Corruption in Spain

The Christmas Speech

2011-12-26T09:48:00.003+01:00

Juan Carlos, King of Spain, gave his Christmas Speech yesterday, under the scandal of his Son in Law, the Duke of Palma and his activities. The tone of the speech was that, in Spain, everyone is equal under the law.
A Spanish blogger, writing as 'Voto en Blanco', begs to disagree:
'La corrupción en España no es, como algunos afirman, una concatenación de casos aislados, sino toda una epidemia nacional alimentada desde los cuarteles del poder y los sectores más poderosos, como si hubieran querido esquilmar la sociedad y exprimirla hasta destruirla'...
'Corruption in Spain is not, as some claim, a number of isolated cases, but an entire national epidemic fed from the headquarters of power and by the most powerful, as if they wanted to gouge and squeeze society so as to destroy it'.
Will things change with the new Government of Rajoy? At least, in political circles, you could be forgiven for saying that you know where you are with the conservatives in matters of the wallet - while it has always fallen to the socialists to surprise you when it comes to the temporary relinquishment of their duty as 'men of the people'.

Victims of Property Corruption

2011-06-23T12:18:00.000+02:00

SPANISH GOVERNMENT IN DENIAL OVER THE NUMBER OF INNOCENT VICTIMS AFFECTED BY PROBLEMS IN THE PROPERTY SECTOR

BANK GUARANTEES FOR OFF-PLAN PROPERTIES IN SPAIN PETITION & FINCA PARCS ACTION GROUP CHALLENGE OFFICIAL FIGURES QUOTED BY SPANISH GOVERNMENT

As Phase One of the Spanish Government Property Road Show nears completion Keith Rule, coordinator of the Finca Parcs Action Group ( www.fincaparcsactiongroup.com) and organiser of the Bank Guarantees In Spain Petition ( www.bankguaranteesinspain.com) which mainly consists of British victims of the Spanish Property Scandals, is challenging official figures recently quoted by Spanish Housing Minister, Sra. Beatriz Corredor.

On 4 May 2011 for over 6 hours Keith led a group of protestors outside the Spanish Embassy in London, while inside, to a group of specially invited corporate guests, Jose Blanco and Beatriz Corredor attempted to ‘Highlight the strengths of the Spanish Economy and the transparency and legal security of buying a property in Spain’. The protestors were denied a meeting with Blanco or Corredor but were eventually granted a 45 minute discussion with two Government officials and an Embassy Representative during which they "asked questions, made notes and took paperwork" without guaranteeing they could resolve the problems.

However Keith feels it is clear from the attitude of the Government officials present at the meeting that they are in denial and are not prepared to accept the number of people affected by property scandals in Spain far exceeds their very conservative ‘official’ estimates.

In response to the protests Beatriz Corredor said "There are 850,000 Britons living in Spainand these problems apply to less than 1% of those".

So according to Corredor there are less than 8,500 Britons affected by all property issues inSpain including Land Grab, Ley de Costas, Illegal Properties, Demolition and Off-Plan Bank Guarantee Issues.

Keith is challenging those figures, he says “The many thousands, including myself, who paid their off-plan deposits in good faith and are now experiencing Bank Guarantee problems are totally unaccounted for and not included in any property register. Therefore they cannot possibly be among Sra. Corredor’s figure of 850,000 Britons ‘Living in Spain’ as they were denied that opportunity due to the fact their properties were either not completed or in many cases not even started. There are hundreds of half finished or abandoned developments all over Spain on which purchasers are at serious risk of losing their off-plan deposits due to Developers and Banks failing to issue or honour the legally required Bank Guarantees”.

He continues, “We know there are around 100 purchasers on the Finca Parcs development with Bank Guarantee issues and for example on the abandoned Grupo Trampolin developments in Murcia alone we hear figures of around 2000 buyers who paid deposits and now have Bank Guarantee issues. As there is no official register of deposits paid by buyers of off-plan property it is difficult to gain an accurate figure of exactly the number of buyers at risk. But one thing we know for sure is that they are all additional those 8,500 with problems as quoted by Sra. Corredor”.

According to Spanish Law, LEY 57/68, ‘The money paid in advance by buyers of off-plan purchases must be received though a Bank or Savings Bank and deposited in a Special Account separate from all other funds held by the developer’. The second article of the Law states that ‘The Bank or Savings Bank that receives the off-plan deposit must, under its responsibility, demand the issuing of the corresponding Bank Guarantee’

However Keith says “Developers and banks failed to issue all the legally required Bank Guarantees and in many cases where they were issued the Banks are now refusing to honour them. Much of the money paid in advance by purchasers is totally unaccounted for and in a ‘black hole’ as many Banks allowed developers to withdraw the off-plan deposits and use the funds for purposes other than the construction of the property which is contrary to LEY 57/68”.

Beatriz Corredor says Britons will only be refunded "if the courts order it".

In direct response Keith says “it is totally unacceptable for Sra. Corredor to force all those innocent victims of Bank Guarantee abuse into expensive legal action through the already congested Spanish Courts”.

His Finca Parcs Action Group has been forced into exactly this situation and had to instruct their litigation team at Costa Luz Lawyers to file a very expensive Lawsuit against Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo (CAM) and the developer Cleyton GES SL for their failure to issue the legally required Bank Guarantees on the abandoned Finca Parcs development. The Lawsuit for the first 47 group members was submitted to the court earlier this year. However, due to slow nature of the Spanish Legal system he estimates it may take 12-18 months for the group to receive a First Instance court decision.

Keith says “There are thousands of simple bank guarantee cases similar to ours where purchasers can prove their funds were paid to the Banks funding the developers, yet the Banks failed to protect the money in a Special Account and failed to issue the legally required Bank Guarantees. There are also many other cases where purchasers did receive Bank Guarantees and the developer has ceased trading or failed to provide the property on time as per the purchase contract, yet the Bank still refuses to honour the Bank Guarantee. Even these purchasers are then forced into expensive and lengthy legal action”.

He continues “Why is it necessary for these relatively simple Bank Guarantee cases to be subjected to the inadequate Spanish Legal System? The Banco de España is the Supervisor of the Spanish Banking System - they stated in their 2008 Annual Report that some banks ‘had not acted with due diligence’ - yet the Banco de España does nothing to ensure these banks act in accordance with Spanish Law, LEY 57/68”.

In the

relatively simple cases such as this would be dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman Service and only in the more complex cases would it be necessary for buyers to resort to the courts.

The Bank Guarantees In Spain Petition is calling on the Spanish Government to set up 'fast track courts' or an Ombudsman to deal with the thousands of outstanding Bank Guarantee cases. It also calls for the Banco de España to be given powers, surprisingly lacking at present, to review cases and force the banks that it supervises to issue refunds.

Spanish President Zapatero said on 6 July 2010 in the European Parliament:

"My country is based on the rule of law and it respects and ensures that laws are respected. The courts are responsible for the application of law. We stand shoulder to shoulder with those people who, maybe, have had the wool pulled over their eyes (deceived) in the Spanish Property Sector" – but Keith says, “What has he done to address the issues?”

Sra. Corredor - when previewing the current Property Road Shows said: "Come here calmly and trust in the system that we have and the transparency we provide".

There are thousands of victims of corruption in the Spanish Property Sector for whom there was and still is no transparency.

The online Bank Guarantees In Spain Petition is gathering detailed evidence relating to corrupt Developers and negligent Estate Agents, Banks & Lawyers. This evidence, together with the full text of the Petition will be presented to the Spanish Government and other official bodies inSpain and the

later this year. So if you are at risk of losing your Spanish Off-Plan Property deposit please go to www.bankguaranteesinspain.com and join the Petition.

Over 1200 innocent victims of the Spanish Housing Market many of whom have found absolutely no justice despite suffering years of expensive and stressful legal action through the inadequate Spanish Justice System have also recently signed Ruth Genda’s online ‘Stop The Spanish Property Road Show’ Petition which is designed as an open letter to UK MP, David Lidington, Minister for Europe.

The only way Spain can rebuild confidence in its battered Property Sector is if the Spanish Government takes notice of the Petitions and Protests and begins to address the serious injustices that have occurred over the past 10 years and puts measures in place to ensure Banks, Developers, Agents and Lawyers can never be allowed to have such a blatant disregard for Spanish Law ever again.

¿Porqué No Hay Democracia Real en España?

2011-05-24T17:18:00.002+02:00

Porque en la democracia española la corrupción es generalizada.

Puede que si decimos corrupción usted sólo piense en Gürtel, pero por ilustrar diremos que en 2009 la justicia española tenía abiertas 730 investigaciones judiciales por corrupción. El oro y la plata se lo llevaban, lógicamente, PSOE –con 264 causas– y PP –con 200–. En las pasadas elecciones municipales y autonómicas concurrieron en las listas electorales cientos de políticos imputados en casos de corrupción –aquí hay una lista con los cincuenta más significativos–. Además, la corrupción no son sólo prevaricación y escándalos urbanísticos. Este año 2011, por poner otro ejemplo de corrupción, hemos sabido que el 20% de los nuevos altos funcionarios del Estado es familiar de otro alto funcionario. Aprovecho para reseñar, y no quiero perder la ocasión de invitarles a que se toquen los cojones, que lo que dice al respecto el autor del estudio es que ‘una hipótesis es que los hijos de los altos miembros de la administración son más competentes que el resto’.

¿Esto es así en todas partes?

No, lógicamente. No es más limpio el que más limpia sino el que menos ensucia. El Índice de Percepción de Corrupción publicado por International Transparency en 2010 señalaba que los países menos corruptos del mundo eran Dinamarca –que también el país de más alta felicidad subjetiva–, Nueva Zelanda –que tiene uno de los PIB per cápita más altos del mundo–, Singapur –por la razón poco espectacular de que tiene una de las leyes anticorrupción más severas– y Finlandia –el país con el mejor sistema educativo del mundo–. De los diez primeros, cuatro eran escandinavos. Diremos, como posdata, que España figuraba en el puesto 30 a nivel mundial y en el 16 entre los países europeos.

¿A quién beneficia todo esto?

Pues imagínenselo. A principios de año PP y PSOE cerraron un acuerdo parlamentario para evitar que la ley les impidiese incluir imputados en sus listas. El votante, aún así, podría sortearlo no votando al candidato imputado y sí a los demás, pero como se ha dicho las listas son cerradas y si quieres votar a un partido, tienes que votar también a sus imputados. La propuesta de reforma de la ley electoral elevada al parlamento el año pasado hubiera acabado con las listas cerradas, pero una vez más fue bloqueada por PSOE y PP.

http://elporquedeunamosca.blogspot.com/2011/05/por-que-no-hay-una-democracia-real-en.html

A Good Answer

2011-05-18T08:35:00.000+02:00

A post on Almanzora Forum regarding Spain's regular cries of how those pesky Brits bought homes here knowing them to be illegal... but cheap!
Can they name these people who knowingly bought an illegal house with no respect for the country and culture? After all since 2008 they have supposedly been reviewing each house on a case by case basis in their words.Who are these people, I haven´t met one yet. If my other half had said to me " we are going to buy this house, it´s illegal but keep stumm, we can build wherever we want and ignore the planning laws" I would have had him certified and committed to an insane asylum. I came from a beautiful 4 bed detached house in England, I had financial and legal security, full professional employment, pension,health care, why would I throw it up to buy an illegal, alegal, irregular or any other insecure type of house? Spain´s not that good ! Ok it has sunshine but so has France, Italy, Greece, even Cornwall on occasions! These people are corrupt, ignorant, racist, bigots. They have bankrupted their country. We have spent hundreds of thousands here on property, cars, furniture, day to day living, earnt honestly by working in industry for 30 years each. If they want to knock our houses down or criminalise respectable retired self sufficient people, why not get on with it, go ahead, see how it improves their economy and their children´s employment prospects. I will make sure no one I can influence will ever buy a property here until the whole sorry mess is sorted out.

Telegraph Ex-pat Spanish Planning Scandal

2011-04-19T13:22:00.002+02:00

A new support for owners of 'illegal homes' in Spain comes from the Telegraph with a page called 'Telegraph Expat Spanish Planning Scandal'.

Telegraph Expat is launching a campaign in support of the hundreds of thousands of British and other expats who have fallen victim to urban corruption and the confused state of property law in Spain. If you have been affected by the problem, please add a pin documenting your story to our Expat Directory (telegraph.co.uk/expatdirectory) under the pin category 'Illegal Spanish Property'. Over time, this will generate an interactive map which will document and expose the full extent of the problem.

The Corruptódromo

2011-04-01T06:52:00.002+02:00

Corruption is becoming a popular topic in Spain, after the Gürtel case in Valencia, Madrid and elsewhere, a bugbear that is plaguing the Partido Popular, has now received a proper balance from the PSOE's own ERE pension scandal in Andalucía. Where will it all end?. The 'No Les Votes' site (following from the Ley de Sinde anti-copying law, many Spaniards will no longer support the three parties who supported the law - after pressure from Washington - namely, the PP, PSOE and CiU) has now produced the Corruptódromo - a map of Spain with the main political corruption cases marked.

Political Corruption

2011-03-11T09:03:00.002+01:00

The Attorney General Cándido Conde-Pumpido says that there are investigations into 730 cases of political corruption across Spain, with the PSOE leading with 264 cases, followed by the PP with 200. Other cases coming from smaller parties or, in 72 cases, for accused public officials without apparent political affiliations. The story comes from the left wing Público newspaper. http://www.publico.es/espana/270893/el-psoe-acumula-64-causas-de-corrupcion-mas-que-el-pp

Crematorio

2011-03-07T12:11:00.002+01:00

The corruption in the real-estate sector - perhaps best enshrined by the goings on in Marbella over the past decade - has now given birth to a series on Spanish TV (Canal Plus) called Crematorio. There's a trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUyhmEx2lGM

Russian lolly, greed, bent councillors, drugs, violence, torrid TV sex, it's all there.

Candidatos Imputados

2011-03-02T08:21:00.002+01:00

En estos momentos, los partidos políticos están cerrando sus candidaturas para las elecciones municipales y autonómicas de Mayo, pero dichas listas podrían incluir cientos de políticos corruptos.

En lugar de presentar candidatos con una trayectoria responsable de servicio publico, los líderes de algunos partidos están utilizando vacíos legales y ambigüedades para incluir imputados por delitos asociados con la corrupción. Hay poderosos intereses económicos que permiten que dichos políticos sigan en el poder, pero si dejamos claro que solo les votaremos si limpian sus listas e impulsan medidas contundentes contra la corrupción, podríamos forzarles a combatir esta plaga y sus desastrosos efectos sobre la vida pública, la economía y el medio ambiente.

No tenemos mucho tiempo. Enviemos un mensaje claro y atronador a los partidos políticos: no queremos candidatos corruptos en las listas electorales. Firma abajo para unirte a este urgente petición por unas elecciones limpias y una acción eficaz contra la corrupción, y reenvíaselo a todos tus conocidos. El viernes, antes de la presentación de sus candidaturas, entregaremos las firmas directamente a los principales partidos, y a través de los medios de comunicación durante toda la campaña electoral.

http://www.avaaz.org/es/spain_clean_up_politics/?vl

A petition to sign against corrupt politicians on the political lists for May. There's a part in English on the website, although it seems more concerned with Rupert Murdoch.

Map of Corruption

2011-02-21T08:56:00.001+01:00

Both the PP and the PSOE have said that they will 'exclude names from the election lists' of people under investigation for corruption. Both parties, according to El País, have happily thrown accusations of corruption at each other - and, of course, elsewhere when it suits - but 'maintain at the same time a moral ambiguity' towards their own.
An editor at El País writes this to a correspondent of mine: 'It is my personal belief that the non-functioning of Spain's justice system is the country's greatest problem and is at the root of almost all evil as it propagates a sense of impunity among wrongdoers and a cynical if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em attitude among the rest of society'.
Defending some fellow-party candidates, the Secretary for Municipal Politics Antonio Hernando says, 'there's no corruption when nobody puts his hand into the till to transfer the money to his pocket'.
The General Secretary of the PP is Dolores de Cospedal. She says that the party has zero tolerance for corruption, but that 'there are some people under investigation, but then the accusations are found to be null and void'.
The PP is currently suffering investigations of massive corruption in Valencia and Madrid in something called the 'Caso Gürtel'.
So it seems that, by the time some of those better-known cases of corruption in high places are finally sentenced, the players can reasonably expect to be dead.
Here's an interesting map of political corruption (just the heavier stuff) in Spain.
In similar news, the two parties have agreed not to disallow 'transfugas' or 'turncoats' from their lists.

From The Entertainer Online

Tips on House Buying in Spain (Wikihow)

2011-01-18T04:18:00.002+01:00

'More unlucky foreign home buyers, mostly Germans and British, choosing property in Spain are in danger from government corruption scandals and building created without valid permits. This corruption threatens homes, mortgages and other assets. To avoid these kinds of problems in the future, when moving to this lovely area of the world, consider the following tips. How should the average Joe looking to buy a place in the sun avoid the all-too-real threat of seeing their dream bulldozed in years to come'?

