

It is estimated that there are something like 1,500,000 – 2,000,000 buildings that have either been built, half built or abandoned. How may resales? Another 1 million?

If we accept that the exposure of the banks to the builders could be of the order of 300 billion Euros - the opinion of a securities analyst that the exposure of the banks to the cedulas ALONE is nearly another 300 billion Euros (plus other classes of more conventional mortgage backed-securities, which are possibly at least as large), then we are talking about an injection of something of over half of one years GDP in Spain.

That these property developers have been allowed to break so many laws by not meeting the legal obligations and infringing urban law is breathtaking:
*They do not guarantee refund of deposits.

By law they have to!

Law 57/1968 rules that developers will have to provide free of charge to the purchaser/s a bank guarantee or Insurance Policy to guarantee the refund of their stage payments plus 6% interest in the event of the developer becoming insolvent.

What do the Developers always say?” We are too big to have to follow this law” and ignore it? Why is that allowed?

*They do not guarantee indemnification for possible damage to the building.
*They do not build to the building regulations stated by law, concerning noise; humidity/damp; thermal insulation; accesses for handicapped & elderly people.
*They charge the buyer for builder’s electricity & water, this is prohibited by law.
*They do not provide a licence for the work nor a license for first occupancy, without which the buyer will not be able to contract electricity, water & gas supply.

In some cases that is not true as I have water and electricity even though I do not have a Certificate of Habitacion. 7000 dwelling, no Certificates of Habitacion!
*They use contracts that are previously written with abusive clauses against the buyers. My (Spanish) lawyer laughed out loud (and then apologised) when he read the piece of paper that covered my 10 year builders guarantee! He asked if I had read and understood what I had signed, I said yes BUT if I did not sign it they would not give me the keys and I had a removal van with all my goods in it waiting outside!

Why did he laugh? The document stated that any building work required on the building or surrounds, any extra work, wall heightening, pool building etc, in fact anything within the boundaries of my house HAD to be carried out by a named builder! If I did not use this named builder for work and arranged others to do it at half the cost, then my guarantee would become null and void.

The named company was owned by the builders Father-in-Law!

Nepotism, restriction of trade, creating a monopoly – all against Spanish law.

And they demanded the last payment in cash, I wonder why!

*They use solicitors that are on the payroll of their companies, they charge their fees through these firms, making proof of payment more difficult.
*They hand over the properties without them being finished, with damage and construction faults that affect habitability of the house or the whole urbanization.

*They make multiple extra charges: damage repair; finishing incomplete work; legal action, contracts, disputes & reclamations.
*They declare themselves bankrupt when they receive judicial reclamations so that the buyer has to then “quita” (which means, be paid less), and also has to “esperar” (which means, in most cases waiting years to recover part of the money).

*They walk away from urbanizacions that are incomplete and leave the people on them with no electricity, no water, no sewerage and the Spanish Government does nothing!

How is it that the political party in charge of a particular town can approve a development and 3 years later another different political party is voted in and declares the development illegal?

How fair is that?

If I owned a bank and a builder asked me for a multi million Euro loan I would say no problem BUT:-

*There would be a Bank Manager/Supervisor allocated to the project and be involved in all stages of the projects development.

*Any sale would be carried out with the direct involvement of the bank.

All stage payments would be paid directly into the bank and NOT to the promoter etc, etc.

Maybe they could also ensure that all workers on the sites are legally employed and paying Social Security payments?

The banks that are in trouble now are begging for a bailout and the people of Spain are all paying for these reckless, greedy, venal, lazy and incompetent banks as they are rescued with Government money and, as Governments have no money, they only have the Spanish people’s taxes to rescue these banks. They have speculated, gambled and lost, with your money!

The amount of corruption involved in the building industry is mind blowing, and what had been uncovered thus far is the tip of the iceberg. Every day I read that more Politicians, Mayors, Councillors, Architects, Planning Officers and other municipal staff have been arrested on corruption charges.

If the Government want to find out the full extent of this corruption then all they have to do is investigate every large urbanization created over the last 10 years or so. They will be horrified at the numbers. (And the millions of Euros in (untaxed) Black money) and Social Security payments illegally evaded.

And, even now, promoters want to build more new urbanizacions!

As nobody in Europe would be foolish enough to buy off plan anyway, Spain HAS to diversify away from concreting over their lovely country.

Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution states: "All Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing. The public authorities shall promote the necessary conditions and establish appropriate standards in order to make this right effective, regulating land use in accordance with the general interest in order to prevent speculation. The community shall have a share in the benefits accruing from the town-planning policies of public bodies"

TOTALLY AND UTTERLY IGNORED

The Spanish Constitution has been reformed once (Article 13.2, Title I) to extend to the citizens of the European Union the rights as outlined above.

TOTALLY AND UTTERLY IGNORED

Protect all Spaniards and all the peoples of Spain in the exercise of human rights, their cultures and traditions, languages and institutions.

TOTALLY AND UTTERLY IGNORED

The Spanish people are paying dearly for the greed and corruption of the Property Developers, Promoters and Construction companies and the Banks!

Eventually the EU will lose patience with Spain’s inability to cope with this scandal and that could lead to the loss of hundreds of millions of Euros in aid!

Lastly, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index produced by Transparency International, Spain ranks as the 32^nd worst performer as found in 13 independent surveys! That says it all really!

The perception of Spain is that it is on a downward spiral and the people of this country must realise that as long as Central Government down to the local mayors ignore the facts laid out above then there is no hope for the foreseeable future in Spain regaining it’s pride.

Yours Sincerely

Keith Donovan

Sr. K.R. Donovan

A.P. 1358

Urbanización Camposol Golf,

Mazarron – 30875,

Murcia,

España

Móvil - +34 680954160

01-02-2010

Querido Señor Don Insert name here,

¡Hay que aplaudir los esfuerzos de los cuerpos y fuerzas de seguridad del estado por su excelente trabajo en todas las esferas de la comunidad española!

En los últimos tres meses hemos leído que han requisado toneladas de cocaína y otras drogas, así como han llevado a cabo multitud de detenciones de los traficantes.

Cada día, leemos noticias de arrestos de gente con cargos importantes, por delitos de corrupción a lo largo de todo el país.

Tanto asesinos como terroristas son perseguidos, detenidos y llevados ante la justicia.

¿Entonces, como es posible que suceda, que los Empresas Constructoras, Promotores y Constructores están por encima de la ley?

Parece que estos grupos encuentran todas las formas posibles de evadir las leyes y normativas escritas para proteger a los propietarios.

Parece ser que el gobierno de España todavía no entiende lo que esta pasando y han inyectado el dinero de los contribuyentes en los bancos que apoyaron y respaldaron a estos constructores, y que ahora ha resultado en una perdida de BILLONES de euros. Y en estos momentos de crisis derivados de su propia estupidez y avaricia los bancos esperan a que el pueblo les salve de la quema.

Se estima que hay entre 1.500.000 – 2.000.000 edificios construidos, medio construidos y abandonados. ¿Y cuantas reventas? Quizás otro millón.

Si aceptamos que el descubierto de los bancos hacia los constructores poder ser al orden de 300 billones de euros –la opinión de un analista- es que SOLO el descubierto de los bancos hacia las cédulas es casi otras 300 billones de euros (más otros tipos de seguros hipotecarias convencionales, que quizás son iguales de cuantiosos), entonces estamos hablando de una inyección económica de mas de la mitad del PNB de un año.

Se les ha permitido infringir tantas normas a estos constructores que es para quedarse sin aliento.

-No garantizan la devolución del depósito.

¡Por ley lo tienen que hacer!

La ley 57/1968 dice que los constructores tienen que proporcionar, sin cargo alguno al comprador, una garantía del banco o una póliza de seguro para garantizar la devolución de los pagos por fases mas un 6% de interés, por si acaso el constructor se vuelve insolvente.

¿Por qué dicen los constructores que son demasiados grandes para que se le aplique esa ley? Y lo ignoran. ¿Por qué se les permite eso?

-No garantizan indemnización por posibles daños al edificio.

-No construyen según la normativa en base a ruido, humedad, aislamiento, accesos para minusválidos/ancianos…

-Cobran al comprador la luz y agua del constructor. Esto también es ilegal.

-No proporcionan una licencia de construcción, ni licencia de habitabilidad. Sin las cuales el propietario no podrá conectar ni luz ni agua. Es ciertos que en algunos casos esto no se cumple, en el mío por ejemplo, no tengo certificado de habitabilidad, pero tengo enganche de luz y agua. ¡7000 residentes y ni un certificado…!

