Problems & scandals

José Antonio Griñán, the President of Andalucia, announced yesterday that illegally-built homes in Andalucia will be legalised by decree, but stressed that this isn’t an amnesty, despite all evidence to the contrary.

“In some cases it will be a regularisation that answers to town halls through town plans, and in other cases it will come at the request of individual owners,” Griñán told the Andalucian parliament.

The only homes that won’t be legalised are those built on specially protected land and areas at risk of flooding.

According to the Junta, there are 300,000 homes with planning problems in Andalucia, but others like the left-wing party Izquiera Unida say the figure is more like 400,000.

There will be no more problems in future because it is now “practically impossible” to build illegally in Andalucia, claims Griñán. “We are not going to let our guard down,” he said.

Josefina Cruz Villalón, the Minister responsible for housing, recently blamed British owners in Andalucia for much of the problem with illegal building.

Judging by the comments from readers at some Andalucian news websites, the move will go down badly with many voters, who are outraged that law-breakers are being rewarded for their behaviour. In reality, an amnesty is the only solution to a problem the government should never have allowed to grow to such monstrous proportions.

When it comes to illegally built homes, you either stamp it out straight away, or the problem gets so big you end up having to resort to amnesties.

A recent judicial decision appears to provide a glimmer of hope for the owners of illegal houses in Andalucia

AUAN Press release – 24th January 2011

AUAN is pleased to learn that a recent judicial decision appears to provide a glimmer of hope for the owners of illegal houses. The Magistrate of Administrative Court No. 3 in Almeria, Judge Jesus Riveria, made a ruling on the 21st of January in which he rejected the Juntas’ reasons to nullify a licence of first occupation granted by Albox Town council, thus allowing the homeowners to contract water and electricity.

According to the ruling the house was constructed several years ago on non urban land without a building permit and any administrative action against it was proscribed as out of time. After satisfying several requirements, Albox Town council granted a license of first occupation to this property under a special ‘ordenanza’ or regulation which was created specifically to deal with this type of housing classified as ‘fuera de ordenacion’; that is to say constructed without a building permit but untouchable by the administration.

The Junta challenged the license of first occupation on the grounds that there was no building permit for the property and that these houses should be regulated by an urban plan. Alfredo Najas de la Cruz, representing Albox Council and Pedro Maldonado Ruiz acting for the homeowners, argued against the Juntas’ interpretation.

Judge Riveria found that the Juntas argument was erroneous and indicated that the administration “cannot in any way ignore reality” and that it “cannot prevent houses that are fuera de ordenacion from obtaining services which grant them the normal conditions of habitability”. Judge Riveria indicated that if the repair and maintenance of such houses is permitted, common sense dictates that they should also have services, especially when the license of occupation was granted under the strict terms of a special regulation that was not challenged by the Junta when it was created.

The President of AUAN Maura Hillen said “With all due respect, we sometimes think that the Junta lives on another planet. We understand that it was actually the Junta itself who established the special regulation to deal with houses that are “fuera de ordenacion” but then when various town councils had spent money implementing the regulation and granting licenses, they began to challenge them. And all this after people had trusted this regulation and spent lots of money complying with the requirements.” She added “Thank goodness that the court has recognised that there should be some common sense. We have tried without success to explain common sense to the Junta. I hope that the mayors of Almanzora will get through to them. Otherwise, the message will be delivered in the polling booths”.

Contact info at almanzora-au.org or call +34 638 323 706

The President of the Andalucian Popular Party (PP), Javier Arenas, met with members of the British collective AUAN in Almeria on Friday, where he pledged action to try to speed up the legalisation of the 300,000 “illegal” homes in the province.

AUAN Press release – 29th November 2010
Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No – Campaigning to safeguard our homes

Señor Arenas invited representatives of AUAN (Abusos Urbanísticos Almanzora No) to attend the regional parliament when he puts forward a motion proposing a cross-party agreement to fast-track the regularisation process, which would otherwise take many years.

He also specifically proposed a pact with the socialist party (PSOE) to instigate interim measures to “alleviate terrible situations affecting human rights, where families cannot gain access to electricity and water.”

He acknowledged that serious problems exist in many small towns where the application of the planning laws has proved to be “practically impossible” in solving the problem, and emphasised the need for fundamental changes to the regional planning regulations (LOUA and POTA). He promised these changes would be delivered by a PP government should they take power in the forthcoming elections. Sr Arenas blamed a lack of control over construction by the current Junta as the root cause of the problem, and acknowledged that some mayors “have not acted properly”.

“A citizen who has purchased in good faith should not be a victim of the law, of the lack of control in urban development nor of the disastrous management of any regional government” Sr. Arenas remarked.

During the meeting the PP and British residents discussed the impact of this crisis on their lives, on the economy of the region and on the confidence of foreign investors.

Helen Prior, who is still fighting for compensation after her home was demolished in a planning row in Vera in 2008, said “The support of the PP has come too late for me personally, but I hope that it will help the hundreds of thousands of people facing the same situation.”

Maura Hillen, President of the AUAN, told the meeting “Sr. Arenas is the first politician to take a serious interest in this issue. We are not interested in aportioning blame amongst the political parties. We only want a fast and effective solution to the problem of the 5,000 illegal homes in the Valley of Almanzora . We are confident that people will support the politicial party that has the courage, the intelligence and the will to face the difficult problems and provide decisive action to resolve them” she said.

More info www.almanzora-au.org