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Investing-in-Illegal-Spanish-Property

This site is worth a look (but ignore the google-ads while reading - you can always check them later)!

Spanish Property Auction Corruption

2011-01-12T18:08:00.001+01:00

A brief insight into suspected corruption within Spanish property auctions within the region of Valencia and possibly throughout Spain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VuLlcfrdjw&feature=player_embedded

Quote of the Year

2010-12-27T17:48:00.002+01:00

'El problema de fondo, aquí, es la mentalidad de corrupción generalizada que se vive desde hace siglos y que ya se percibe como natural'. The essential problem here is the generalised mentality of corruption which has been the norm for centuries and is seen as completely normal behaviour.
Editorial, Última Hora, Menorca. December 27, 2010.

AUAN Press Release – 2nd November 2010

2010-11-02T11:43:00.000+01:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 2nd November 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org or call 646506943

HELEN AND LEN PRIOR - ANOTHER SETBACK IN THEIR FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

Nearly three years after their dream home in Vera was demolished, British pensioners Helen and Len Prior faced another setback in their fight for justice last week.

The Administrative Courts, after a retrial of the case ordered by the Supreme Court in April last year, have upheld the original decision of the Junta de Andalucia requesting the demolition of their home. The decision was taken on the basis that the property was built on rustic land and could provoke the growth of an urban nucleus.

Last year the couple were finally offered temporary housing by Vera council. They had already spent two years living in what was formerly the garage of their demolished home.

Helen and Len, who are innocent victims of a planning row between Vera council and the Junta, will now have to seek compensation for the loss of their £350,000 home from Vera council who incorrectly issued the planning consent. It is likely that this process will take years, given the perilous state of town hall finances and Spain´s notoriously slow legal system.

The implications for the eight homeowners in Albox who face similar proceedings needs to be assessed, but this ruling is not good news for the many innocent victims of planning injustices in this area.

Paradise Lost - En Castellano

2010-10-26T11:30:00.004+02:00

It occured to us here that the Spanish remain unaware of the quantity of shows on British TV and in the British newspapers about the rampant corruption in Spain. Spain's media, tied at the hip to her politicians, doesn't react to criticism from a load of foreigners very well, and these shows have never been broadcast here.
Here follows a video (regularly shown on the British Telly and seen by millions of viewers) called 'Paradise Lost'. It's about a small village in Almería, Cantoria, and has been dubbed by friends into Spanish. You might want to pass it around.

Part I

Part II

AUAN Press release 19.10.2010

2010-10-19T10:20:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 18th October 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org or call 646506943

ILLEGAL HOMES: FACED WITH THE JUNTAS FAILURE, BRITISH RESIDENTS PROPOSE SOLUTIONS

AUAN had a meeting today in Macael with the Delegate for Public Works and Housing, the Director General for Urban Planning and the Director General of the Planning Inspectorate of the Junta de Andalucia.

After the meeting, the President of AUAN, Maura Hillen, said, “We are bitterly disappointed with outcome of the meeting. This was supposed to be a working party to discuss a road map; no work group was formed, neither were we given the supposed road map. We aren’t clear, in fact, what the purpose of the meeting was nor why we were invited.

The first legal proceedings were initiated seven years ago. Since then not one single house has been legalised. Seven years of opportunity have already been wasted.

In our opinion, the Junta doesn’t know how to deal with the problem. Therefore, we presented them with a white paper outlining some possible solutions, asking them to study them and give us their opinion.

We hope the Junta wasn’t simply playing to the gallery in calling this meeting and that they will be brave and intelligent enough to take concrete steps, have a constructive dialogue with the affected parties, and offer fast and effective solutions which we believe can only be achieved by a change in the law.

Politicians can no longer afford to ignore the social and economic damage being inflicted on this valley by their failure to effectively address urban chaos”

**********

(Se adjunta el informe de AUAN)
Abusos Urbanísticos Almanzora No
Luchando para proteger nuestros hogares
Nota de Prensa AUAN –18 de octubre de 2010
Contacto: Patricia Sampson, Tel: 646506943 Email: info@almanzora-au.org
CASAS ILLEGALES: ANTE LA INCAPACIDAD DE LA JUNTA, LOS BRITANICOS APORTAN SOLUCIONES
AUAN se ha reunido hoy en Macael con la Delegada de la Consejería de Obras Publica y Vivienda, el Director General de Urbanismo y la Directora General de Inspección Urbanística de la Junta de Andalucía.
Tras la reunión, la Presidenta de AUAN, Maura Hillen, declara “sinceramente, estamos disgustados que en la reunión que ha tenido lugar, teóricamente un grupo de trabajo para discutir una hoja de ruta, ni se ha formado grupo de trabajo alguno, ni nos presentaron con la supuesta hoja de ruta. No tenemos claro, de hecho, cual era el objetivo de la reunión y con que objeto fuimos convocados.
El primer procedimiento que llegó a nuestra atención se inicio hace siete anos. Pero hasta ahora no ha sido legalizada ni una sola casa. Siete anos de oportunidad ya han sido desperdiciados.
Nuestra opinión es que la Junta no sabe como afrontarse al problema. Ante todo ello, hemos presentado a la Junta un informe ofreciéndoles unas posibles soluciones, pidiéndoles las estudien y nos den su parecer.
Esperamos que la reunión no fuese simplemente para la galería y que la Junta sea valiente e inteligente y tomen pasos concretos, dialogando constructivamente con los afectados para ofrecer soluciones que forzosamente tendrán que pasar por un cambio normativo.
Nuestros políticos no pueden permitirse el lujo de seguir cerrándose los ojos ante el daño social y económico de que sufra la comarca por su falta de afrontarse efectivamente al caos urbanístico”.

Letter to Sr. Marc Pons Pons, Presidente, Consell Insular de Menorca

2010-10-05T10:12:00.002+02:00

Michael Lermontov Midgley

Edifico 2, Apt. 3, C/d’es Port, Es Castell, Menorca, 07720. Tel. 971 364 292. Email afcpetition@hotmail.com

Sr. Marc Pons Pons

Presidente

Consell Insular de Menorca

Placa de la Biosfera 5

07701 Mahon

Menorca

Spain Octubre 4, 2010.

Estimado Sr. Pons,

CARTA ABIERTA AL PRESIDENTE DEL CONSELL INSULAR DE MENORCA, SR. MARC PONS PONS

El pasado mes de junio una compañera suya de partido (PSOE) le entregó un informe detallado de un caso de estafa inmobiliaria contra una pensionista británica, residente permanente en la isla, con la petición expresa de velar por los intereses de la pensionista.

La petición es consecuente con los valores que España ha prometido apoyar como firmante de la carta de derechos fundamentales de la Unión Europea y con el derecho otorgado al Estado por la Constitución española permitiéndole intervenir, por motivos de interés público, en un negocio privado.

Constatamos, pasados tres meses, que se ha hecho caso omiso a la petición, por lo que quisiera, una vez más, atraer su atención poniendo especial énfasis en los siguientes puntos:

. La propiedad inmobiliaria consiste en el domicilio de la pensionista y en lo que viene a ser un fondo para su jubilación. El valor global es de aproximadamente 1.500.000€, cantidad que constituye, probablemente, uno de los mayores desfalcos inmobiliarios cometidos en España contra una ciudadana británica.

. Los dos menorquines involucrados en el asunto son un importante contratista local del Govern Balear y un agente inmobiliario con acreditación de API, quien, además es vocal del Partido Popular y tiene, al parecer, antecedentes penales.

. Durante el desarrollo del caso, los dos menorquines han burlado repetidas veces las leyes de protección al consumidor, tanto españolas como europeas. No han respondido a las demandas de información para una auditoria de Hacienda, ni a la demanda de información enviada por “burofax” por la abogada de la pensionista, ni han confirmado ni desmentido si existen antecedentes penales para uno de los implicados.

. Según la ley española, el derecho a la presunción de inocencia está seriamente comprometido si hay antecedentes penales y si hay obstrucción a la hora de proporcionar datos relevantes.

. El consejo legal dado a la pensionista es: “Que se pueden presentar serios cargos de fraude en el juzgado penal.”

. Sin embargo, la actitud de los menorquines implicados parece ser ésta: “Aunque nuestro comportamiento haya sido criminal, no podéis conseguir nada. En Menorca podemos actuar con impunidad.”

. Esta impresión ha sido corroborada por el Consejo del Parlamento Europeo cuando afirma que el sistema judicial español puede que no “sea un sistema efectivo para conseguir justicia.”(Auken Report), y también por una ONG domiciliada en Berlín: “Transparency International”, que afirma que el 40% de los españoles consideran que el sistema judicial español es corrupto. El monitor británico de Internet, “Eye on Spain”, aconseja que: “no hay nadie fiable en España referente a la propiedad inmobiliaria, incluyendo a agentes inmobiliarios, abogados, promotores e incluso al gobierno.”

. El trasfondo general de este caso es la epidemia nacional de fraude inmobiliario dirigido contra británicos. Un programa de televisión británica decía que “el tamaño del problema da miedo.”

. El Parlamento Europeo ha dicho que incluso el estado español es una victima significante del fraude inmobiliario.

. En Menorca el fraude inmobiliario pone en juego la buena reputación de la isla como destino seguro para inversiones. Por ejemplo, la asociación española Ciudadanos Europeos, aconseja a los extranjeros que no compren propiedades en Andalucía hasta que no se haya arreglado y limpiado la corrupción del mercado inmobiliario. En el caso de Menorca, quisiera que usted leyera las cartas adjuntas de “The London Times”, de Sir Richard Branson y del vicepresidente de Abusos Urbanísticos, No! (AUN), Charles Svoboda.

. A propósito de los menorquines implicados en este caso, quisiera advertirle de lo siguiente:

La existencia de profesionales está justificada para dar un servicio público de un nivel de competencia superior al requerido a un individuo privado ante la ley. En una entrevista el día 29 de septiembre del 2010 en las oficinas de Maó, un inspector de hacienda nos confirmó que el API implicado en este asunto tiene antecedentes penales por fraude. Es de suponer que ello es incompatible con una actividad profesional inmobiliaria.

Es también de suponer que los contratistas que trabajan para el estado, en este caso para el Govern Balear, deben atenerse a formas de conducta éticas. Si hay fraude o si cometen faltas contra la ley y éstas llegan al público, se pone en tela de juicio:

1 La integridad del contratista.

2 Sus cualificaciones para ser contratista.

3 La falta de competencia y de juicio del órgano de gobierno a la hora de otorgar los

contratos.

Ante la desesperación de esta pensionista británica, le ruego que examine atentamente su caso y que se interese por él. Le recuerdo que el pueblo espera legítimamente que sus gobernantes respondan con contundencia ante la evidencia de actuaciones abusivas, lesivas para los ciudadanos.

La confianza del pueblo en su gobierno no se mantendrá si se demuestra que:

1 Emplea contratistas corruptos y abusivos.

2 Tolera que individuos con antecedentes penales se admitan en los colegios profesionales.

3 El sistema legal no puede responder con efectividad a situaciones fraudulentas.

Dado la naturaleza tan seria del asunto, le ruego que, por una parte, advierta al Consejo General de los Colegios Oficiales de Agentes de Propiedad Inmobiliaria de España y le solicite que:

1 Investigue la conducta del API en este caso

2 Explique cómo una persona con antecedentes penales continúa ejerciendo de API

Por otra parte, que proceda a suspender los contratos vigentes con el contratista implicado hasta que responda adecuadamente sobre la adquisición de la propiedad de la pensionista víctima del fraude.

Que encargue, además, una investigación independiente si el caso no se resuelve dentro de un intervalo razonable de tiempo.

Si no da curso a mi demanda, le ruego que me explique el porqué de su negativa, o el obstáculo que le impide actuar.

Dado el caso de esta pensionista ¿Cómo se puede justificar este fraude ante el pueblo y continuar pidiendo a los británicos, y en particular a los pensionistas británicos, que tengan confianza en sus operaciones de compra venta en Menorca?

Quedo a su disposición por si quiere un informe actualizado sobre este asunto.

Agradecería una rápida respuesta. Muchas gracias.

Atentamente,

Michael Lermontov Midgley

P. D. Envío copia a otros receptores.

Voting in Spain blogspot

2010-10-03T10:44:00.000+02:00

Here is a link to a Voting in Spain blog:

http://www.votinginspain.blogspot.com/

Caso Malaya

2010-09-27T08:33:00.001+02:00

We shall be reading lots about the 'Caso Malaya' - the Marbella property scams which brought down the government of that city (although not until Jesus Gil, the master-fraudster, was carefully out of the way) as the trial starts today, 27th September. The trial is for an impressive 95 people: mayors, town hall architects, personalities, lawyers, cops and so on and will no doubt keep us refreshed, amused and scandalised for months and years to come.
Big stuff, with hundreds of millions of euros sloshing around. So, don't be in any hurry for judicial investigations and revelations into the smaller towns, with more modest crimes of corruption, a few bob missing here and there...
From: The Entertainer Online

Video Nasty

2010-09-18T08:26:00.001+02:00

For the Reader's amusement (just when you thought you had seen it all)!

Desperate times

2010-09-15T21:41:00.002+02:00

This letter is a follow-on from a report published here:

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_24588.shtml

and is published with the permission of Alain:

I will write this email in English, because I even do not have the strenght to translate anymore into Spanish !
This morning I received a visit from the local Police here in Cartama, to take pictures of our house to send back to the judge to see if we have really demolished the house as per the demolition order that we received in January of this year.
The local police told me that he is just doing what is ordered and I fully understand that, but how come, two houses away from us, the sister of a local police has not even received a fine ?
My personal chapter in this story is coming to an end, or it seems like it and all of the fighting that we have been doing, seems like it is just a waste of time if we cannot ALL get together and fight harder.
I said over and over again in hundreds of meetings, that we have to stay together and be strong and they will have to give in to all of their corruption, but it never happened and a few of us tried very hard !!
I am sick of paying lawyers, gestors, town halls, fines, tax offices and all of the rest and it only seems like we are paying into a pot that is shared between all of the corrupt people that has our faith in their hands !!
My friends, as I said before and I will stress it again, this is WRONG and I will go to jail for it, if someone comes to tear our house down !!
Our house is 500 meters away from the new hospital in construction and it is on its fourth floor at the moment, so I guess that they need the land also to expand in the area and the only way to do it is this way.
Are we REALLY part of Europe and if so, is this really the dream of a European Union that is together and same laws for all citizens in each country and if so, do we not have the right to own a house?
We payed for our building licenses to the Cartama town hall, nine years ago, we are registered in the house, we have been paying taxes now for the last 7 years on the house and on the plot, my daughter was born here and goes to school here, we vote in Cartama, we own two companies and employ local people and pay taxes legally ....what else do they want ? Three years ago, I spend 12 weeks in hospital, due to stress and have still not recovered 100% and my mind is just messed up with all of this corruption that is around us.
I was proud to live here, work here and have friends here......... but all of this is just draining away and I have nowhere else to go, with everything invested here !
May God take care of my daughter and the lady of my life, if anything happens to me. but I really cannot just stand up and accept all of this corruption anymore, after all, I am JUST human with a heart and a soul.
This is NOT a life anymore and the sad thing about all of this is that I am NOT the only one that is living this nightmare !!

Regards to all !!

Alain

SPANISH GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO SEVERELY CURTAIL VOTING REGISTRATION POSSIBILITIES FOR EU RESIDENTS IN SPAIN

2010-09-15T09:52:00.000+02:00

PRESS RELEASE - C.L.A.R.O. - Partido para Orihuela-Costa

13 SEPTEMBER, 2010

NO VOTE NO VOICE SETBACK

SPANISH GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO SEVERELY CURTAIL VOTING REGISTRATION POSSIBILITIES FOR EU RESIDENTS IN SPAIN

A decision by the voter registration office (Censo Electoral) in Madrid announced in the Official Bulletin on 7 September, 2010 will severely curtail voting registration possibilities for next year’s local elections for those European Union citizens (majority British) resident in Spain since before 2007. This is a serious setback for the No Vote No Voice integration campaign being enthusiastically promoted by civic groups and local media, with official support from the British Ambassador in Madrid and Consulates in Spain.

Contrary to the procedure followed in previous local (and European Parliament) elections, those EU residents on the municipal register (padron) before the last local elections in May, 2007 WILL NOT receive a voting application form by post which simply needs to be signed and returned postage paid to the Censo Electoral. Whatever their circumstances, whether they have health, mobility or transport problems and without being sure of their rights and the documentation needed, they will have to go personally to their local Town Hall to fill in a voting application form.