-Utilizan contratos previamente escritas con cláusulas abusivas para el comprador. Mi abogado (español) se rió cuando leyó la garantía de construcción que me cubría para 10 años. Me pregunto si había leído y entendió lo que había firmado, dije que sí, pero que si no firmaba no me daban las llaves y… ¡Tenia una furgoneta de mudanza fuera con todos mis pertenecías esperándome!

¿Por que se reía? El documento decía que cualquier obra que había que hacer en el edificio o sus alrededores (piscina, muros exteriores, etc.) TENIAN que realizarse con una compañía en concreto. Si no utilizábamos esta compañía y buscabamos otro que nos lo podría hacer a la mitad del coste, la garantía quedaba nula.

Dicha compañía pertenecía al suegro del constructor.

Nepotismo, restricción de comercio, creaciones de un monopolio – todo en contra de las leyes españolas. Y encima querían el último pago en efectivo, ¿Por qué será?

-Utilizan abogados que están en sus nominas, meten cargos para estos, haciendo demostración de pagos bastante mas difícil.

-Entregan las propiedades sin acabarlas, con daños o con fallos de construcción que afectan la habitabilidad de esa residencia o quizás a toda la urbanización.

-Se declaran insolventes y ellos reciben reclamaciones judiciales, dejando el comprador con una pérdida (changed this part to “leaving the buyer at a loss” as it dosn´t make any sense to directly translate what was writen) y en muchos casos esperando años para poder recuperar parte de su dinero.

-Abandonan urbanizaciones inacabadas, dejando a los residentes sin luz, agua, alcantarillado, ¡y el gobierno español no hace nada!

¿Cómo es posible que un partido político, a cargo de un pueblo aprueba una construcción y que tres años después con un cambio del partido y declaran esa misma construcción ilegal?

¿Eso es justo?

Si yo fuera dueño de un banco y un constructor me pediría un préstamo de millones de euros, yo diría: claro, ningún problema, pero…

-Habrá un encargado/supervisor puesto en el proyecto y estaría involucrado en todas las fases del proyecto.

-Cualquier venta seria efectuada involucrando al banco.

-Todos los pagos serian pagos directamente al banco, no al promotor, etc.

-Posiblemente podrían asegurarse de que todos los trabajadores en la obra están contratados legalmente y con seguridad social.

Los bancos que tienen problemas ahora están pediendo ayuda y es el pueblo quien esta pagando a estos bancos vagos, avaros, incompetentes, sin cuidados… solo se salvan con el dinero del gobierno, y como el gobierno no tiene dinero, solo tienen los impuestos para salvar a estos bancos. Han especulado, han jugado con TU dinero y lo han perdido.

La cantidad de corrupción en el sector de la construcción es increíble y lo que se ha descubierto hasta ahora solo es el pico del iceberg. Cada día leo que más políticos, alcaldes, consejeros, arquitectos, planificadores municipales y otros funcionarios han sido detenidos por cargos de corrupción.

Si el gobierno de verdad quiere encontrar toda la corrupción tendrá que investigar todas las grandes construcciones echas en los últimos 10 años. Estarían horrorizados con los números, y los millones de euros en dinero negro y pagos evadidos a la seguridad social.

E incluso ahora, ¡las grandes constructores quieren seguir construyendo nuevas urbanizaciones!

Como nadie en Europa es tan tonto para comprar sobre plano, España TIENE que diversificar más allá de cubrir su maravilloso país de cemento.

Y finalmente,

El articulo 47 de la constitución española dice “Todos los españoles tienen derecho a disfrutar de una vivienda digna y adecuada. Los poderes públicos promoverán las condiciones necesarias y establecerán las normas pertinentes para hacer efectivo este derecho, regulando la utilización del suelo de acuerdo con el interés general para impedir la especulación. La comunidad participará en las plusvalías que genere la acción urbanística de los entes públicos.”

ESTO SE IGNORA TOTAL Y COMPLETAMENTE.

La constitución española ha sido reformada una vez antes (Art. 13.2 Titulo I) para extender los derechos a los ciudadanos de la Unión Europea.

ESTO SE IGNORA TOTAL Y COMPLETAMENTE.

Proteger a los españoles y a todas las personas de España en ejercer los derechos humanos, sus costumbres y tradiciones, idiomas e instituciones.

