CALLS FOR PROPERTY AMNESTY

Owners of illegal properties in Andalucía are calling for an amnesty for their homes and are planning on uniting to form a stronger platform against the administration.

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The Junta de Andalucía has said nothing can be done until the extent of the problem is made clear. They are currently engaging in surveying the problem and have so far revealed some 100,000 illegal properties across the region, but the Mijas group of property owners, who are spearheading the campaign, believe the total number of properties built on non-buildable land and classed as ‘illegal’ could be as high as half a million.

Once the inventory is complete, the authorities have said they will look at the situation on a case by case basis, but the platform is calling for a general amnesty, which has happened in neighbouring Extremadura The Junta has said once the inventory is completed they will look at the matter case by case, while the platform considers there has to be a general amnesty.

The lawyer for the Mijas group, Ricardo Santandreu, told El País, that the LOUA Town Planning Law in Andalucía could be conceived as a law for the 21st century, but the local Town Halls are not prepared, nor have the resources to apply it.

The Partido Popular has also joined the calls for an amnesty in Andalucía, as it has done in Extremadura, but for now the Junta is insisting that there cannot be a common solution to a problem which has widely diverging cases. It considers it must be solved as each municipality brings in the LOUA legislation.