It is obvious that this restriction will affect the great majority of EU citizens who moved to Spain and took up residence in the boom years before the present crisis began in 2007. It is, therefore, a deliberate and targeted decision which will result in the number of EU citizens registered to vote being kept at the present very low levels. It will introduce discrimination between those who were registered on the padron after the 2007 local elections, who will receive the voting application form by post and those registered on the padron before 2007 who will not. It will also discriminate between EU citizens who have been resident in Spain since before 2007 and, for example, citizens of Norway and those of mainly Latin American countries who will be able to vote next year and who will soon receive their voting application forms by post. It will also widen the gap between voting registration facilities for the Spanish, who are automatically registered on the voters list when they register on the padron, and the non-Spanish, long term EU residents who are going to lose a very important facility to enable them to register to vote.

The stated reason for this restriction is to save money by limiting the number to whom the voting application form is sent by post. The justification used is that those on the padron before 2007 will previously have received voting application forms by post and if they have not registered to vote, they are not interested. This is a particularly harsh judgment. It flies in the face of incontrovertible evidence that in previous years, for various reasons and sometimes on a massive scale, voting application forms sent by post were not received and were returned undelivered by the post office to the Censo Electoral. The most striking example of this occurrence was in Orihuela Costa in Alicante where some 12,500 voting application forms (75% of those sent) were returned undelivered. (It is equally certain that many of the remaining 25% also failed to reach addressees but were not formally returned as undelivered.) The consequence of the present decision to curtail voting registration facilities will mean that those people who, for no fault of their own, failed to receive the voting application form for the 2007 local elections, will not receive it this time either. Instead of taking action to improve the efficiency of the voter application by post facility, the Censo electoral is going to eliminate hundreds of thousands of people from the facility altogether.

The argument that it is sufficient to have sent the voting application form in the past also ignores the right of long term EU residents to change their mind and decide to register to vote for next year’s elections if they have become more interested in and more integrated in the life of their local communities. They should be encouraged rather than discouraged to do so.

The decision of the Spanish government to restrict the facilities for voter registration for long term EU residents is a complete denial of the government’s proclaimed policy of promoting integration. The government has been notably lacking in its support for EU citizens who have been the victims of land and urban abuses in Spain. Now they are taking a deliberate backward step which will hinder integration. It is an incomprehensible decision at a time when, often because of corruption in local government, Spain’s reputation as a destination for residential tourism and a haven for the purchase of holiday homes is under severe criticism. Greater participation in the political process by EU expats living in Spain, who are so often the victims, would surely be an effective means of helping prevent the causes of urban abuses.

The justification of saving money is most unconvincing. Since the whole voter registration machinery of the Censo Electoral remains intact and will function for all but the long term EU residents, the only saving will be the postage. How can such a meagre saving be envisaged at the expense of the hundreds of thousands of EU residents who have contributed so much to the Spanish economy by their investment in property, payment of taxes and their daily consumption of Spanish goods and services?

The Spanish government is obliged by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as European and Spanish law, to guarantee the right to vote of EU citizens resident in Spain in local and European Parliament elections “under the same conditions” as Spanish nationals. Now, the Spanish government is taking a deliberate and serious step away from this obligation.

It is hoped that this retrograde decision will be opposed by EU citizens resident in Spain and the hundreds of civic groups which they have created. They should protest by all means possible: in the media, local, national and international, with their Ambassadors in Madrid, the national Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) and directly to the provincial office of the Censo Electoral (telephone number of the Alicante office 901 101 900) seeking information and, if possible an exemption from this harsh decision. The possibility of legal action is being urgently studied.

It is not too late to reverse this mean, unfair and damaging decision. If the Spanish government gets away with it this time, who knows what they will do in the future not only in relation to voting rights but perhaps padron rights more generally – a policy with disquieting implications called “limpieza del padron”, clearing up the padron, has already been started.

To reverse the decision will require an urgent, serious and determined effort on the part of many people. It is an effort worth making.

Spain's Property Laws Headed to Court

2010-09-13T20:48:00.000+02:00

Posted by Kevin Brass

After years of complaints and political challenges, the European Union's

Court of Justice is scheduled to review Spain's notorious "land grab" laws

next week.

During the boom years, many regional governments in Spain adopted laws

allowing jurisdictions to annex land for new developments, in many cases

with little or no compensation. Many of the properties were owned by expats,

who bought in good faith, without knowing their property might be subject to

seizure.

Next Thursday the court will focus on the laws in Valencia, where the land

grabs were considered most egregious. Several protest groups were spawned by

the Valencia policies, including Abusos Urbanisticos No, which works with

protesters around the country.

The court won't address the propriety of taking land, only its

appropriateness for funding public works projects. Specifically the court

will review Spain's failure to follow EU's law on the "coordination of

procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts

and public service contracts," according to the published agenda.

"The Commission considers that the LUV [Valencia's land law] infringes the

Community public procurement directives in various aspects," and that

Spain's government has "failed to fulfill" it's obligations under EU law.

Members of European Parliament have long condemned Spain's unwillingness to

address the regional government's laws. But the ability to take action

against Spain falls to the Court of Justice, which could levy heavy fines.

"This marks an important--almost final--step in a long process that we hope

and trust will seriously erode some of the more predatory aspects of the

land laws in this region," said Charles Svoboda, vice-president of the AUN,

in a statement.

New rules on voter registration

2010-09-07T12:23:00.001+02:00

Received from the AUN:

We have been forewarned of a serious restriction of voter registration procedures to be adopted for the 2011 municipal elections.

A Director General in the Censo Electoral in Madrid has told us that when arrangements are announced in the next few days for voter registration procedures for next year’s municipal elections, they will NOT include a procedure which featured in the voter registration procedures for the 2007 municipal elections and the 2009 European Parliament elections. Voting Application Forms will NOT be sent by post to all voting age, non-Spanish EU citizens registered on the municipal padron. Voting application forms will only be sent to those expats registered on the padron AFTER the May, 2007 local elections.

We consider this is a retrograde step which will greatly reduce the potential number of EU non-Spanish residents who could register to vote. Already the percentage of eligible expats who are registered to vote is very low, in Alicante on average, 10-12%. If 50% of those registered to vote actually vote, participation of non-Spanish EU residents would be so low as to be almost insignificant.

The stated reason for this measure is to save money. However, we believe the amounts involved will be minimal. If the Spanish government really wants to save money on voter registration for non-Spanish EU residents they should automatically include them on the voters list when they register on the padron, which is the procedure for Spanish nationals. This would more closely resemble the obligation in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union that EU citizens residing in another EU member state should have the right to vote under the same conditions as the nationals of that state.

The voting application form sent by post some 8 months before the elections to those eligible to register to vote is the most efficient and simple form of voter registration. The application form needs only to be completed and signed and returned postage paid direct to the provincial Censo Electoral. If these forms are not sent to those already on the padron before the last municipal elections in 2007, i.e. during the period when mass expat immigration took place, the great bulk of resident expats will not receive them. After May, 2007, with the onset of the crisis, it is likely that relatively few new residents will have registered on the municipal padron.

If the procedure for sending the voter application form by post is to be so severely curtailed, it will effectively leave as the only alternative, for the great majority of expats, to register in person at their Town Hall. For many people, for example those of retirement age, this will mean the hassle of a visit to the Town Hall, the uncertainty of documentation requirements and the prospect of language and communication difficulties. It will not facilitate high levels of voter registration. (In principle those registering on the padron should simultaneously be asked if they wish to register to vote: the fact that voter registration percentages are so low indicates that Town Halls are not doing their job and cannot be trusted in this politically sensitive area.)

We were told that those who were registered on the padron before 2007 will already have received voter application forms in the past and if they had not registered it was because they did not want to. This is a harsh judgement and does not allow for expats to change their minds, for example when they become more aware of the issues and want to influence local governance.

It is also a refusal to acknowledge the phenomenon of “devoluciones”, the return of voting application forms which Correos were not able to deliver. This happens on a large scale. Orihuela Costa is a prime victim. In the autumn of 2006 we were told that 12,500 voting application forms had been returned undelivered, nearly 75% of the total sent. The reason for this massive non-delivery of voting application forms is because Orihuela Costa did not have at the time an official address system. Street names and house numbers were those provided by developers and did not correspond to padron addresses to which the Censo Electoral sent voter application forms. Orihuela Town Hall had not even modified an out of date post code. Since 2008, after legal action and a Petition to the European Parliament, Orihuela Costa now has a physical address system which largely corresponds to padron addresses. The bombshell is that the 12,500 who were on the padron before May, 2007 will not receive voter application forms this time either.

The phenomenon of “devoluciones” is not unique to Orihuela Costa. In October-November, 2006, we saw with our own eyes in the Alicante office of the Censo Electoral trays full, literally thousands of returned undelivered voting application forms from elsewhere in Alicante province. We can only assume that similar address problems or postal unreliability were the explanation.

We know that your principal concern in AUN is with urban abuses but a great majority of these problems probably arise from corruption or bad governance by local Town Halls. More effective participation by expats in local government would be a way of controlling such abuses – politicians listen to voters. More effective participation begins with greatly increasing voter registration.

The latest decision, if confirmed, will not contribute to greater voter registration by expats. This consequence must be realised by the government – we have emphasised it with our contact in Madrid. He told us that there would be no announcement of this restriction, it would simply be observed in practice. However, the Censo Electoral would study the situation in the three weeks or so after the announcement, later this week, of the general arrangements. Implicitly, there would seem to be a possibility of a change of position depending on the reaction. However, by not announcing the restriction and perhaps not making it explicit in any published regulations, they are not facilitating any critical reaction!

We are so concerned by this retrograde measure that we plan to launch a media protest involving local, national and international media, letters to EU Ambassadors in Madrid, Ombudsmen and if there is a base, legal action and action with the European Parliament. We are also contemplating a demonstration in front of the office of the Censo Electoral in Alicante. This will involve a lot of activity in the next 3 weeks.

AUAN Press release – 30th August 2010

2010-08-30T20:15:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 30^th August 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Zurgena: Homeowners in Los Carasoles called to court to take part in legal proceedings relating to their properties

Homeowners in the Los Carasoles area of Zurgena have been invited to attend Court Number 2 in Heurcal Overa on the 8^th of September to take part in legal proceedings relating to their properties.

The properties are located on Poligono 4, parcela 98, subparcelas a and e in the area of Los Carasoles. The case (49/2009) appears to have been initiated by some or all of the homeowners.

AUAN strongly recommends that anyone not currently party to this case owning a property on this parcel of land would be best advised to seek legal assistance and take part in the legal proceedings to protect their interests.

The announcement was made on 30^th of August on the official bulletins of the province (BOP). This site is monitored by AUAN volunteers.

(See extract below)

8268/10

JUZGADO DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA E INSTRUCCION NUMERO DOS DE HUERCAL-OVERA

Procedimiento: PROCED. ABREVIADO 49/2009.

N.I.G.: 0405343P20060004242.

Contra: MANUEL MARTINEZ CANOVAS, DIEGO LOPEZ VALERA, ANTONIO LOPEZ RAMOS, CANDIDO TRABALON FERNANDEZ, MANUEL TIJERAS CRUZ, EMILIA JESUS JIMENEZ PEREZ, ANICETO LOPEZ MARTINEZ, JOSE ANTONIO RAMOS MUÑOZ, JUAN MORALES DIAZ, JOSE JUAN SANCHEZ, JOSEFA SANCHEZ GARCIA, CARLOS BERBEL FERNANDEZ y ADORACION GOMEZ FABREGA.

E D I C T O

D./Dña. Esther de la Cruz González, Secretario del Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instrucción Número 2 de Huércal-Overa.

DOY FE Y TESTIMONIO: Que en el procedimiento abrebiado n° 49/2009 se ha dictado providencia del siguiente tenor literal:

“Se señala día 8 de Septiembre a las once horas para los perjudicados que puedan ser localizados y acordándose emplazar por medio de edictos en calidad de perjudicados, a los adquirientes de las viviendas sitas en paraje “Los Carasoles” parcela 98, subparcelas a y e del polígono 4 término municipal de Zurgena, siendo el constructor Manuel Martínez Cánovas en calidad de administrador Procomag S.L., que no se hallan personado hasta ahora en la causa, para que en el plazo de CINCO DIAS comparezcan ante este Juzgado a fin de realizarles el ofrecimiento de acciones previsto en el art. 109 de la Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal, edictos que se publicarán en el tablón de anuncios de este Juzgado; en el Ayuntamiento de Zurgena y en el Boletín Oficial de la Provincia. Igualmente se acuerda requerirles para que en el mismo plazo aporten los justificantes de los pagos efectuados al adquirir las respectivas viviendas.” Y para que conste y sirva de EMPLAZAMIENTO Y REQUERIMIENTO a los referidos perjudicados, y su publicación en el Boletín Oficial de Almería, expido el presente, en, expido el presente en Huércal Overa, a seis de agosto de dos mil diez.

EL/LA SECRETARIO/A JUDICIAL, Esther de la Cruz González.

"Keep fighting - I am with you!" - interview with Marta Andreasen

2010-08-09T10:53:00.001+02:00

“Keep fighting - I am with you!”

A controversial and outspoken MEP with a social conscience, Marta Andreasen is not afraid to tell it like it is. Going public about injustices inside and outside of the European Parliament – even when it cost the MEP her livelihood – and her determination not to be beaten when human rights are at stake makes her a force to be reckoned with in the ongoing war against the various land grab laws...

This week, the Costa Blanca News was given an exclusive interview with Marta Andreasen, MEP, who is one of the main driving forces behind the EU's campaign to eradicate abusive land laws that deprive expatriates and natives alike of their homes and life's savings. A staunch defender of human rights and no stranger to controversy after her public 'outing' of dubious fund management within the EU cost her her job, the head of the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) tells us why she has little faith in the European Court of Justice, why she thinks European funds should be withdrawn from some of Spain's autonomous regions, and why she will never give up the fight to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of property-owners who could face losing everything.

You were voted Personality of the Year by Accounting Age magazine in 2003. Can you tell us more about your history as a whistle blower, including back when she worked as an auditor in the EU Commission?

I was hired as the Chief Accountant of the European Commission back in January 2002. I was hopeful that by that time the administrative reform that was promised after the resignation of the Santer Commission on allegations of fraud, nepotism and financial mismanagement (1999) was very much a reality and I would contribute to its completion and implementation. What I found was that the most basic controls on the use of EU funds were missing and that the reform had not even started. I asked for support from the Commissioners but all I got was pressure to sign accounts that I did not consider reliable. Then Lord Kinnock announced his intention to remove my Chief Accountant responsibility and give me another – less visible – job. I rejected his offer on the basis that I was acting in line with my professional duty and in defence of European taxpayers. I was then suspended and finally sacked. I have not given up on the fight for transparency and accountability on the use of EU funds and that fight has convinced me that the EU is not sincere about its motives nor does it give adequate consideration to the interests of European people.

Since Spain, and in particular Valencia, have tried to bury any external criticism of their predatory laws and practices - most notably last year's Auken report - approved by the full EU Parliament - do you believe it will be possible to freeze some, or all, of the EU subventions to Spain, because of these violations of human rights and the environment because of land grabs, massive over-development, and so on?

Auken's report focused on the environmental matters and only dealt collaterally with the land grabs. While it is true that the report called for the suspension of EU funding, there was no resolution to implement this measure. The European Commission and the European Parliament have made efforts to avoid intervention on the argument that 'it is a domestic issue'. Now that the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified and the EU has embraced the Charter of fundamental rights, it is going to be very difficult for them to ignore a violation of human rights like the one happening in Spain in relation to the land grab. Fighting from this angle, and considering that Spain will most probably need financial rescue from the EU, I have pushed forward the argument that the EU should not help the Spanish government in as much as it does nothing to protect fundamental rights. I believe this will give the Commission and Parliament (a motive and justification) to act.

How much support do you have in this respect?

I am gaining support every day. It is not an easy task as many are prepared to speak strong words against this situation but few are ready to demand action, notably the suspension of funding. But I will get there.

Has there been a review of how Spain has accounted for past subventions amounting to many billions of euros over the past 15 years? If not, why not?

The review is made by the Court of Auditors for all the member states, Spain is identified as one of the countries where 'errors' ( new word for irregularities) happen more frequently.

But I am conducting my own review and have at present identified examples where these 'errors' are linked to land grab cases. I will make these public once I have gathered all the necessary evidence. I am sure that this will make it more urgent for the EU institutions to suspend funding to the regions where this is taking place.

Since Spain has been dragged before that court quite possibly more often than any other EU member, have these fines been paid?

As far as I am aware, there are many cases identified in the past decade where Spain is still failing to return the funds that have not been properly spent. It is the responsibility of the European Commission to take action on this but they have not proved to be very forceful, and maybe therein lies the fundamental problem. The European Commission has the power - granted by the treaties - to suspend further funding until the member state returns the money if proved to have been misappropriated, but it rarely, if ever, uses this alternative.

Would you - your UKIP reservations notwithstanding - support complaints going to the European Commission with a view to taking these issues to the European Court of Justice?