ESTO SE IGNORA TOTAL Y COMPLETAMENTE

¡El pueblo español esta pagando caro por la corrupción y avaricia del sector de la construcción y los bancos!

Finalmente, según el Índice de Corrupción Percibida, hecho por Transparancy International, ¡España ocupa el lugar 32 en 13 estudios independientes! ¡La verdad es que esto dice todo!

La percepción de España esta en un espiral descendiente y las personas de este país se tienen que dar cuenta de que mientras que el gobierno central y hasta los alcaldes locales ignoran los hechos no hay esperanza en el futuro visible para que España mantenga su orgullo.

Sinceramente,

Sn. Keith Donovan

A Question for Brussels

Please send the following to your MEP:


The European Parliament has called three times for the Spanish Government to come to the assistance of foreign property owners, most recently in an own-initiative report from the Petitions Committee adopted in March 2009 ( P6_TA(2009)0192). It recalled that Parliament, as the budgetary authority, may decide to place funding set aside for cohesion policies in the reserve as a means of persuading a Member State to end serious breaches of the rules and principles which it is obliged to respect as a result of the application of EU law, until such time as the problem is resolved.

Parliament recalled also that the Commission is empowered to suspend structural funding to the Member State or region concerned, and to establish corrections in relation to projects in receipt of funding which are subsequently deemed not to have fully complied with the rules governing the application of the relevant acts. Problems of second-home-owners persist, partly because of divergent views on governance.

The Spanish Presidency has shown a readiness to listen to concerns on this matter coming from several political groups. Does the Council agree that every effort should be made to see that this subject is resolved under this Presidency? What concrete initiatives will it pursue, and when?

Are they going to help us now?

Article by Samantha Kett


“Are they going to help us now?”

The Costa Blanca News speaks to British expatriates in Montroy who have fallen foul of con-artists and been left with illegally-built homes that they do not own, embargoes on their properties, and no electricity or water...

“YOU think you're buying the dream, but what you've really bought is a total nightmare.”
These are the words of Vicky, 37, one of hundreds of homeowners on the non-existent Las Palomas urbanisation in Montroy who purchased their homes in good faith, only to discover they were illegally built and, in some cases, had been sold to several people at the same time.
Last week, the former mayor of Montroy, Javier Carrión, was taken into custody, but was freed the same day after paying bail to the tune of 8,500 euros.
Six others were arrested, including builders and property promoters, with bail payments ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 euros.
Between 2002 and 2006, when Carrión was in office, the total number of houses rose from 780 to 1,530, with new estate after new estate being built at his instigation.
And over 70 of these were built on farmland without planning permission, with numerous defects, and no mains water or electricity.
Their new owners, upon paying for their dream homes, discovered this – and worse, that they did not legally own either their houses or the land because of the illegality of it.
Whilst some have deeds to their properties, the fact they are built without planning permission means they do not truly belong to them.
And others have never been given their deeds, so the properties remain in the name of the developers.
These developers declared themselves bankrupt to avoid paying compensation if they were caught, leaving a string of creditors behind them – something that terrifies those homeowners who do not have deeds in their name.
Hundreds of British, Spanish, German and Scandinavian residents have effectively handed over their life's savings for a house that they do not own.
And even if the land is reclassified as 'urban', and legal to build upon, millions of euros' worth of infrastructure will be needed to make them habitable to the extent that the council will recognise them and consider them part of their jurisdiction.
The fact that the estate does not actually exist means that these residents have disappeared into a black hole – they cannot appear on the local census, and the council does not recognise that they are living in Montroy.

