Here we go again. Another setback in the continuing saga of planning chaos that plagues various parts of Spain, including Andalucía, as recently covered by the TV programme Comando Actualidad on national Spanish TV. This time it is not only the British who are affected but also Belgians who bought houses in the area of Piedra Amarilla, in the hamlet of Partaloa. The State Prosecutor is asking for the demolition of 13 houses in this area.
The Prosecution is not accusing these EU citizens of any wrongdoing. A criminal case has been brought against the promoter and the company, Lakes Vega S.L., for planning crimes which carry a penalty of one year and six months in prison and a ban from the building trade. Legal sources indicate that it is unlikely that any actual prison time would be served. The Prosecutor has also charged other individuals with planning corruption.
As obliged to do so by the Penal Code, the prosecutor is asking for demolition of the houses and states that the promoter should compensate the buyers. However, the normal chain of events in such cases is that the house is demolished first and the victims then start an uncertain struggle to obtain compensation from the promoter. The problem is that, as we have seen in Vera and in Cantoria, in practice the victims are left without a house and without compensation.
Maura Hillen, president of the homeowners association, AUAN, which campaigns on this issue, said “This nonsensical scenario is set out in article 319.3 of the Penal Code. We are asking for this article to be changed. It does not make sense that the only people who are really punished for these types of crimes are the victims. We petitioned Sr. Esteban Gonzalez Pons and other senior figures of the Partido Popular on this issue when we met with them several weeks ago.
They promised to study our proposed change but we have heard nothing. We have made the same proposal to other political parties and, as reported in the press, the Psoe have promised legislative changes to resolve all this legal and planning uncertainty. But we are still waiting for any concrete results. At the moment the only ones who seem likely to see results, in this case disastrous ones, are the victims, when the case goes to trial on 13th June.”
AUANs legal advisor, Gerardo Vazquez, said ‘ What we can see here is the next wave of victims, the Belgians. I have spoken to some of them, specifically a person who purchased one of these houses very recently and is shocked by this news. One of the problems is that the Land Registry is not updated to reflect the existence of these proceedings.
The homeowners that I have spoken to have escrituras with every appearance of legality, registered at the Land Registry, without any indication of criminal proceedings. Here we obviously have a problem with the issue of legal certainty.”
Anyone who feels they may affected by these proceedings may contact AUAN on info@almanzora-au.org.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/43897/
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