I do not trust the European Court of Justice and I am speaking out of my own experience. My reservations in regards the EU institutions were borne out of my experience and are the ones that caused me to become a Eurosceptic and join the UKIP. Consequently I could never recommend anybody to take their complaints to this court. In addition people should know that the ECJ does not handle complaints from individuals but only from organisations and member states. The only cases handled by the ECJ that relate to individuals are those that occur within the EU institutions. The court the people should complain to is the European Court of Human Rights which is not - for the time being - an EU institution but is related instead to the Council of Europe ( which is different to the European Council, an EU institution).

If the UKIP ever got into power and they withdrew from the European Union, as they state in their manifesto, where would that leave British citizens living in Spain? How can you claim to protect the rights of British citizens abroad, when the party you represent wants to take all those rights away at a stroke?

I will start by the last part of the question to explain where I stand and where UKIP stands. It is totally untrue to state that UKIP “wants to take away the rights of the British citizens abroad at a stroke.” The right to private property and reasonable compensation in case of forced expropriation is a human right that must be defended whether in or out of the EU. Therefore leaving the EU will not affect the defence of the British citizens' rights at all even if the violation takes place in a country different from the UK. This argument which is false can only come from Europhiles who look to confuse people about their true motives.

The fact that this matter is brought to the attention of the European Parliament does not mean the EU will grant any special attention to such violation, on the contrary they are looking to find a way to exclude it from its competence.

People have voted for me and for UKIP because they wanted us to fight for withdrawal. But in the meantime I will fight to defend the interests of my constituents by blocking EU legislation that is harmful or by taking action against any prejudice they should suffer. And that is why I have taken to fight for this cause and my fight is conducted precisely for the same arguments that we have for withdrawal: one of which is the waste of British taxpayers´ money. At the same time, the hypocrisy about the protection of human rights becomes evident in the lack of action of the EU in resolving the matter.

The Consulate's new service provided is only in Spanish and valenciano. Is this another facile trick to dodge the real bullet? What do you think of that?

Indeed this may be another "facile trick to dodge the real bullet,” and this does not surprise me at all.

Do you think there is any likelihood of a solution for the tens of thousands of property-owners out there who face losing everything?

I think there should be and that is why I have undertaken this fight so seriously and energetically. I trust the crisis we are all going through, which is affecting Spain in particular, will force the Spanish authorities to look for a solution that will help construction and tourism - two of the few industries left - to turn around and start growing again. This problem may be affecting half a million families of all nationalities and in as much as we keep up the pressure there is hope for a solution in the short term. So my message is: keep fighting, I am with you!

How Politics Work

2010-08-08T20:45:00.004+02:00

Years ago, some people from Murcia opened up a new bar on the beach. We got to know them – I think through their children knowing ours – and had a party there on one occasion. They didn’t do much business as a rule and the local people wouldn’t use the place. One day I asked Paco why he never had a sign outside the front door which would, it seemed obvious to me, help with the trade. ‘Oh’, he said, ‘the mayor told me that I could have a sign but only if I militated in his party’.
Should I make that clearer? In our small town some twenty years ago, if you wanted to get ahead, you joined the political party of your peers (although not, necessarily, your persuasion).
Have things changed in our Almerian pueblos? Well, sure, you can join the party you want, or none at all if it suits you, but answer me this – how will I know if you voted for me?
Politics is not a thing to take lightly. The future of your family can depend on how you vote. The local pretenders for positions on the council are generally there for reasons which have little to do with ideology and much to do with personal motives. They obtain power over their peers knowing that power is not just getting jobs or rewards for one’s friends, as much as sticking it to one’s enemies.
So the local people live in trepidation as deals are struck behind closed doors and, as often as not, governments fall with ‘transfugas’ (turncoats) crossing the floor with their pockets unexpectedly full. Our town has had four ‘mociones de censura’ (motions of censure) since the mid nineties. So who can you trust?
You vote for a list in Spain, the top few names get in, while the tail-end doesn’t. But one of the people near the top might be persuaded to change his allegiance. It’s just ‘politics’ of course.
There are a number of ways of attracting votes – since that’s the game we play. A five hundred euro bill is fairly persuasive, or a simple reminder that your rather useless cousin works in the town hall… for the time being.
The foreigners could be a threat to the status quo, with ideas of transparency, honour and civic pride, but luckily no one has had to take them seriously. Most don’t/won’t vote and those that do can be seduced into voting for a party ticket with some fellow called John or Bill way down the list where he acts as cannon-fodder, a useful shiny toy with no hope whatsoever of getting into the town hall.

European update

2010-07-22T10:17:00.001+02:00

Dear ,

Further to your previous email I have spoken to our Petitions Spokesman Giles Chichester MEP and he has given me an update on the current situation:

1. We had a very successful hearing a few months ago in the Petitions Committee when several petitioners of all nationalities presented their case. The Spanish government was there too. What was really significant was that unlike previous occasions when the Spanish MEPs were very reluctant to admit that anything was wrong, they were for the most part much more sympathetic to the plight of the property owners. There seems to be a real breakthrough.

2. There is now considerable pressure from some member states, eg UK and Germany , to reopen the issue to put further pressure on the Spanish Government. It is very likely that there will be another report to follow up on the Auken report from the last parliament. This time, I understand that as long as the issue focuses on the questions of the law's erratic application, unfair compensation terms and retroactive nature, the Spanish MEPs are likely to be more cooperative. They know that the issue is of some embarrassment to their country, and that many of those badly affected are Spanish.

3. The next meeting of PETI is at the end of September. We will be pressing for an immediate decision to go ahead, to visit some of the worst affected places and to start a report.

I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to put an end to the Spanish property disaster. In the end it has got to be the Member State , i.e. Spain , that sort out the problem but we will exert all possible pressure on them to do so.

Kind regards,

Timothy Kirkhope MEP

Junta includes AUAN in working party to find solution to illegal housing problem

2010-07-21T11:20:00.000+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 21st July 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Junta includes AUAN in working party to find solution to illegal housing problem

In an informal 30 minute meeting with a delegation from AUAN, the Minister for Planning and Housing of the Junta de Andalucia, Rosa Aguilar, announced the creation in September of a working party to find and agree solutions to problems arising from the illegality of homes in the AlmanzoraValley.

The working party will include representatives of the regional government, the mayors of the valley and representatives of the affected families, specifically AUAN.

AUAN is satisfied with this new development which represents one of our key demands. We look forward to actively seeking solutions to the serious problems faced by our members in an open and transparent manner.

We encourage all those affected by this issue to register to vote to help maintain pressure on the working party to deliver results.

The meeting took place on Tuesday 20^th July in Albox when the Minister attended the ceremony to mark the opening of the towns’ new bridge.

Property in Spain

2010-07-13T10:12:00.001+02:00

Courtesy of Lenox: http://spanishshilling.blogspot.com

Property in Spain
There has been a certain amount of excitement among the Northern European settlers in Spain after the head-on critical attack on President Zapatero from a rogue MEP during the plenary meeting in Strasbourg to close Spain’s six month presidency of the European Union. The attack came from Marta Andreasen, an MEP for the Euro-sceptic UKIP (an odd party perhaps for Ms Andreasen, a British citizen who lives in Barcelona and who has a marked Argentine accent, but then the Über-Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan was born and raised in Peru and he doesn’t seem to think much of foreign politicians either). Andreasen compared Zapatero’s treatment of the mainly British owners of ‘illegal homes’ as approaching something dreamed up by President Mugabe, the Zimbabwean despot. There’s a video of her comments and Zapatero’s indignant answer here.
This comes after the new housing tsar for Andalucía, the ex IU mayoress for Cordoba Rosa Aguilar, said in a recent meeting in Cadiz that there are 300,000 illegal homes in Andalucía.
And God knows how many more in the rest of Spain.
There are in fact three different problems that home-owners, whether Spanish, European or foreigners must face, although oddly, most of the ‘victims’ of these problems turn out to be Britons. The three (essential) problems, misunderstood unfortunately by both Ms Andreasen and Mr Zapatero (if he cares) are ‘Land Grab’ (a popular concept where property is expropriated and the owner charged for urbanisation costs for his remaining stake, all for publicly sanctioned commercial reasons), ‘Illegal Homes’ (homes are planned, built, marketed and sold – almost always to Northern Europeans - and only then found to be illegal, thus leaving – apparently – hundreds of thousands of property owners in a extended state of doubt, stress and judicial uncertainty) and lastly the ‘Ley de Costas’, the Coastal Law which started out as a military order to allow clear fields of fire on the Nation’s coast and beaches. Now, while no one is clear on the rules (which vary from one municipality, owner, authority and situation, to the next), the Coastal Law can mean that no one can build within a certain, variable, distance from the water-line unless the rules are bent, ignored or, in some cases, satisfied with a fine. The 1988 version of this law will, apparently, be debated in the Spanish parliament this autumn, so maybe some sense will finally be made of it.
But let us return to Andalucía and the housing tsar Rosa Aguilar. Her predecessor, recently removed from his job after masterminding the demolition of one house in Vera, Almería, in 2008 – and causing a hullabaloo across the world (oddly enough, even in Zimbabwe during their elections) – had talked of homes being ‘ilegal’ and ‘legal’ and something very andaluz between these two extremes: ‘alegal’ – which would translate as something like ‘illegalish’. An elegant solution where everyone wanders off and talks about something else. Unfortunately, many of the illegal houses don’t have water or electric connections and, not being registered officially, the owners can’t pay property taxes or, of course, vote.
Rosa Aguilar thinks that the answer might lie in forcing the owners of these properties to pay urbanising costs which, at least in Chiclana where she made the remarks (a town with 15,000 illegal homes or more), costs per household would be in the region of 40,000 euros. Meanwhile, she has set up a Citizens Forum with a number of women’s groups (for some reason) to ‘establish a permanent dialogue between the Andalucian Department for Housing and Public Works and social groups’. Very nice too, but none of the many property-owners associations or foreigners groups have been invited to join.
They might have made too much of a fuss.

AUAN - THE AVALANCHE OF PROCEEDINGS IN ALMANZORA CONTINUES WITH NINETY-EIGHT MORE CASES

2010-07-12T14:50:00.000+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 12th July 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org

THE AVALANCHE OF PROCEEDINGS IN ALMANZORA CONTINUES WITH NINETY-EIGHT MORE CASES

For some time AUAN has been warning that sooner or later the avalanche of cases against illegal homes bought in good faith by mostly British people in the Almanzora Valley would come to light. Now reports have come to their attention that 98 more homes could eventually run the risk of being demolished.

The reports relate to summary procedure number 23/2007 in the Investigative Court Number 1 in Huercal-Overa (which accumulates preliminary investigations numbers 2188/2005 and 2352/2007 from the same court with case number 760/2007 from Court Number 2). The investigation centres on alleged planning crimes and alleged construction without a building license. It is feared that demolition will be requested when formal charges are made because this appears to be the usual practise of the Prosecutor. The homes affected are in the area of La Aljambra in the municipality of Albox. The investigation was initiated by Seprona in 2005. The case relates to several allegedly illegal urbanisation's which lack basic infrastructure. Many of the affected homeowners rely on generators to provide electricity.

The British community is distressed because of the uncertainty about legal proceedings. It is scandalous that things continue like this without the administration delivering a solution in spite of the promises offered. It is clear that the current solution will take many years and in the meantime the situation is getting worse rather than better.

AUAN recommends that anyone who thinks that they are affected by this case should take legal advice and appoint a lawyer and a procurator to defend their interests in these proceedings. Grouping together can reduce costs.

The Boot

2010-07-07T09:34:00.003+02:00

As Zapatero summed up his masterful leadership of the European Union at a plenary function in Strasbourg on Tuesday, it remained for Marta Andreasen, (MEP) to put in the boot, with accusations of Zapatero ignoring human rights and behaving more like Mugabe than a European leader in respect of the '300,000 illegal homes just in Andalucía'. See the video of her remarks (and Zapatero's indignant reply) here (in English).
The Spanish press (somewhat surprisingly, having kept silent on this issue for years) have joined in with some coverage of dubious value, sometimes confusing the 'ley de costas', 'land grab' and 'viviendas ilegales' (all different issues) for example here ('Preguntan a Zapatero si confiscará casas costeras a los británicos como en Zimbabue') and bringing in MEPs Magritte Auken and Marta Andreasen together in an article here called 'The two euro-houseflies'.
'Typically Spanish' covers the story here.

AUAN Press release –5th July 2010 - More homes under threat

2010-07-05T10:12:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release –5th July 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Seven homes impacted by planning crimes investigation in Arboleas

AUAN sources confirm that the Nov 2009 raid on Arboleas Town hall relates to an investigation into alleged planning crimes and ‘prevaricacion’ (wrongdoing in a public office).

The investigation involves 7 dwellings constructed by Lakes Vega SL on poligono 8 parcela 118 in the La Cana area of Arboleas.

The case (1429/2009) is currently in court number 3 in Heurcal-Overa awaiting formal charges from the State Prosecutor. Such charges often include a demand for demolition.

Anyone affected by this case would be best advised to seek legal assistance and take part in the legal proceedings to protect their interests.

AUAN Press release – 3rd July 2010

2010-07-03T14:40:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 3rd July 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Zurgena: Homeowners in Llanos Del Peral given 5 days to take part in legal proceedings relating to their properties

Homeowners in the Llanos Del Peral area of Zurgena were given until the 6^th of July to appear before court number 2 in Huercal Overa to take part in legal proceedings relating their properties.

The properties are located on Poligono 17, parcela 348, subparcela A in the area of Llanos del Peral. The proceedings are against CARLOS DOMINGO BERBEL FERNANDEZ. The promoter is named as TISAN SURESTE S.L and the constructor is named as TRAGARCIA S,L.

We do not know if the homes are part built or occupied.

AUAN strongly recommends that anyone affected would be best advised to seek legal assistance and take part in the legal proceedings to protect their interests. It would be foolish not to.

The announcement was made on Friday 2^nd July on the official bulletins of the province (BOP). This site is monitored by AUAN volunteers.

(See below)

6343/10

JUZGADO DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA E INSTRUCCION NUMERO DOS DE HUERCAL-OVERA

Procedimiento: PROCED.ABREVIADO 63/2007.

N.I.G.: 0405343P20060002428.

Contra: CARLOS DOMINGO BERBEL FERNANDEZ

E D I C T O

D./Dña. Esther De La Cruz González Secretario del Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instruccion Numero 2 de Huercal-Overa.

DOY FE Y TESTIMONIO:

Que en el Procedimiento Abreviado nº 63/2007 se ha dictado la providencia siguiente:

Practíquense las diligencias solicitadas por el Ministerio Fiscal en OTROS Y II de su escrito de acusación de fecha 15/03/2010, librando para ello los despachos oportunos, señalándose el día seis de Julio para los perjudicados que puedan ser localizados y acordándose emplazar por medio de edictos, en calidad de perjudicados, a los adquirentesde las viviendas sitas en el polígono 17 , parcela 348 SUBPARCELA A) , del Paraje Los LLanos DEL PERAL, del término municipal de Zurgena, siendo el promotor de las mismas TISAN SURESTE S.L , y el contructor “ TRAGARCIA S,L.” que no se hayan personado hasta ahora en la causa, para que en el plazo de CINCO DIAS comparezcan ante este Juzgado a fin de realizarles el ofrecimiento de acciones previsto en el artículo 109 de la Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal, edictos

que se publicarán en el Tablón de Anuncios de este Juzgado y en el Boletín Oficial de la Provincia, librando a tal efecto los despachos oportunos. Igualmente, se acuerda requerirles para que en el mismo plazo aporten los justificantes de los pagos efectuados al adquirir las respectivas viviendas.” Y para que conste y sirva de EMPLAZMIENTO Y REQUERIMIENTO a los referidos perjudicados, y su publicación en el Boletin oficial de ALMERIA , expido el presente en Huércal Overa a veintiuno de mayo de dos mil diez.

EL/LA SECRETARIO, Esther de la Cruz González.

Almanzora valley: The avalanche of homes in the dock

2010-06-25T11:35:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 25th June 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Almanzora valley: The avalanche of homes in the dock

Yet another developer, charged with building illegal homes, appeared before Penal court number 5 on Wednesday 23^rd June 2010. This time the matter involves 6 houses in the Saliente area of Albox allegedly built on non urbanizable land without the necessary license and technical project.

The State prosecutor is asking for a penalty of one year in prison, a fine of 16 months at 12 euros per day and disbarment from the exercise of a profession relating to construction for a period of 2 years.

The prosecutor also asks for the houses to be demolished with compensation paid to the owners.

Regrettably, the iceberg now appears to be showing more than its tip.

More houses under threat of demolition - AUAN Press Release 22.6.10

2010-06-23T08:31:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No

Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 22nd June 2010

Contact info@almanzora-au.org

The Anguish of Urban Abuse increases in the Almanzora Valley

The anguish of urban abuse fails to diminish in the Almanzora Valley as the association “Abusos Urbanísticos Almanzora - ¡NO!” announces more cases where retired Britons are at risk of seeing their homes demolished even though they bought them in good faith and are considered as victims by the court proceedings.