“Quite a few of the houses were double-sold”
“I was renting in Villamarxant and looking to buy, and my landlady told me about a few plots that her friends had bought between them in Montroy,” reveals Vicky, a former hairdresser, who now owns Cheers Bar in Monserrat, three kilometres away, with her partner Richard.
“She recommended the estate agency Morarim, S.L., and put me in touch with the agent, a German guy called Klaus.”
“Klaus the Louse,” interjects Danny, one of the British customers at Vicky and Richard's cosy, welcoming bar. His family, too, have fallen victim to the con-artists.
“He's dead now, apparently, but we don't believe that. We've heard he's hiding out in Dubai. But his business partner, Guillermo, is still around.”
“Well, in jail with a 50,000-euro bail release,” adds Vicky.
“In our case, we bought a resale property. The owners had allegedly sold it back to Morarim because they were ill and were returning to the UK, and we bought it from the agents.
“Then, the day we moved into the property we got a knock on the door – and there was this guy, saying he'd bought the same house! And now all the houses on the estate have embargoes on them.”
“Quite a few houses were double-sold,” Danny continues.
“The new owners were all sold the land as urban, but it was actually farmland so it's illegal to build on. It's going to cost you, what, 40,000 euros, minimum, for the infrastructure, isn't it?” asks John, another customer and friend of the bar owners, but who, luckily, does not live on the same estate.
“These people are my mates, and they've worked so hard for everything they've got – then they lose everything because of those bastards. I could hit them, I really could,” he continues.
“Going back to when I first bought the house,” Vicky continues, “we were told the electricity and water were connected, and that this connection was included in the price of the property. In fact, I was told, the day I looked at the development for the first time, that within a year we would have roads, streetlights, shops, bars, a park, a golf course, a hotel, a communal swimming pool and even a school bus.
“But the water and electricity weren't connected. So, I went to the information office and they said, 'we know, we have a problem but we're fixing it'. And nothing happened.
“It turned out the builders had not paid either their water or electricity bill, and the supply had been cut off. Next thing, the developers provided us all with generators, but they only run for 12 hours a day – usually in the mornings until noon, then from 17.00hrs until midnight. But even that's not guaranteed.”
“You never know, when you go home, whether you'll have hot water or lights on, whether you can use the computer or the TV,” Danny continues.
“And it costs about 280 euros a month to run the generators. That's about six times what the average household pays for electricity. I'm renting a house up there cheaply, because one of the people who was duped when they bought the property decided to let it for next to nothing when he realised he couldn't sell it. But the cost of the generator electricity means I'm really struggling to make ends meet.”
“We've lost so many electrical appliances because of power surges caused by the generators. Our computer went, and the washing machine, the fridge...but of course, as we're not on a mains supply we can't claim on the house insurance,” reveals Richard.
“The community of residents eventually raised the money to pay the water bill ourselves, so we're on tap, but we only get agricultural water since our houses are on farm land. It's not drinkable.

“They just laughed in our faces”
“At one stage, we were so pissed off. Our swimming pool had no boundary wall and was just sticking up out of the ground – there was a ten-foot drop down one side,” Richard carries on.
“There were loads of faults. Loads of construction defects,” Vicky adds. “And, of course, as the houses are illegal we don't get the usual ten-year guarantee on the structure, so we've got to find the money to fix them ourselves. We understand the builder has been arrested, although we're not sure that that's the case.”
“Our daughter, Jade, who's now 15, had a bad accident,” Richard continues. “She was 11 at the time. She tripped on a bit of metal sticking out from the pool, and had to go to the doctor every single day to have bits of gravel pulled out of her knee.”
“I even took her down to the office, showed them the bandaged knee and said, 'look! Are you going to do anything about it now?” says Vicky.
“But they just laughed. That's all they do. If we threatened to go to the police, they'd just laugh and say, go on then.”
“When we had to pay the last ten per cent of the purchase price, to get our deeds, I spoke with the office and they agreed to deduct the costs of the structural defects from that last payment,” Richard explains.
“So they sent a builder, but he did about a quarter of the work and then bogged off back to Germany!
“I was so mad. On every wall of our house I painted, 'Morarim are liars, do not buy here', but the next day they sent the builders in to paint over it.”
“Then there was that other guy who painted 'Morarim are crooks' on his garage door, but I think the builders painted over that, too,” Danny adds.
“We've been lied to again and again,” sighs Vicky.
“That's why we're all drunkards!” adds John, and everybody laughs. The camaraderie in Bar Cheers is one of a close-knit community of compatriots who sorely feel for each other, many of whom suffer the same plight. In fact, it seems to have become a local support group and a haven for the expats of Las Palomas – a place to relax, chat and laugh with their friends, enjoy a bit of home-cooked grub, and forget their troubles.
“If we didn't laugh, we'd cry,” Vicky clarifies. “We're the victims in this! We've been duped. They create an image of a dream, and sell you a nightmare.”
“Most of them are pensioners, the majority British, and with their pensions having gone down because of the exchange rate, they simply can't afford the legal fees to fight this and save their homes. They won't be able to afford the infrastructure if the land is, later, legalised, because they've already spent all their saving on their homes and they're struggling on their meagre pensions as it is,” explains Alan, a friend of John's. “And the Spanish administration is no help. They haven't done anything to help out.”