The latest case involves 9 houses purchased by British people in the area of La Hortichuela in Albox. In an abbreviated procedure in Court Number 2 in Huercal Overa the homeowners were offered the possibility of a private prosecution against the defendants. However, in addition to the penalties levied against the defendants, the prosecutor is also asking for the homes to be demolished. The Prosecutors charges relate to planning crimes, ‘prevaracacion’ (misconduct in a public office) and the failure to prosecute crimes.

AUAN president Maura Hillen asks “When will it end? How many more are there? How many more lives will we see destroyed?” She went on to say that in her view “We have only seen the tip of the iceberg. In reality the system has resoundingly failed and the innocent must pay the price”.
When asked, the lawyer for four of the affected families, Gerardo Manual Vazquez Nuñez said “Again, I have had to explain the situation to clients and again I see tears in their eyes. This is truly regrettable”.

Censo electoral de ciudadanos de la Unión Europea, no españoles, residentes en España

2010-06-15T17:11:00.003+02:00

You may have got inscribed on the padrón, the town hall register, at some point but hadn't asked for the right to vote. If you don't want to vote in next year's local elections in your pueblo, it's because you don't care.
However, it's not only important for you, it's also important for all home-owners that we vote, as the town hall will take more notice and pay us more attention. We will, in effect, provide a control on the ayuntamiento.
It's true that some of us can't vote, or can't get onto the padrón (for reasons beyond our control). But, with enough numbers, we can move mountains.
Form for registering to vote in Spain. Download form CERE.DFA-1 from here (Spanish, English, German):

http://www.granada.org/obj.nsf/in/FIXMAUP/$file/Inscripciioncere.pdf

Article by Linda Palfreeman (English - Castellano)

2010-06-10T13:58:00.001+02:00

Linda Palfreeman
Linda Palfreeman was born and raised in Teesside, before moving to Leeds. After completing Degrees in Media and Linguistics she taught at secondary school and university level, before moving to Spain. She now teaches Advertising and English at the University of Cardenal Herrera, Elche. When not traipsing around the campo of the Vega Baja with the family pets in tow, she enjoys tackling DIY building projects and researching into the Spanish Civil War.
Linda spent her first years as an ‘expat’ in Albatera, in the province of Alicante, an experience which inspired the first of her Spanish memoirs, ‘Costa Blanca Christmas’, a light-hearted account of a British family’s move from the cold and damp of Yorkshire to the warm and welcoming shores of Spain’s Costa Blanca.
The family later moved to Catral, the small town set to become the centre of one of the biggest housing scandals in Spain and the setting for Crisis in Catral. The illegal housing situation has caused, and is continuing to cause to this day, very real anguish for many innocent people caught up in a network of mass deception from which there is no easy escape. Through her writing, Linda seeks not to make light of the desperate circumstances, but merely to use humour as a means of helping to deal with the unpleasant predicament in which, like numerous others, she and her mother presently find themselves.

Linda has been guided through life by two family mottos: ‘Nothing is impossible’, and ‘It’s never too late.’

(Crisis In Catral (Paperback) by Linda Palfreeman)

There are thousands of expatriates, of all nationalities, currently suffering the consequences of urban corruption in Spain. Each of us, in our different localities, has our own particular predicament to contend with – ranging from illegally built housing to unjust expropriation, and often encompassing an unpalatable mixture of both. Thankfully, we can count on the support of those who, both individually and collectively, are prepared to help us fight our cause. The proliferation of associations now springing into life throughout the country is indicative of the extent of the problem of urban abuse: Abusos Urbanísticos, No (AUN); Abusos Urbanísticos Lliber, No! (AULN); Abusos Urbanísticos del Levante Almeriense, No! (AULAN); Catral Asociación Contra Abusos Urbanísticos (CACAU); Justice for Catral Residents (J4CR), …and the list goes on. Whilst representing moving and inspiring examples of solidarity, sadly, these platforms are also indicative of the refusal of the Spanish Authorities to show any willingness to provide very necessary solutions to the problems of urban abuse, let alone accept any part in their creation.

How can it be, when Spain ranks as the second country in the world with respect to the number of laws in force, that the nation has earned itself the reputation as one which is corrupt? Enrique Climent, President of AUN, explains that ‘the most important corruption is that which is not even classed as a crime.’ He refers to those offences that are actually allowed to prosper as a result of the structure and wording of particular laws.

And who exactly is it that benefits from this type of crime? ‘This is within the reach of very few,’ states Climent, ‘only those in power...and while the present urban model is maintained, corruption cannot be eradicated because it is that that maintains the system.’

Like Climent, there are many further examples of Spanish citizens valiant enough to swim against the tidal wave of corruption that sweeps the nation. Prominent figures include Willie Meyer, Raul Romeva, Carlos Carnero, José Sanmartín and, of course, the more immediately recognisable campaigner, Marta Andreasen. Many more manifest their support as members of collectives such as The Federación de Asociaciones en Defensa de los Derechos Humanos y en Contra de los Atropellos Urbanísticos y Medioambientales (FAUN), the association Plataforma Defensa De La Huerta, and the recently created organisation Transparencia Urbanística.

Corruption knows no national boundaries and neither does its effects. This is certainly the case in Spain. Whilst many of the urban scandals affect expatriates in search of peaceful retirement in the sun, we should also spare a thought for those Spanish nationals, our newly adopted neighbours, whose homes, businesses and livelihoods have been snatched cruelly from them, literally overnight in some cases, by urban speculators driven by heartless greed and backed by an unjust law.

Let us consider the case of one man: 60 year old Enrique Lluch, from Valencia. Enrique was the owner of a small but prospering garden centre in the town of Náquera. In difficult and uncertain times, Enrique had to work hard to build a future for his family – a future that was destroyed the day the developers moved in. They had more money, more influence, more power …and consequently more right to do whatever they saw fit to do. And what they saw fit to do, in this instance, was erect enormous industrial blocks (in contravention of urban law) that would eventually engulf Enrique’s small plot and his life’s work. Of course, he put up a fight, but the ageing market gardener was no match for the construction Goliaths who had simply decided that he was in the way, and surplus to requirements. With desperate, heartbreaking impotence, Enrique watched as his livelihood literally withered and died around him.

‘They didn’t even give me chance to hand over the keys to my property,’ explains Enrique. My garden centre was invaded, in my absence, and ransacked by the municipal Police and representatives of the Local Administration (led by the Partido Popular). By the time I arrived they had broken down part of the fencing, pulled out the automatic watering system and the alarm, and destroyed what plants I had left – without having any court authorisation to do so.’

Those who had almost everything now wanted all that Enrique had, too, so they got it. But the story does not end there. Apart from surrendering his only means of supporting his family, Enrique was ordered to pay approximately 150,000 euros towards the urbanisation costs for the area.

That day, Enrique Lluch watched in desperate impotence as his life’s work was taken from him. His days as a market gardener ended and his days of campaigner for justice began. Shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Charles Svoboda, Michael Cashman, Roger Helmer, Margerete Auken, Neil Parish and David Lowe, Secretary of the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, Enrique Lluch began his struggle to have his, and similar cases, heard. Twelve years later, Enrique and his family have still seen not a penny in compensation – not that any amount of money could make amends for the physical, psychological and emotional trauma that this event has caused in their lives.

‘Let these people take their grudges to the courts,’ declare the hard-faced, heartless members of the Valencian government who bleat about the unjustified treatment they currently receive at the hands of the European press. ‘It’s easy to criticise’, declares socialist MEP, María Sornosa Martínez, when asked about the injustices suffered by those affected by property scandals in the Valencian region. She attacks reports made to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament (such as that now known as the ‘Auken Report’) as completely lacking in validity. ‘I think all the British have got together,’ argues Sornosa, ‘to win support for their campaign for election to the European Parliament…’

Enrique Lluch is of a different opinion. ‘Although my situation is grave,’ explains Sr. Lluch, ‘it is by no means the worst you will find.’ He talks, for example, about the scandalous and heartbreaking case of the El Cabanyal area of Valencia, where families of humble means are being violently dispossessed of their homes to make way for urban development schemes. ‘It is cases like this’, says Enrique, ‘that really do makes your hair stand on end. You can see the methods used by the Spanish government (a government that presently occupies the Presidency of the European Community) in the interests of the property speculators and against the European Charter of Human Rights.’

Enrique has now spent twelve long and bitter years in his struggle to be heard, his struggle for justice. I would like to tell him that he is not alone.

Whilst there are no national boundaries to corruption and its effects, I would like to show Enrique that neither do such boundaries exist to compassion and solidarity. I would like to tell Enrique that his fight is our fight and that we, too, will do all we can to keep such issues at the forefront of European politics. We can start by writing to our MEPs and by giving voice to this injustice wherever the opportunity presents itself. We can pledge our support to those who campaign for the application of economic sanctions should Spain continue to refuse to comply with European law. This is the only hope that those like Enrique have of obtaining some kind of compensation for the injustice and inhumanity they have had (and continue to have) to endure.

Linda Palfreeman

Hay miles de expatriados, de todas las nacionalidades, que actualmente sufren las consecuencias de la corrupción urbanística en España. Cada uno de nosotros tiene nuestra propia situación particular contra qué luchar - desde la construcción ilegal de viviendas a la expropiación injusta y, con frecuencia, abarcando una mezcla desagradable de ambos. Afortunadamente, podemos contar con el apoyo de quienes, tanto individual como colectivamente, están preparados para defender nuestros derechos y apoyarnos en la lucha. La proliferación de las asociaciones que ahora surgen a la vida por todo el país es indicativa de la magnitud del problema del abuso urbanístico: Abusos Urbanísticos, No (AUN), Abusos Urbanísticos Lliber, ¡No! (AULN); Abusos Urbanísticos del Levante Almeriense, No! (AULAN); Catral Asociación Contra Abusos Urbanísticos (CACAU); Justicia para los residentes de Catral (J4CR),... y la lista sigue. Mientras que representan ejemplos conmovedores e inspiradores de la solidaridad, por desgracia, estas plataformas son también indicadoras de la negativa de las autoridades españolas para mostrar su disposición de ofrecer soluciones muy necesarias a los problemas de abuso urbanístico, y mucho menos aceptar cualquier parte en su creación.

¿Cómo puede ser, cuando España se sitúa como el segundo país del mundo con respecto al número de las leyes en vigor, que la nación se ha ganado la reputación como uno que es corrupto? Enrique Climent, presidente de AUN, explica que ‘la corrupción más importante es la que ni siquiera está clasificado como un delito.’ Se refiere a las leyes cuya redacción, en realidad, permiten prosperar los delitos.

¿Y quién es exactamente que se beneficia de este tipo de delitos? ‘Esto está dentro del alcance de muy pocos’, afirma Climent, ‘sólo aquellos que tienen el poder... y mientras que el modelo urbano actual se mantiene, la corrupción no puede ser erradicada, ya que es aquella que mantiene el sistema.’

Al igual que Climent, hay muchos más ejemplos de los ciudadanos españoles lo suficientemente valiente como para nadar contra la marea de la corrupción que arrastra a la nación. Figuras prominentes incluyen: Willie Meyer, Raúl Romeva, Carlos Carnero, José Sanmartín y, por supuesto, la activista más inmediatamente reconocible, Marta Andreasen. Muchos más manifiestan su apoyo como miembros de colectivos como la Federación de Asociaciones en Defensa de Los Derechos Humanos y en Contra de los Atropellos Urbanísticos y Medioambientales (FAUN), la asociación Plataforma Defensa de la Huerta, y la recién creada organización Transparencia Urbanística.

La corrupción no conoce fronteras nacionales, ni tampoco sus efectos. Éste es ciertamente el caso en España. Mientras que muchos de los escándalos urbanísticos afectan a los expatriados en busca de un retiro tranquilo bajo el sol, también hay que reservar un poco de consideración para los nacionales españoles, nuestros vecinos recién adoptivos, cuyas casas, negocios y medios de vida han sido arrebatado cruelmente de ellos, un día para otro en algunos casos, por los especuladores urbanísticos sin corazón, impulsados por la codicia y respaldados por una ley injusta.

Consideremos el caso de un hombre español, Enrique Lluch, 60 años de edad y nativo de Valencia. Enrique era el dueño de un vivero pequeño pero próspero en el pueblo de Náquera. En tiempos difíciles e inciertos, Enrique tuvo que trabajar duro para construir un futuro para su familia - un futuro que fue destruido el día que llegaron los especuladores inmobiliarios. Ellos disponían de más dinero, más poder, más influencia y, por lo tanto, más derecho a hacer lo que tenían a bien de hacer. Y lo que tuvieron a bien hacer, en este caso, estaba erigir enormes bloques de edificaciones industriales – en incumplimiento de las leyes urbanísticas ya que la superficie de la construcción es cuatro veces superior a la que se autorizó. Eventualmente, estos edificios enormes engulleron la pequeña parcela de Enrique y la obra de su vida. Por supuesto, él daba la batalla, pero el viejo hortelano no era rival para los Goliats de la construcción que había decidido, simplemente, que él estaba en su camino, y superfluo a toda necesidad. Con angustiosa impotencia, Enrique vio como su medio de vida, literalmente, se marchitó y murió a su alrededor.

‘Ni siquiera me dieron la oportunidad de entregar las llaves de mi negocio,’ explica Enrique. ‘Mi vivero fue invadido y violentado cuando yo estaba ausente por la policía municipal de Náquera y representantes de la Administración local del Partido Popular. Cuando yo llegué habían arrancado una parte de la valla metálica, habían arrancado la instalación de riego por aspersión, la alarma, y destrozado las plantas en producción, todo sin disponer de ninguna orden judicial que lo autorizase.’

Los magnates de la inmobiliaria tenían casi todo - ahora querían todo lo que tenía él, también. Y lo consiguieron. Pero la historia no termina allí. Además de entregar el único medio de mantener a su familia, Enrique fue condenado a pagar 150,000 euros hacia los costes de urbanización de la zona.

Ese día, Enrique Lluch veía, con incredulidad y desesperanza, como la obra de su vida le fue arrebatada. Su vida de hortelano terminó y su vida de activista por la justicia comenzó. Hombro a hombro con individuos como Charles Svoboda, Michael Cashman, Roger Helmer, Margerete Auken, Neil Parish y David Lowe, Secretario del Comité de Peticiones del Parlamento Europeo, Enrique Lluch comenzó su lucha por hacerse oír sobre las injusticias de la especulación inmobiliaria, tanto en su propio caso como en otros casos similares. Hasta ahora, Enrique y su familia no han visto ni un centavo de indemnización - aunque no hay cantidad de dinero ninguna que puede reparar el trauma físico, psicológico y emocional que este evento ha causado en sus vidas.

‘Que estas personas toman sus rencores a los tribunales,’ declaran los miembros del gobierno valenciano que se lamentan por el ‘trato injustificado’ que actualmente reciben a manos de la prensa europea. Al ser cuestionada sobre las injusticias sufridas por cientos de ciudadanos afectados por los escándalos urbanísticos en la comunidad valenciana, María Sornosa Martínez (eurodiputada socialista) ataque los informes a tal efecto, presentado al Parlamento Europeo, como ‘carentes de validez’. ‘Es critica fácil,’ declara Sornosa, ‘urdida por los ingleses para ganar las elecciones al Parlamento Europeo.’

Enrique Lluch opina de otra manera. ‘Aunque mi situación es grave’, explica el Señor Lluch, ‘no es lo peor que puedas encontrar.’ Habla, por ejemplo, del escandaloso y doloroso caso de la zona de El Cabanyal de Valencia, donde familias humildes están siendo violentamente despojados de sus hogares para dar paso a proyectos de desarrollo urbano. ‘Es este tipo de caso’, dice Enrique, ‘que realmente ponen los pelos de punta. Usted puede ver los métodos utilizados por el gobierno español (un gobierno que actualmente ocupa la Presidencia de la Comunidad Europea) en los intereses de los especuladores inmobiliarios y en contra de la Carta Europea de los Derechos Humanos.’

Enrique ha pasado doce largos y amargos años en su lucha por hacerse oír, en su lucha por la justicia. Me gustaría decirle que él no está solo.

Si bien no existen las fronteras nacionales a la corrupción y sus efectos, me gustaría mostrar a Enrique que tampoco existen tales límites a la compasión y la solidaridad. Me gustaría decirle a Enrique que su lucha es nuestra lucha y que nosotros también haremos todo lo posible para mantener a estas cuestiones en la vanguardia de la política europea. Podemos empezar por escribir a nuestros eurodiputados y dándole voz a la injusticia dondequiera que se presenta la oportunidad. Podemos apoyar a aquellos que luchan por la aplicación de sanciones económicas por parte del Parlamento Europeo, ante la negativa de España de cumplir con la normativa europea en esta materia. Ésta es la única esperanza que tiene la gente como Enrique de obtener algún tipo de indemnización por la injusticia y la inhumanidad que han tenido, y siguen teniendo, que aguantar.

Linda Palfreeman

Linda Palfreeman
Linda Palfreeman was born and raised in Teesside, before moving to Leeds. After completing Degrees in Media and Linguistics she taught at secondary school and university level, before moving to Spain. She now teaches Advertising and English at the University of Cardenal Herrera, Elche. When not traipsing around the campo of the Vega Baja with the family pets in tow, she enjoys tackling DIY building projects and researching into the Spanish Civil War.
Linda spent her first years as an ‘expat’ in Albatera, in the province of Alicante, an experience which inspired the first of her Spanish memoirs, ‘Costa Blanca Christmas’, a light-hearted account of a British family’s move from the cold and damp of Yorkshire to the warm and welcoming shores of Spain’s Costa Blanca.
The family later moved to Catral, the small town set to become the centre of one of the biggest housing scandals in Spain and the setting for Crisis in Catral. The illegal housing situation has caused, and is continuing to cause to this day, very real anguish for many innocent people caught up in a network of mass deception from which there is no easy escape. Through her writing, Linda seeks not to make light of the desperate circumstances, but merely to use humour as a means of helping to deal with the unpleasant predicament in which, like numerous others, she and her mother presently find themselves.

Linda has been guided through life by two family mottos: ‘Nothing is impossible’, and ‘It’s never too late.’

Crisis In Catral (Paperback) by Linda Palfreeman

Watchdog

2010-06-07T07:09:00.002+02:00

The recent program on the BBC Watchdog, 'Spanish Dreams Reduced to Rubble' is now available on YouTube here.
Each time these and similar programs are shown on British television, more and more people decide against investing in Spain.

Open letter to Minister of Housing (Consejería de Obras Públicas y Viviendas) Rosa Aguilar Rivero (Castellano - English)

2010-06-03T18:54:00.004+02:00

Consejera: Rosa Aguilar Rivero

Me gustaria dar la enorabuena por su nuevo puesto como delegado de viviendas de Andalucia. He leido su biografia y recortes en la prensa y note que usted tiene la reputacion que es una persona quien "cumple las cosas". Por cierto Andalucia necesita una persona quien "cumple las cosas". El grupo que yo pertenezco tambien necesita alguien quien "cumpla las cosas"
Mi nombre es Dan Thorneycroft y yo soy uno de los miles de personas que estan metida sin saberlo en el escandolo urbanistico.(de las viviendas ilegales y la corrupcion). Yo junto a otros, compre una casa que despues me informe que era ilegal. Todo la gente quien participo en la venta me aseguro que todo era correcto: el constructor, el agente del inmobiliario y especialmente el abogado.
Seprona comenzo una investigacion en la persona quien construyo una pequeña urbanizacion donde esta situada mi vivienda. El resultado de todo esto fue que el constructor tiene cargos de crimenes del plan urbanistico y nuestras casas estan denunciadas.
En presente, todas aquellas personas que pusieron denuncias contra la constructora tenemos un generador para el suministro de luz a nuestras viviendas. Sin sorpresa, aquellas personas que no han puesto denuncias contra la constructora tiene su luz conectado a la red electrica.
Ya hemos estado conectado a un generador de gasoil durante 20 meses. Hemos intentado todos los metodos posibles para conectar a la red electrica en una manera legal pero sin exito.Ya hemos llegado al punto de no poder pagar el gasoil del generador. Al momento solo tenemos luz para 12 horas al dia. En los siguientes meses calorosos el numero de horas que podemos pagar va a reducir .La gente no puede vivir asi. Nuestra urbanizacion esta convertiendose en un pueblo fantasma.
Computamos que por cada casa vacia la economia de la zona pierde aproximamente mil euros cada mes.
Es imposible para nosotros conseguir el certificado de primer ocupacion, lo que es necesario para conectarnos legalmente a la red electrica. Nuestra urbanizacion de El Fas, Cantoria tiene un transformador, cables y contadores a cada casa aprobado por la Junta.
El Señor Caparros le gustaba decirnos que "la ley es la ley es la ley". Sin embargo la ley nos ha fallado. No es aceptable ahora que la ley es aplicada a nosotros en una manera tan negativa.
La Junta hacen las leyes y esta en su poder para coregir lo injusto que se ha hecho a mucha gente.
El papel del fiscal es para defender la ley.¿Porque muchos de nosotros tenemos que usar nuestros propios fondos para un pleito contra aquellos criminales que andan libramente entre nosotros?
Podria hacer los siguientes recomendaciones por su sincera consideracion:
1: Facilitar la conecion temporal de la red para aquellas casas sin luz, o que, son conectada ilegalmente, mientras esperan el resultado del proceso de regularizacion de viviendas.
2: Permitir los ayuntamientos cobrar IBI en aquellas casas que son o seria conectadas a la red de servicios de luz y agua.
Esto recaudara dinero para los ayuntamientos y permitaria la gente vivir en sus viviendas y ademas ayudaria a la economia local.
¿Esto es mucho pedir? Todo que queremos es disfrutar este pais tan bonito y vivir entre la gente buena de España. Muchos de nosotros estamos en la ultima etapa de nuestras vidas. Es en su poder implementar estas peticiones y asi cumpliria una necesidad humanitaria.

Dan Thorneycroft
George Morris

May I welcome you to your new post as Housing Minister for Andalucia.

I have read through your biography and press articles, and note that you have a reputation as a person who “gets things done”. Andalucia is certainly in need of someone who “gets things done”. The group to whom I belong also desperately needs someone who “gets things done”.

My name is Dan Thorneycroft. I am one of the many thousands of people who have unwittingly been caught up in the urban scandal (of illegal builds and corruption). I, along with many others, purchased a house which was later found to be illegal, after having been assured by all involved, builder, agent, and especially the solicitor that all was in order. Seprona investigated the builders of the small estate on which my house stands, the result being that the builders have been charged with planning crimes, and we are left with denounced houses.

At present those of us who are taking legal action against the builder are on a diesel generator for our electricity. Those who are not taking action are, unsurprisingly, on mains electricity. We have reached the point where we can no longer afford the diesel to run the generator, at present we are reduced to 12 hours per day, which will reduce even further in the coming months, as people cannot live in this way. Our estate is becoming a ghost town.

For every empty house we estimate that the local economy loses approximately 1000 euros per month.

It is impossible for us to get a Certificate of First Occupation, which would enable us to be connected to mains services. On our estate in El Fas, Cantoria, we have a Junta approved transformer, approved cabling to the houses, and approved meters installed.

Snr Caparros was very fond of telling us that “the law is the law is the law”. However, we have been badly let down by the law, and it is simply not good enough for the law to be applied to us now in such a negative way. The Junta makes the laws, it is in your power to correct the wrongs which have been done to so many people.

The public prosecutor’s remit is to uphold the law. Why are so many of us having to privately fund legal action against those criminals who walk free amongst us.

May I make the following recommendations for your serious consideration:

1. Make it possible to allow temporary connection to mains services (where possible) for those houses who are without, or who are illegally connected, pending the outcome of regularisation proceedings.
2. Allow town halls to charge IBI on those houses which are, or can be connected to mains services.

This would bring in much needed revenue to the town halls, and would enable people to live in their properties, further boosting the local economy.

Is this too much to ask? All we want is to enjoy your beautiful country, to live amongst the good people of Spain. Many of us are in our twilight years. It is within your power to implement these requests and you would be fulfilling a humanitarian need.

Dan Thorneycroft
George Morris

AUAN Press Release - 1.6.2010 - two more demolition orders in Albox set-aside

2010-06-01T15:39:00.001+02:00

The organisation “Abusos Urbanísticos Almanzora – No” can confirm today that another two demolition orders affecting British homeowners in Albox have been set aside bringing the total now set aside to five.

The most recent ruling came from the Court of ‘Contencioso Administrativo No. 2’ in Almeria on the 24th May. The ruling stated that the British homeowners had not been properly informed of the proceedings and thus were not given an opportunity to defend themselves against the demolition of their home. The judge ordered the case to be retried.

The lawyer for the British couple, Gerardo Manual Vazquez Nuñez said “This is good news for my clients. It has taken a weight off their minds, but it isn’t over yet. The case to decide if the building license should or should not have been issued continues. The problems for my clients have not ended but at least they can now sleep at night without worrying if a bulldozer is going to appear at their door”.

With reference to the other demolition orders in Albox the lawyer commented that they are still at risk saying “I do not understand why the Junta says that everything depends on the Judges and they (the Junta) do not demolish. My experience is different. The Junta is very active in these proceedings. For example when the court was notified of a change of lawyers in one of the cases that I represent, the Junta objected and said that my clients should now be excluded from the case because as the second owners of the home they were not named on the original license. My clients had previously been allowed to participate and only the lawyer was being changed! Fortunately, the judge did not permit this”.

The lawyer added “The annulment of these proceedings is a step forward, but it does not resolve the widespread issue of urban abuse and property problems which affect thousand of citizens, not only in the Almanzora Valley but throughout many other parts of Andalucia. The principle problem is the legal uncertainty which exists for many homebuyers who are not only British but Spanish and other nationalities as well. In my opinion the property system has failed and should be reformed”.

When asked who is responsible the lawyer responded “Responsible? Now is not the time to apportion blame- that will become clearer over time – but my clients are not at fault. What IS needed now is for the administration to be brave, to take the bull by the horns and mediate an agreed solution between the people affected, the responsible agencies, political parties etc. This would be good for the economy and good for society at the same time. Currently the whole issue is causing great concern and nobody knows what is going on.”

Asked how the problem could be solved the lawyer said “There are precedents. For example in other parts of Spain the regulations have been changed in a way which allows for regularisation via Special Plans. One thing is clear – things cannot continue as they are.” He concluded by saying “In my opinion, if the problem is not addressed once and for all it will continue for many years and will not be good for anybody”.

AUAN Press release - 31.5.2010

2010-05-31T17:58:00.000+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 31st May 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Cantoria: Disclosure of Legal Proceedings - for the homeowner at least

In discussions with AUAN, the mayor of Cantoria Pedro Llamas has confirmed that every homeowner in the municipality can now obtain a copy of the Inventory Form (Inventario de edificacion) for their home on presentation of appropriate personal identification.

AUAN strongly recommends that every homeowner in Cantoria should obtain a copy of their form because the section titled ‘situacion juridica’ which indicates if there are any proceedings against a home has now been filled in.

We understand that at least 100 homes in Cantoria have some form of proceedings against them involving a number of different promoters. Other infractions recorded relate to the construction of peripheral buildings such as a garage or a pool house. If you are concerned and need more information please obtain a copy of your form.

Approximately 2,000 structures were catalogued during the execution of the Plan of Inspection in Cantoria whereby the council was required to photograph and document every construction in the municipality on non urban land.

Albox, Albanchez, Arboleas, Lubrin, Oria, Partaloa and Zurgena were ordered to execute similar Inspection Plans in 2008.

Unsustainable Development and Political Corruption

2010-05-31T09:47:00.001+02:00

Unsustainable Development and Political Corruption
The arrival of mafias is linked to the development insanity

For the benefit of those non-Spanish-speaking members ( and others. Our thanks to Linda Palfreeman) :

Urban speculation spells moral decay

Almoradi’s San Andrés Cultural Centre was, last Friday, the setting for a conference on Unsustainable Development and Political Corruption. The conference was organized by the Association Plataforma Defensa De La Huerta and sponsored by Abusos Urbanísticos No (AUN)
The guest speakers, emeritus judge of the Supreme Court, José Antonio Martín Pallín and university teacher of law, Manuel Alcaráz Ramos, spoke frankly about the lack of ethics and the widespread corruption now pervading all levels of Spanish society. Attention was drawn, during the debate, to the Valencian community and, in particular, to those areas such as Alicante that are economically dependent on the construction industry. In addition to the problem of illegally built houses, stated Martín Pallín, ‘the race for easy money and lack of scruples has led to the emergence of mafia-related drug crimes and arms trafficking.’
Both speakers underlined the vital importance of tackling the widespread corruption that currently poses a grave threat to Spanish democratic society. Judge Martín Pallín also signaled the link between urban corruption and apparently ‘ordinary and legal’ financial institutions that are carrying out questionable parallel activities in tax havens. The only way to eradicate the illegal finance and tax havens, he declared, is by reducing corruption in its many and varied forms.
The judge went on to voice his belief that prison sentences should not only be applied to those who fail to integrate into society, but also to those who have failed to comply with ethic and moral codes, achieving social and economic status as a result of illegal activities.
It was acknowledged, however, that in order to deal adequately with corruption, some revision of the law is necessary. The slowness (or ultimate failure) in application of the law, explained the judge, has led to an erosion of citizens’ confidence in the legal system. He maintains that those guilty of crimes against the environment, such as illegal construction in rustic or coastal areas, should have the products of that activity (in this case, the buildings) confiscated, in much the same way as is the merchandise of drug smugglers caught with kilos of cocaine.
Both speakers stressed the opinion that it is totally unacceptable to put immoral and unethical behavior of any kind down to ‘human weakness’, as has been done in the past. Manuel Alcáraz described the community of Valencia as a ‘great laboratory for discovering all about corruption in its various forms, where politicians and business entrepreneurs behave as though they are ‘untouchable’ and above the law. The overall message of the debate was clear: it is about time that those guilty of corruption, whomever they may be, be made accountable for their actions.

El 30 de mayo de 2010 21:16, AUN escribió:

Martín Pallín alerta de que la llegada de mafias está ligada a la ´locura urbanística´

El magistrado emérito del Tribunal Supremo participa en una jornada en Almoradí que analiza las relaciones entre urbanismo y poder

EDUARDO DE GEA

El mensaje fue claro y preciso: "Pérdida de ética y corrupción de la clase política, derivada del urbanismo especulativo que financia a los partidos políticos". Esa fue una de las conclusiones de la jornada sobre Urbanismo Insostenible y Corrupción Política celebrada ayer en Almoradí, que ofreció una visión crítica del desarrollo urbanístico y la corrupción desde el punto de vista económico, judicial y político.

El magistrado emérito de la Sala II del Tribunal Supremo, José Antonio Martín Pallín dibujó un panorama sombrío al analizar las aspectos más negativos de "la locura" urbanística que se ha cebado especialmente en zonas económicamente dependientes de la construcción como la provincia de Alicante. "No sólo porque la crisis mundial aquí tiene mayor incidencia. También porque se trata de un sector que ha ido en contra de un turismo que debe ser atractivo, sostenible y rentable". Un sector, aseguró el veterano jurista, que tiene mucho que ver en la aparición de mafias relacionadas con el tráfico de armas y drogas, y "todo, por el dinero fácil y la falta de escrúpulos", aseguró Pallín.

El magistrado alertó sobre la envergadura de la corrupción asegurando que "nunca una sociedad democrática ha sido derribada por el terrorismo, pero por la corrupción sí". Y fue más allá al relacionar la corrupción urbanística con entidades financieras "normales y legales" que "mantienen actividades paralelas en paraísos fiscales. La única forma de desactivar las finanzas ilegales y los paraísos fiscales es disminuir la corrupción, un negocio con infinidad de variedades".

Tras destacar la "inseguridad jurídica en un mundo de leyes desbocadas" valoró que las penas de prisión no sólo deben ser aplicadas a aquellas personas no integradas en la sociedad "también por aquellas integradas que han alcanzando un alto estatus económico, y social, de conocimientos, pero que han fallado en lo ético y lo social dejando de lado la legalidad y cogido el atajo de actividades ilícitas".

Decomiso

En este sentido dijo que el Código Penal "se resistía" hasta ahora a que por este tipo de delitos se entrara en prisión. Sobre la legislación urbanística dijo sentirse "desmoralizado" porque muchas sentencias de derribo no se cumplen, por ello, y como vía alternativa apostó por que "se decomise el producto al igual que cuando se detiene a un traficante con un kilo de cocaína".

--
Posted By Charles Svoboda to Abusos Urbanisticos - NO! President's Blog at 5/30/2010 10:15:00 AM

AUAN Press release - 24.5.2010

2010-05-24T22:32:00.000+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 24th May 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Register to Vote!

Local Elections are due to take place in Andalucia in May 2011 and all European Citizens are entitled to vote in them.

AUAN (Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No!) have created a ‘Register to Vote’ guide for EU citizens which is now available on their website (http://www.almanzora-au.org/vote.htm). It includes copies of all the forms that you will need and instructions on how to check that you are on the electoral register.

Why bother?
It’s the best way to make your politicians sit up and take notice of the issues that matter to YOU.

AUAN is not a political party. We are a pressure group advocating for a more intelligent and faster solution to the issue of illegal houses.

We believe that this issue has blighted lives and prosperity in this region for too long.