“It turned out he wasn't even a solicitor”
“My dad bought a plot here four years ago,” continues Danny, tucking into a tempting morsel of Vicky and Richard's 'lemon surprise' cake and cream.
“So did my aunt and uncle. They spent 80,000 and 60,000 pounds respectively, but the developers never built anything. The plots are still in Morarim's name and they don't own them. All they've got is a building contract and a sale-and-purchase contract, but that doesn't mean anything. They're not worth the paper they're written on.
“They had a dodgy solicitor. The estate agents insisted they use this German solicitor, Kai Wagner. He turned out not even to be a lawyer at all. He was going round reclassifying land as 'buildable' when he wasn't entitled to.
“I believe he's now in prison for doing something similar in the Dénia area. I heard about it from someone when I was in a restaurant in Jávea a while back.
“They've spoken to absolutely everyone. They've gone from solicitor to solicitor. But they've basically lost everything.”
“We're also in talks with a solicitor and we believe there are at least three criminal cases, and a number of civil cases running into nearly three figures, against Morarim,” Richard adds, “but we don't know if that's entirely true. It's what we've heard, anyway.”
So, what do they hope their solicitor will do?
“We hope he'll take action on our behalf to lift the embargo off the land. We're suing both the developers and the town hall, because they haven't done anything either and the ex-mayor has been arrested because he let it happen and apparently had links with the developers,” explains Vicky.
And what will their position be if the embargo is lifted?
“Much stronger,” she replies. “It means the house will, effectively, be ours. Once the embargoes have been lifted on all houses on the estate, their owners will be able to sell up if they want to. You can't sell a house with a repossession order on it.
“Lots of them probably will sell, because of the bad memories. But I don't want to. Just to wake up every morning and see the sun and the greenery, the red mountains and olive trees from your window – it's paradise. This is such a beautiful area to live in that it would be a shame if all this had a knock-on effect and nobody wanted to move here.”
“That's going to be the next problem – selling,” Danny adds. “As soon as estate agents hear the name 'Montroy', they'll act as though we've said a dirty word. Our case has tarred the town with the same brush.”
“If only people would get it into perspective,” Vicky agrees. “This is just a small area of the town, and there are hundreds of houses and urbanisations that are perfectly legal and okay. It doesn't mean the whole of Montroy is a dangerous place to live because you might lose your own home.”
And are they confident that the embargo will be lifted?
“I hope so. I know of other owners who've had their embargoes removed, so I guess there's no reason why the same shouldn't happen with ours,” says Richard.
“We're just in limbo. Nobody knows where they stand. Nobody knows what's going on. We're just all waiting for news,” Vicky confirms.

“We're in limbo – we just want to know that we're safe”
“The estate agency office looked so professional when I first saw it, so of course I didn't suspect they were fraudsters. All these official documents, architects' maps...” Vicky continued.
“We heard they were all forged,” adds Richard, “although we're not a hundred per cent sure of that.”
“And with the mayor in jail, and the story having come to light, are they going to help us now?” cries Vicky, with a note of desperation in her voice.
“We've got two children and a young baby at home.”
“And babies, as well as old people – and there are lots of those on our estate – need heating and hot water more than ever,” continues Danny. “But you never know from one day to the next whether you'll have any electricity, and if it goes off, you've no idea when – or if – it'll come back on.”
“People just want to know that their houses will not be taken off them. They just want to know they're safe,” Vicky concludes.
Vicky called a number of other residents on the development, but they refused to come down to the bar as they were too nervous to talk to the press, given their precarious situation.
But The Costa Blanca News has heard that Rodney, a former caretaker from Devon, and George, a retired project engineer, are in the same boat – after paying for their houses off-plan, they arrived to find them with no fences, swimming pools, water or electricity and discovered they had been illegally built.
Another British man actually went to the developers' office and threatened the manager with a stick, six years on from buying his defective house, for which he does not have the deeds.
Richard explained that some of the people paid 100 per cent of the purchase cost up front, amid promises that this would mean their homes would be the first to be built if they did so.
Now, all the residents of the non-existent Las Palomas urbanisation can do is wait – and hope that a solution can be found so that they no longer have to live with the threat of losing their own homes hanging over them like a black cloud.