Need help?
AUAN will run a voter registration clinic in Albox on Wednesday 2nd June at Kats Kitchen (next to Serendipity), Calle Cordoba between 10.00am and noon. Further clinics are planned.

Anyone who wants to register to vote is welcome to attend.

AUAN Press release - 19.5.2010

2010-05-19T16:01:00.000+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 19th May 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Third Demolition order set aside in Albox
John and Muriel Burns confirmed today that the demolition order on their home has been set aside and their case will now be retried. This at least gives them some hope for a good outcome in the future.
Three demolition orders have now been set aside by the courts on the basis that the homeowner was not properly informed of the proceedings.
The legal battle continues for the remaining five.

Maura Hillen (AUAN) radio interview link

2010-05-07T12:31:00.001+02:00

The recent interview of Maura Hillen on Energy Radio can be heard at this link:

http://www.supload.com/listen?s=quZXfp

The Last Word on Caparrós

2010-05-01T10:59:00.001+02:00

There's an opinion piece in yesterday's leftist Voz de Almería which is pretty interesting:
'There are various possible interpretations for the recent departure of Luis Caparrós from his job as head of obras públicas and the vivienda. His name comes up a lot in the biggest property scandal in the last hundred years - the illegal construction of thousands and thousands of homes in our province. Such a scandal it is, that European parliamentarians have taken interest in the subject, believing that there is a serious case of fraud, ripoff and theft against their citizens living in Almeria province to answer for. The denuncias from the Junta de Andalucía always came late, generally when the house had been built, sold, an escritura issued, and with a British family installed within.
So who should we blame for this shocking state of affairs? Luis Caparrós held all the cards. To try and dodge the blame, Caparrós told the European settlers who wanted to live here not to trust the mayors. And this was the senior representaive for housing for the Junta de Andalucía in Almería talking! With urban politics badly driven over the phone from Seville, and with a department in Almería that didn't know how to help or protect the European home buyers, Almería soon made it to the front pages of all the major European newspapers, as a place to avoid bringing any investment to.
You may find other reasons why Caparrós was sacked, but this one is enough for me. We have lost a huge opportunity for some of our pueblos to find a way to survive since there are few alternatives. All that is needed is supervision, control, vigilence, and that the public administration does its job properly. This didn't happen and along came the demolitions and the suspicions. Good bye Luis!'
Juan Torrijos

AUAN Press release - 20.4.2010

2010-04-20T19:48:00.000+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 20th April 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Demolition order set aside.

One of the ‘Albox 8’ was the recipient of some good news yesterday when a judge ordered that proceedings to demolish their home should be set aside and the case re-tried. The Juntas’ objections were denied.
Their lawyer cited case law which included the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Helen and Len Prior to convince the judge that the homeowners had not been correctly informed of the proceedings against their home.

Letter from Catherine Bearder MEP (Liberal Democrat)

2010-04-13T16:06:00.000+02:00

Dear Sir

Thank you for contacting me about abuses of property rights in Spain.

Liberal Democrat MEPs have a long and proud record of fighting the “Spanish land grab”, which is a very serious human rights abuse causing homelessness, loss of savings and anguish for many of my constituents and others. I share the deep anger at the way in which legitimate property rights have been undermined or even abolished. Although I am newly elected to the European parliament, my Liberal Democrat colleagues in the European parliament have taken a strong and active interest in the issue for 6 years, supporting from the beginning the campaign of “Abusos Urbanisticos-No”.

Over the last 5 years, the European Parliament has held a series of debates and adopted resolutions that make clear the view of MEPs that the phenomenon of the Spanish land grab is unacceptable and must be addressed by the Spanish government. Parliament's actions include:

· December 2005: Fourtou report on Valencian land law, debated and supported by the Parliament in response to 15,000 petitions from citizens. Parliament's resolution identified maladministration by Valencia's local authorities, urged action to remedy this and more assistance for those affected
· June 2007: Parliament adopts a resolution following a fact-finding visit to Spain, calling for Spanish authorities to set up committees to investigate and arbitrate where disputes arise, and for adequate compensation to be awarded where necessary
· March 2009: Auken report on the impact of extensive urbanisation in Spain adopted by the Parliament, calling for the introduction of effective redress

Liberal Democrat MEPs of course supported both the Fourtou and Auken reports. Despite all this European Parliament activity, the Spanish authorities have repeatedly argued that this is a “local” issue and that cases will be dealt with by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

In March this year the Petitions Committee deemed many of the issues related to the petitions on property rights to be unresolved. After discussions with the Spanish government and several petitioners, they called on the government of Spain and of the regions concerned to carry out a thorough review and to revise all legislation affecting the rights of individual property owners as a result of massive urbanisation. The aim of this was to bring an end to the abuse of rights and obligations enshrined in the EU treaties and Charter of Fundamental Rights, the European Convention of Human Rights and relevant EU Directives, as well as in other conventions to which the EU is a party. At the same time, the Committee called on the Commission to ensure strict respect for the application of Community law so that compliance with Parliament's resolutions on this matter can be assured.

This means that the case is by no means closed. Liberal Democrat MEPs are playing a very active role in pushing forward the Petition Committee's follow-up actions. Last year we sought to amend the EU budget to withhold European funding to the Valencia region until such a time that the government solves the land grab problem, but on procedural grounds, we were denied the opportunity to vote on this. We are currently pressing the Spanish Presidency of the EU to bring a new dynamic to addressing this unacceptable practice: in January, at the beginning of the Spanish Presidency, my colleague and member of the Petitions Committee Diana Wallis MEP personally asked the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to put an end to it. Together with the new momentum that is building up within the Petitions Committee, pressure on those with the power to change things can only increase.
You can be assured that I and my fellow the Liberal Democrat MEPs will continue the fight to protect the rights of EU citizens who own property in Spain and address this injustice for affected land owners which we believe offends against all European rights and values.

Thank you once again for contacting me. I hope this response has been of use to you.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Bearder MEP

AUAN Press release - 10.4.2010

2010-04-10T22:27:00.001+02:00

Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No
Campaigning to safeguard our homes

AUAN Press release – 10th April 2010
Contact info@almanzora-au.org

Five more homes under possible threat of demolition in Albox

Five more British families in Albox are facing the possible demolition of their homes.

They were summoned to court number 2 in Huercal-Overa on the 7th of April to be told that their builder Osvaldo Ceferino Martinez has been charged with planning crimes relating to the illegal construction of their homes in the ‘La Molata’ area of Albox.

The State Prosecutor is seeking the demolition of the five homes with compensation payable to the homeowners by the builder. The builder is also expected to pay the 65,000 euro cost of demolition. Sr. Martinez’s’ whereabouts is unknown to the homeowners at this time and there is some concern as to his financial status.

The families were given 3 days to appoint a lawyer and a procurator so that they can take part in the proceedings to defend their interests and claim compensation.

The case will now be sent to trial in Almeria.

An open letter to the Mayor of Albox, the Town Council and the local PSOE party.

2010-04-05T08:54:00.000+02:00

Sir
I represent no organisation or Group, I send this letter only as an individual, however, before you dismiss this as an inconsequential message from just one voter, it is quite likely that I speak with the voice of hundreds, perhaps many more. You will of course see that it is in English rather than your native tongue, something I make no apologies for. I have determined that I will not resume my Spanish language lessons until my house is made legal. What is the point. You and your comrades may well put me on to the streets.
Almost exactly 3 years ago, I attended a public meeting, where, through your interpreter, Jo Tissington, you appealed to an audience composed almost entirely of Ex-pat British people. At this meeting you suggested that because you were PSOE and the Junta Andalucia were also PSOE, you would have less trouble rectifying the problem of illegal homes. You knew then as you know now, this was and is totally untrue.
Since that time 3 years ago, it would be reasonable to ask what have you done to benefit the Ex-pat community. I thought long and hard about this and decided it was best to use the pro’s and con’s approach, so:
In your favour:
1. You appointed Jo Tissington as a liaison officer to help people understand the requirements for registration, health problems, licences and so on.
2. After a good deal of deliberation....... I gave up.
Against you:
1. You have NEVER organised a public meeting to explain to the ex-pat community just what the council is doing to help, or how this situation might be resolved (possibly because you have NO idea).
2. There are more people now without water and electricity supplies than when you took office. Are you REALLY suggesting that it is beyond your power to authorise the connection of services to houses in your municipality, or at LEAST appeal to the judiciary to allow such. If you cannot, what is the point of having a Mayor who cannot do anything except erect monuments to donkey’s
3. You have overseen the issuing of 9 demolition orders (10 if you include the one issued to Mrs Ella Dring).
4. More people have returned to the UK since you took office.
5. More businesses have closed since you took office.
6. I know of NO ex-pat houses legalised since you took office.
7. You appointed Jo Tissington as a liaison officer, then flatly refused to tell her anything that was going on regarding legality issues.
8. You are the Mayor of a Town which is dying on its feet. The erection of the monument of a donkey is perhaps extremely apt, for a council and town which are returning to the position they held 20 years ago.
The answer to all these problems lies in the legalisation of the homes of thousands of innocent people. Thousands, tens, indeed hundreds of thousands of Euro’s will be readily available, yet you do and promise nothing. What lunacy is this?
In another year from now, you will once again approach the ex-pat community, and appeal for their votes. Personally I have no idea who I will vote for at the moment, but in a year’s time, it will be going in favour of the party that guarantees connection of services, and a halt to this madness. Historically, you have shown your inability to deliver on promises, which does not suggest that you, your council or your party are the right choice; however, there is still a year to go.
Respectfully

A letter to Mr Ashworth (MEP)

2010-04-03T10:25:00.001+02:00

Dear Mr Ashworth,

You may be aware of the situation affecting over 250,000 home owners in Spain. The Spanish authorities are threatening the lawful owners with demolition of their houses without compensation, or are imposing extortionate financial penalties. These judicial orders have been given under an arbitrary cancellation of building permits or a retroactive application of the law.

This issue is widely reported in the European press (simply enter “Spanish property scandal/abuse” in a search engine), yet the Spanish government is dismissing those claims as a mere infringement of building regulations by wealthy foreigners. This is not true: the families affected are mostly ordinary Spanish citizens, and retired foreigners, who are facing ruin and are being denied their most basic human right of a shelter and peaceful existence. These people are fighting their cases through the local courts, but are not being given justice. Their suffering is real. I know several of these people.

I have lived in Spain for the last 14 years (having purchased a business here in 1987) and am sickened by the corruption found here in almost every walk of life. This country is nearly the world's leading "Banana monarchy" !

Furthermore I would venture that as the ordinary man (Spaniard or other) has virtually no recourse to justice (due to the corruption and crass inefficiency of the system) this country cannot, therefore, be called a democracy.

We are asking you to support a motion for an urgent debate about the Spanish property abuses in the plenary session of the European Parliament and seize the opportunity of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union to solve the issue.

Yours sincerely,
John G. Deacon

How to Help

2010-03-31T21:21:00.002+02:00

From Marta Andreasen's office

What is currently happening?

Marta is now a member of the Petitions Committee in the European Parliament and has met some of you, either at her Brussels office or at the Soha march in Malaga. However, her focus remains to get the question of the Spanish property abuses debated in the plenary of the Parliament because the Petitions Committee does not have the power to request or impose any action. For this, we need help from all of you.

What can I do?

We need all nationalities concerned to write to their MEPs, and report back to me, as soon as possible. The window for debate in Parliament is not so wide, and we need to act fast: a large cross-party support is what this cause needs.

The steps are:

1. Find out who your MEPs are: see link below by country of origin.

2. Email as many as possible, in your own name (see below). There is no need to contact the EFD members (Europe of Freedom and Democracy), they are Marta's group and already support you. I have provided a short text for simplicity. You may add to it, but keep in mind that some may not read beyond a few lines.

3. Please write back to me with the names of the MEPs you contacted – please start the email subject with “MEP”. We will use this information in Parliament.

The largest group, by nationality, in alphabetical order are:

Belgique:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=BE&language=FR

Danmark:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=DK&language=DA

Deutschland:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=DE&language=DE

España:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=ES&language=ES

France:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=FR&language=FR

Nederland:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=NL&language=NL

Österreich:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=AT&language=DE

Sverige:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=SE&language=sv

United Kingdom:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/search.do?country=GB&language=EN

For all other nationalities, please find your MEPs following this link:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry.do?language=EN

A suggested text to send follows.

Thank you all for taking the time to contact your MEPs - we must show a strong and organised face to Europe.

Best wishes of success,

Matthieu Laloux
Assistant to Marta Andreasen, MEP

laloux@gmail.com

*** ***
Dear Mr / Ms *<Name of MEP>*,

You may be aware of the situation affecting over 250,000 home owners in Spain. The Spanish authorities are threatening the lawful owners with demolition of their houses without compensation, or are imposing extortionate financial penalties. These judicial orders have been given under an arbitrary cancellation of building permits or a retroactive application of the law.

This issue is widely reported in the European press (simply enter “Spanish property scandal/abuse” in a search engine), yet the Spanish government is dismissing those claims as a mere infringement of building regulations by wealthy foreigners. This is not true: the families affected are mostly ordinary Spanish citizens, and retired foreigners, who are facing ruin and are being denied their most basic human right of a shelter and peaceful existence. These people are fighting their cases through the local courts, but are not being given justice. Their suffering is real. I am one of these people.

We are asking you to support a motion for an urgent debate about the Spanish property abuses in the plenary session of the European Parliament and seize the opportunity of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union to solve the issue.

Yours Sincerely,

<Your Name & Address>

A blind alley

2010-03-18T21:10:00.003+01:00

(Reproduced with kind permission of Per Svensson)
A blind alley By Per Svensson: A certainly well meaning Secretary for Europe in the British Foreign Ministry, Chris Bryant, has been on a lightning visit to Spain in an attempt to assist his countrymen who are experiencing serious problems with property purchases in the country. During a meeting in the British Consulate in Malaga an agreement was reached with the Secretary of State for Territorial Cooperation in the Spanish National Government, Gaspar Zarrias (previously the strong right hand of Ex-President Chavez in the Andalusia Government) and the Minister in Andalusia for Urban Affairs, Juan Espadas. The agreement was that the Junta de Andalusia would pay for a functionary “expert in urban matters, education, health and social services” to be placed in the British Consulate in Malaga to provide “information to residents in Spain … to avoid legal problems.” It is anticipated that a similar arrangement will be made in Alicante with an urban affairs expert from the Generalitat Valenciana. The British Ambassador and a number of associations defending the interests of people affected by urban planning abuses, or by the excessive use of the Law on the Coasts, were also at the meeting. The threats of demolitions I understand the interest of the victims groups to take part in any discussions which may affect their situation, hoping maybe that the meeting itself could help in resolving their real problems: the threats of more demolitions of foreigner’s dwellings. I also understand the intention of the representatives of the Andalusia and Valencia Governments, who are trying to find a cheap way out of their responsibilities for the abuses. There was nothing in the statements made by Mr. Zarrias to indicate that the demolition orders issued by the Junta de Andalusia would be withdrawn, and he stressed that the information given by their urban expert to residents had as its aim to prevent legal problems (meaning in the future). May we ask: Has this information not been available all the time in the offices of the vast number of private lawyers and real estate agencies, the office of the European Residents in the Alicante Provincial Government, the offices of the Defensores de Consumidores and notary’s offices, and on the web page of the property registrars in Spain? Even on the web pages of Ciudadanos Europeos the information has been available for years. So how could the scandals in Albox, Catral, Axarquia, Cartama, Mijas, Marbella, Bigastro, Zarra, Lliber or Montroi, just to mention a few, have happened? Information sources for trans-national property buyers Because the decision by a person in the north to buy a home in the south is mainly taken on a cold, rainy and windy, winter day, after viewing a film or TV report with palm threes and beautiful beaches, visiting one of the many property exhibitions or reading an advert about homes in the sun for sale. In almost every town throughout Northern Europe there is an active network of real estate agents offering properties for sale in Southern Europe. You do not need any special education or training to become such an agent, you must just have a phone/fax/e-mail. Almost none of them speak the language or know the laws of the countries in which they are selling. What they do know is that they will get 5-10% commission on the sales price when the client buys. The client is taken by the sales agent to the country where the property is located, or is met at the airport by a collaborator. He is not taken anywhere to get good advice. Almost invariably the visit ends with them signing a private sales/purchasing contract and paying a deposit. More and more trans-national property buyers are using the Internet for additional information but very few know they for instance should go to the web site of the “Ilustre Colegio de Registradores” of Spain to find the correct information. When using the Internet to search for information on property in Spain, almost all will enter “property in Spain.” I did so and found 133,000,000 entries. Having studying the 30 first entries, I saw they were all selling properties, or services connected with a purchase. The property registrars are not mentioned. I then typed “Spanish property registry” knowing well that almost no new property purchaser would be aware important information could be obtained there. I found 2,420, 000 entries, and after searching the first 30, found that the “Ilustre Colegio” was not amongst them. The entries were openly or disguised property sales. It was only when I searched specifically that I arrived at the Registrars site. Who would know to do that? Only those professionally connected with the sale of property in Spain, never an average buyer. The Consulates, a blind alley The British Embassy and Consulates have a good record when it comes to taking up the issue of abuse against their countrymen in Spain but they are blind alleys when it comes to solving the problems. Will victims of all nationalities go to one of the two British Consulates with their problems? Should potential new buyers be expected to approach Spanish functionaries sitting in those consulates before making a decision to buy? A ridiculous assumption. It is the year long battle of organisations like AUN, investigations by the European Parliament (re-read the Auken Report of almost a year ago from the EUP – there has still been no answer from the Spanish or the Valencia Governments!) and the reports in the foreign press, that have put pressure on Spanish politicians. I expect they will now all praise the agreement with the British Consulate in Malaga, brush their hands and say, “Now all foreigners can safely buy in Spain!” No, they cannot, and they should all be warned against trying to do so as long as innocent victims are still under the threat of losing their home, or having it vandalised by scheming “agentes urbanisticos” under the Valencia property laws; but still no proper, functioning information system has been set up. The Spanish Governments have disqualified themselves by not giving any form of answer or reaction to the year old Auken Report, approved by the European Parliament by an overwhelming majority. This valuable and accurate document must not be forgotten or ignored. We must go back to point 35 of the final conclusions in the Auken report which states: Once again (the Parliament) calls on the Commission to initiate an information campaign directed at EU citizens buying real estate in a Member State other than their own. A proposal for such a permanent information campaign within the framework of the European institutions has been submitted to one of the leading members of the European Parliament. That is the road.

Letter to Señor Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

2010-03-16T15:14:00.001+01:00

(Courtesy of Keith Donovan)

Good day,

The attached are of a letter posted (Hard Copy) on the 15th March 2010, to Señor Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as both Prime Minister of Spain and as the current President of the EU.

Other hard copies have been sent to –

Sr. Javier Vallés Liberal, Oficina Económica del Presidente del Gobierno,

Sr. Mariano Rajoy

Señora Rosa Diez

Should you wish to, please feel free to forward this missive to whomever you feel may be interested.

It appears that Señor Zapatero is attempting to blame the autonomous communities throughout Spain as the cause of the current and ongoing problems with the Construction and Property scandals enveloping Spain.

However, Central Government must be responsible for the Spanish Constitution as I have laid out in the attached letter.

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

Regards

Keith Donovan

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 32nd 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

Estimado Presidente Señor Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,
¡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 written) 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 españñol 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,
Keith Donovan

Marta Andreasen

2010-03-10T23:51:00.000+01:00

You are receiving this email because you contacted Marta Andreasen’s office regarding the Spanish property scandal. I am Marta's parliamentary assistant, dedicated to this issue.
Here, I aim to explain Marta’s motivations and action.
Although elected by the South East of England, Marta has vowed to fight for this issue on behalf of all victims of this appalling affair, regardless of nationality or political constituency.
Marta Andreasen has taken on this problem, as she knows of the devastation caused by the corruption and badly drafted laws.
She feels strongly that homeowners are being treated unjustly and are receiving no protection from any of the responsible parties involved, the regional government, the Spanish government, their own government or the European Union.
Her office monitors the situation and is informed daily of developments through local contacts, amongst which we count property owners, journalists, lawyers and activists.

What is Marta doing? Since she confronted Prime Minister Zapatero in the opening session of the Spanish presidency, she has been busy gathering cross-party support to get the question debated at the European parliament.
She brought the matter up in the chamber not only to highlight the problem before the entire EU but also to let all parties know that she intends to pursue the matter.
Unlike Chris Bryant, the UK’s Europe minister, Marta remains unconditionally on the side of the all homeowners without admonishing, and is willing to challenge Spain (see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7392959/Bulldozing-expats-will-hurt-Spain-Foreign-Office-minister-cautions.html)

How can Marta help me? Her aim is to apply enough pressure on the Spanish government to seek a fair and balanced treatment of all affected. Marta is listening and looking for a settlement for all, but cannot get involved in individual cases.
Marta's action complements those of the individual homeowners as she is determined to apply political pressure through whatever means she has, including campaigning for the removal of subsidies. Her involvement is at the European political level.

What can I do? Carry on your defending your home! We would not be able to succeed without the pressure applied on the Spanish authorities by the victims of this appalling affair; we are asking people to keep going through their existing legal teams, and see the processes through.
You can also write your MEP, and keep reminding them of the issue. We cannot fight this from a single political party base.

What next? We will do everything we can until we have exhausted all avenues, but will stop short of making promises we cannot keep. We promise transparency in our action.
We will shortly start issuing regular information and will include you on the list. Feel free to contact me if you know of any news/cases that we could use.
Marta has become a member of the Petitions Committee of the European parliament, and will ensure that upcoming requests are given the importance they deserve.
She will also attend a march in Malaga on March 17, and meet with some of you (at a later date, to be announced).

REAL ESTATE BUBBLE HAD TO BURST

2010-03-09T21:05:00.001+01:00

Courtesy of The Le@er.com:

Staff Reporter / 2010-03-09 15:15:21

For years unstoppable development fueled a real estate bubble that became the ideal breeding ground for political and business corruption schemes, with ties to illegal construction. And even now, two years after the bubble has burst with a bang and plunged Spain into a deep economic recession, the extent of that wave of corruption is still unravelling 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 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.

“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.

Vile rumour dispelled - dirty tricks

2010-03-04T22:50:00.002+01:00

On February 27th, the administrator of an Arboleas Forum wrote:

"Perhaps you are not aware of this fact. As told by the daughter of the Prior's to someone I personally know. That their building licence was for a house to be built where their garage is NOT where it was built. This is the main reason, as far as I am aware for the demolition order. It would be EXACTLY the same in the UK if someone built a house in the opposite corner to where planning permission had been granted. This detail is not in the public domain for obvious reasons. I respect those reasons and would not want to harm any prospect of them getting compensation. Therefore have never disclosed this fact on the forum."

To debunk this particular fact/rumour once and for all.

The content of the private message was sent to different sources, which were then linked back to Len and Helen Prior, who are far too dignified to get personally involved in these vicious rumours.

However, they did give me the following statement:

"The building license for 'Tranquilidad', the home belonging to Len and Helen Prior was revoked because the Junta said it could cause a POSSIBLE URBAN NUCLEUS. There was no other reason, other than political.

We are prepared to show documentary proof of this to anybody who thinks they know better."

In addition, I am told that all of the paperwork is in the town hall for anyone to see.

Also, you can download a copy of the Judgment of the Spanish Constitutional Court, which goes partly into the history of the matter, by following this link:

http://www.tribunalconstitucional.es/es/jurisprudencia/Paginas/Sentencia.aspx?cod=9696

The Judgment centres on whether they were properly notified of the proceedings but recites the Town Hall deciding the following to comply with the order of the Almería court revoking the licence:

Los demandantes de amparo en fecha 5 de mayo de 2006 recibieron la siguiente resolución del Ayuntamiento de Vera:

"Primero.- Proceder a la incoación de expediente de restauración de la legalidad urbanística, en cumplimiento de la sentencia número 53/04 de fecha 19 de abril de 2004, dictada por el Juzgado de lo Contencioso Administrativo número 2 de Almería, en cuya virtud, se anula la licencia concedida a D. Leonard Jhon Prior y Dª Helen Prior, para la construcción de una vivienda en suelo no urbanizable en Paraje, La Loma del Municipio de Vera, al haber vulnerado el otorgamiento de la citada licencia, la prohibición de parcelación en suelo no urbanizable.

The situation:

Building licence given by Town Hall of Vera.

Revoked by court action brought by the Junta on the basis of the risk of an urban nucleus arising (ie the existence of an urban parcelisation).

Revocation of a building licence implies the demolition of what has been built in accordance with it.

Now, about vile rumours? More dirty tricks?

Malaga Demonstration: March 15th

2010-02-26T11:26:00.001+01:00

(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

2010-02-23T10:05:00.001+01:00

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

2010-02-22T13:14:00.000+01:00

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?

2010-02-22T12:35:00.001+01:00

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

2010-02-22T12:34:00.005+01:00

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

2010-02-22T12:34:00.003+01:00

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

2010-02-22T12:32:00.001+01:00

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

2010-02-20T17:47:00.000+01:00

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

2010-02-20T12:02:00.000+01:00

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

2010-02-17T23:07:00.001+01:00

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?

2010-02-16T10:59:00.002+01:00

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

2010-02-14T10:15:00.002+01:00

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

2010-02-12T11:17:00.002+01:00

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

2010-02-09T11:50:00.002+01:00

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.

Open letter from Michael Cashman MEP to Prime Minister Zapatero

2010-01-15T08:53:00.001+01:00

Prime Minister Zapatero

Council of the European Union

Rue de la Loi 175

1048 Brussels

Dear Prime Minister Zapatero,

Recent events have compelled me to write to you again to raise the issue of widespread urban abuse in Spain , particularly in the Valencia , Murcia and Andalucía autonomous communities. Tens of thousands of people from all EU Member States have now been affected by irregularities in regional land law. At the last count the European Parliament's Petitions Committee has handled over 15,000 petitions and letters flood into my office on a daily basis. Several fact-finding missions have taken place, in which we have spoken to people on the ground and gathered evidence which has formed the basis of Parliamentary Reports. Inaction can no longer be excused.

Sadly, the new year has begun in the worst possible way for one community in Andalucía where eight properties in the village of Albox have been served with demolition notices. In 2002 Albox Town Hall granted building licenses for all of the properties in question. However late in the same year The Junta de Andalusia reversed this decision and after lengthy court proceedings succeeded in having the building licenses nullified. The homes many bought in good faith and in conformity with the regional property law, with the hope of enjoying a new life or peaceful retirement, now face imminent demolition.

Ultimately it is the Spanish Government alone who can bring an end to these abuses. In this way the Spanish Presidency of the European Council represents an opportunity to decisively tackle these long-standing problems once and for all, especially in the autonomous communities of Valencia , Andalusia and Murcia . I urge you to intervene and ask the regional governments to resolve this so the people who acted in conformity with legal practice and the law are not left as the victims.

Yours Sincerely,

MICHAEL CASHMAN MEP

The perfect Christmas Present - a demolition order

2010-01-12T18:42:00.000+01:00

Imagine the scene. You’re putting the finishing touches to the Christmas tree when there’s a knock at the door and a Spanish police officer cheerfully hands you an envelope. But it isn’t a Christmas card, rather a demolition order for your beloved Spanish retirement home.

That’s what happened on December 22 to John and Muriel Burns, a retired couple living in Albox, a rural town in Almeria in south-east Spain. Two years earlier another retired couple, Len and Helen Prior, were the first British expats to witness their Spanish home demolished without warning and without having been invited to be part of the legal processes. The Spanish supreme court in Madrid has now ruled in their favour but they are yet to receive any compensation.

It’s easy to dismiss such stories with a cynical grunt and a cliché about expats just not doing their homework but in this case it’s simply not true. In the same area, another seven British families were served with similar demolition notices for properties bought in all good faith but which are now deemed by the Andalucía regional government to be illegal. How can this happen?

Let’s look at the facts. It is estimated that British expats own more than 600,000 properties in Spain, the highest number situated in Andalucía and in the Valencia region. During the Spanish property boom back in the nineties, thousands of Brits jumped at the chance to buy new dream homes in the coastal and rural areas.

Property agents would bend over themselves to offer them an all round service coordinating between developer, local lawyer and council planning official to secure the deal. In the case of the hapless eight in Almeria, their illegal new builds on rural protected land had been approved by the local Albox council which had even issued the appropriate building licences. The Andalucía regional government then revoked the licences as illegal and ordered the properties to be demolished.

This is just the tip of the iceberg and it does not just affect British expats. Thousands of illegal homes have been built in the last twenty years, 15,000 for example in Chiclana, Andalucía, many of which are owned by Spanish residents.

It seems that British expats are in a lose, lose situation when buying property in Spain. If they purchase on the coast they are likely to find themselves in hot water with the arbitrary ley de costas, the retrospective coastal law inaugurated in 1988, and if they buy new properties in rural zones, they might find themselves caught up in a property scam such as that which has occurred in Albox in Almeria.

Historically buying property in Spain has never been straightforward. Some British buyers are still licking their wounds after the collapse of the Spanish construction industry when thousands lost early stage payments with companies such as Martinsa-Fadesa which went into administration leaving British investors’ dreams in tatters.

Others found their legitimate rural properties being requisitioned in what was known as “land grabs”, when they were suddenly re-classified as urban zones and handed over to big developers.

While the Spanish supreme court and the European Court of Human Rights decide what to do about the whole sorry mess, the Andalucía regional government has, with no trace of irony, backed a new real estate network hoping to lure British expats to buy in the region. It promises to offer “quality, legal assurances and innovation” to foreign buyers.

For those awaiting the imminent demolition of their homes, there is no immediate comfort. The only hope is that with the intervention of the European court the corrupt perpetrators of these scandals will soon find their chickens coming home to roost.

An expat action support group, Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora (AUAN), can be found at www.almanzora-au.org .

The Demonstration in Almería

2010-01-11T18:35:00.004+01:00

Around 700 people joined the demonstration today in Almería City, indignant at the threats against property put by the authorities. The demo was organised by the AUAN. Here are some pictures:

The Vigil

2010-01-10T07:38:00.006+01:00

Around two hundred people descended on the home of Len and Helen Prior on Saturday 9th January to mark the second anniversary of the demolition of the British couple's house in Vera, Almería. There isn't much left. The Priors live in their garage, converted somehow into a bedroom, and, apart from the gardens, the most notable feature of the property is a large cement foundation, where the house once stood.
The visitors, wrapped against the cold, brought candles (most of those present were more than familiar with candles, as many of their houses in Albox, Arboleas, Zurgena and Cantoria don't have connection to the electric current and they must use generators and hosepipes). A bonfire set up on the cement foundation provided heat and light.
Surprisingly, several Spanish newspapers plus the Canal Sur TV were present and Helen Prior (pictured) made a short speech followed by another from Maura Hillen of the AUAN, encouraging all to attend the demonstration on Monday 11th January in Almería City.

Protest against demolitions - Almeria - 11 January

2010-01-02T17:47:00.001+01:00

Peaceful Protest March in Almeria - Monday 11th January 2010
Against the Albox and Vera Demolitions

The AUAN have booked 6 coaches to transport people to show support to the victims of the Albox and Vera recently announce demolitions

Seats available, minimum 6 euros per seat, plus any donations welcome

Depart 09.30am, at Dia Car Park - toilet break - Arrive Almeria 11.30 am for March at midday

You do not have to be an AUAN member to attend

Book your seats at the Cantoria Residents Association library (Bruce)
11..30 am to 12.30 pm Tuesday 5th and Thursday 7th January 2010
Please have correct amount of change, and in an envelope with names on

Or if you cannot get to the CRA library, put your names down at the La Parilla Albox:

11.30 am to 12.30 pm Tues 5th and Friday 8th January 2010 (Ask for Carole Maneeley and Tom Jones)

or Maloans Bar Arboleas (ask for Dawn and Derick Oldfield)

11.30 am to 12.30pm Tues 5th and Friday 8th January 2010

f you cannot get into one of the payment points, your email to:

membership@almanzora-au.org and pay on the coach

Look out for more details on the AUAN website http://www.almanzora-au.org

Those travelling are asked not to park at Dia Car park.

Date of Next AUAN meeting Saturday 16th January 2010 at 11.00am
(new members welcome to join from 10.00am ) in La Parilla Albox top square

The 'Urban Disaster' of Arboleas

2009-12-21T11:51:00.004+01:00

There’s a recent article from 'Actualidad Almanzora' entitled: ‘Luis Caparrós continues to fail to heed the urban disaster of Arboleas’.
The subheads read:
*A dozen barrios with 2,000 foreign-owned properties without planning or basic services.
*The mayor of the town admits that the Junta de Andalucía has not presented as much as a single official complaint. (NB – the town is PSOE)
*The regional administration (i.e. Junta de Andalucía) does however have 150 legal cases in process against the towns of Zurgena, Albox, Cuevas and Vera. (not PSOE towns, except Albox, whose urban problems date back to the PP)
The first paragraph of the three-page special includes the following: ‘...the anarchy of the buildings could hardly be more in evidence. The disorder of the streets is absolute’. Pictures of urban sprawl accompany the title 'lo que el ojo de Caparrós sigue sin ver' - What the eye of Caparrós fails to see...
(Doesn't exist online. We can email a PDF to anyone who asks).
Luis Caparrós is a gauleiter - an Almerían who has worked for the Junta de Andalucía as the Consejero Delegado de la Consejería de Vivienda y Ordenación de Territorio en Almería since 2003. Previously, he was mayor of Purchena from 1991 to 1999. He comes from Oria. He is best known to the expats as the man who ordered the demolition of the Prior's home in Vera in the early days of 2008. Find him here.