The Homeowner's Song

They want to take our homes away
They want to pull them down
They want to make us homeless
And leave without a sound

They gave us full permission
And all was notarized
All paperwork complete, they said
Except the one they hide.

Time for them to hear our shout
And exercise our right
We won’t give in and won’t give up
And leave without a fight

We love this place we chose to live
The sun and blue blue sky
The friendly local people
We don’t want to say goodbye.

Used with permission. Suggested accompaniment - Auld Lang Syne

Paradise turned out to be a trap

El Pais: Paradise turned out to be a trap
(Translation of article published on February 7, 2010, see below)

Foreigners chief victims of unscrupulous developers and corrupt political class

EL PAÍS, Thursday, February 11, 2010

For years untrammeled development fueled a real estate bubble that became the ideal breeding ground for political and businesscorruption schemes with ties to illegal construction. And even now, two years after the bubble burst with a bang and plunged Spain into a deep economic recession, the extent of that wave of corruption is still unraveling the length and breadth of the Valencian region.
The common denominator in all the cases uncovered in places such as Catral, Bigastro, Zarra, Llíber or Montroi, is the fact that they are all small communities whose mayors, in connivance with public workers, engineers, lawyers, developers and notaries, took advantage of the freedom that town halls have to run their own planning affairs. Besides fattening municipal coffers, local authorities also lined their own pockets by looking the other way as thousands of homes were built on land zoned as rural — often in exchange for hefty bribes.

The arrest of the former mayor of Montroi for authorizing the construction of 77 houses on rural land is just the latest in a series of corruption cases that have, on occasion, reached Mafia-like proportions: in Polop, the courts are investigating whether the former chief of town planning, Juan Cano, hired two gunmen to murder the mayor, Alejandro Ponsoda, and have free rein to handle his affairs .

Faced with a lack of discipline at the municipal level and an inefficient oversight by the Valencian government (the Consell), the police and the judiciary have finally stepped in to try to curb corruption through criminal proceedings.

Experts consulted by this newspaper agree that the predatory development model of the 1990s must be buried, and the officials involved expelled from electoral rolls. Both the Socialists and the Popular Party (PP), as well as nationalist groups, have been tainted by cases of municipal corruption. On the other hand, the politicians involved know that, so far, graft has never lost any one of them an election.

European buyers have been the main victims of these schemes, especially British and German retirees who make up large communities in the Valencian region. Encouraged by their own thriving economies, they bought illegally built properties almost with their eyes closed. The swindles were helped along by a lack of ethics on the part of local agents who knew the operations were unlawful. When the deception became public knowledge, the duped owners began demanding that their homes be made legal and requested compensation for damages.

Alarm bells regarding the legal insecurity of Valencian real estate first went off following a complaint filed by a group called Abusos Urbanísticos No (or, No to Town Planning Abuse). Enrique Climent, its president, underscores that the flood of corruption cases that have surfaced in the last three years are partly the result of that original complaint. “Let us not forget that the Spanish justice system is slow,” he says, adding that the origin of the problem lies in Valencia’s town planning laws. “The problem began with the LRAU [Ley Reguladora de la Actividad Urbanística], a zoning law that evidences a complete lack of judgment or logic, and which enabled a bunch of people [the developers] to behave like rustlers and appropriate the land that belonged to individual owners. One party [the Valencian Socialists] approved it, and another party [PP] enforced it for 11 years without regulations.”

Since 2002, Climent’s group has filed over 20,000 complaints — 80 percent on behalf of residents of the Valencian region — with the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee. This body sent delegations to the area in 2004, 2005 and 2007 to verify the reports of real estate abuses. Their conclusions were published in what became known as the Auken Report, a devastating document that explained all the “traps” that lay hidden behind Valencian town planning. The report was approved by the European Parliament in March of last year, and only a last-minute change of heart by the Socialist Party prevented the chamber from passing a proposal in favor of a freeze on real estate development. The Consell systematically displayed a disdainful attitude towards these visits from Brussels. The regional chief of town planning at the time, Rafael Blasco, did not even bother to go greet the first delegation. “They said that these alleged instances of abuse were isolated cases, just a few black sheep,” says Climent. “But time has proven us right, and the herd no longer looks so white.”

Climent also highlights that the buyers of illegal properties, especially the British, bought them in good faith. “They bought them because their economic situation allowed for it, but they risked everything in these operations, and sold their homes in exchange for an illegal property in Spain. They were tricked. In one case, an English citizen who bought a home in Montroi signed two contracts, one in English and the other one in Spanish, but it wasn’t just the language that was different — so were the clauses.”

Manuel Alcaraz, a professor of Constitutional Law at Alicante University and president of the group Plataforma de Iniciativas Ciudadanas (or Platform for Citizen Initiatives), says that the root of the problem is the philosophy behind all the building. “It was all the result of a construction model based on making money in the short run, which leads inescapably to speculation and corruption,” he says. Another factor, adds Alcaraz, was the complicity of Spanish society. “This complicity reached the very top of the political parties, especially the PP,” he says. “No effort has been made toward regeneration or political ethics. The PP built its political empire on opacity.” Alcaraz also thinks that a change in legislation is in order. “They should introduce unjust enrichment as a crime. It can’t be normal for public officials who make ¤3,000 a month to display such flashy lifestyles.”

Alcaraz points to the ineffectiveness of control mechanisms as the key to understanding why town planning corruption became so generalized. This lack of oversight begins with town halls, where the departments for zoning discipline have done nothing to curb the excesses, and goes all the way up to the Consell.”

Carlos Arribas, an environmental activist and expert in real estate issues, agrees. “The proliferation of illegal homes on rural land has one root cause: the passivity of the Consell in exercising its powers, as described in the 1994 law on land zoned as not for building. That law includes enough mechanisms, such as the declarations of Community Interest Zone, to have put a stop to all the illegal construction,” says Arribas, the spokesman for the Alicante branch of the environmental group Ecologists in Action.

Another expert points to the deregulation of zoning laws, the lack of oversight and the connivance of public workers and other professionals as the cause of real estate corruption. Honorio Fernández, president of the consumers association AECU, which filed a suit that uncovered a construction scandal in Catral, says: “Montroi, Llíber… it’s all the same, and a result of the successive deregulation of the zoning laws that began under [former Prime Minister José María] Aznar and that extended to the Valencian region and its permissive LRAU,which was implemented without further regulations until 2005,” he explains.

Fernández notes that the cooperation of several types of professionals was essential for the swindles to work. “Without the municipal architects and quantity surveyors, who were more concerned about circumventing the law and approving PAIs [large housing projects built in new areas often lacking even basic infrastructure] than about planning discipline, none of this would have been possible. And the price was paid by the buyers, who suffer a double drama: an illegal home and no services.”

César Belda, Valencia’s dean of notaries, expresses concern over the situation but defends his group because “despite what has emerged and its impact, these are exceptions.” Belda says that the notary association is helping prevent these types of crimes by encouraging its members to keep up with changes to national and regional planning laws, working closely with the Civil Guard and the judiciary, and being more vigilant regarding possible irregularities.

“There is one notary who is implicated, who knew about the irregularities, and we must act against him, because most of us live up to our obligations,” says Belda. “Our job is precisely to ensure the legality of the process.”Experts consulted by this newspaper say there has been a change at the judicial level that has resulted in the persecution of wrongdoers, but they ask for greater forcefulness to restore real estate legality, through demolitions if need be.

The crusade to protect the landscape is spearheaded by the state attorney in charge of environmental and planning affairs, Antonio Vercher. His determination was recently supported by a Supreme Court ruling recommending criminal proceedings “due to the ineffectiveness of administrative discipline.” The Valencian prosecutor supports Vercher, especially when it comes to illegal construction on land zoned as not for building. But the attorney’s office complains about a general lack of cooperation on the part of local authorities and the Valencian government.

Advance notice of demonstration in Malaga - March 17th

The SOHA and various groups are organizing a march in Malaga on the 17th of March during the EU meeting in Malaga (March 17/18)
All the legal issues and march route is being organized at the moment, but we would like to get as many people signed up that will be present.
We need numbers people and the more we have the more they will understand that we are NOT giving up on this one !
Also the facebook online petition, please get friends and family to sign up, so that we are able to contact everyone and also let everyone know what is happening !

There are many people working on this in the background and everyone should know that WE are fighting for All of us and NOT just ourselves !
Our voices HAVE to be heard, not only in the EU Parliament, but in every town hall here in Spain !!


Posted on behalf of AULAN:
If you feel that you can offer your support in Malaga please let me know and AULAN will make arrangements for transport.
AULAN intend to put some funds towards the coach hire but as you can appreciate funds are limited.