El Pais recently published a rather nasty “special report” on illegal homes built across Andalucia, protest groups formed to protect owners rights and the protest march scheduled for the 9th of January in Almeria and. (Libertad Paloma, from Cadiz, 7/12/08).
“They built without permission, they paid a lot less for their homes than for a normal home and they broke the law. But still they ask for more. Around the illegal suburbs built in Andalucia have developed pressure groups to convince the regional administration to ignore their crimes and reduce the costs which they will incur regulating their illegal homes”.
You can read the whole thing in Spanish here.
Here’s a rather bad translation (no time to clear it up, sorry) put through Google Translate:
One of the first meetings of the newly appointed mayor Jose Maria Roman (PSOE) has been with this group and has already announced that it will lower the bylaws written by the previous government, which provided for the payment of between 20 and 36 euros per meter square sewage, supply of light or water.
The pressure comes in other municipalities through the mobilization. The residents of Puerto Chipiona and have common front to denounce the “social impact” generated by the policy of sanctions against illegal constructions and have called a demonstration for 16 days. In Chipiona, with 300 cases of demolition, the mayor, the Socialist Manuel Garcia, came to recognize in a letter to the Government of Andalusia to the demolition could cause a social conflict, “said Pedro Espinosa.
In Port, the City Council (PP) has created a table-sector housing some 500 illegal – within the team that wrote the plan for urban development, which means for ecologists to rely on development of the city of illegal constructions, reports F. J. Román. But these are not the only cases in the province of Cadiz.
In Vejer, the Department of Housing and Spatial Planning will respect the homes of El Palmar, built on land not be developed in exchange for carrying the driver and neighbors not to allow new construction are lifted.
The urbanization illegal Pitas has become a real headache for the government in Córdoba and its neighbors continue to demonstrate and put pressure on the Government of Andalusia and the City of Cordoba for a regularization of their situation, reports M . J. Albert.
Erected in the vicinity of the archaeological site of Medina Azahara, the ground where the urbanization Las Pitas was declared of cultural interest in 2003. This has resulted in the prosecution of six families who performed works since 2006 when the authorities began to take on this.
At trial, the residents have responded with a real pressure campaign, featuring demonstrations on the streets of Cordoba, roadblocks, rallies at the gates of Hearing Córdoba walked up to the archaeological site. Board and City Council have met with neighbors to explain the content of the new decree declaring the expropriation of some land without buildings in Medina Azahara. The owners continue to mobilize Pitas with neighbors of other developments in the area, like Weevil II or Old Córdoba.
The British community living in the Almanzora Valley in the province of Almeria, has joined forces under the collective AUAN (Urbanísticos Abusos Almanzora No) through which they claimed to be carrying out a plan by the administration to legalize the 5,000 homes that are outside of management in the region. The group lived British unease with the demolition of a house in Vera, owned by a foreign family, and called the police operation Costurero charged councilors and the mayor for alleged crimes Zurgena town. The British community has harshly criticized the “late” functioning of Justice against such cases.
The visit of a delegation of European parliamentarians in 2007 who wanted to see in situ the situation faced by British families also had their effect months after the Board tried to resolve the situation. The British even wrote a letter to King Juan Carlos at the monarch explained that the problem of residents, mostly retirees.
It was last September when the Board announced that the houses built on land not be developed in eight municipalities in the Valle del Almanzora, which weighs about urban discipline record or criminal prosecutions and administrative, will have priority in an action plan to give ” solution to the problem. The delegate of Housing, Luis Caparrós, ventured that the initial estimates indicate that only 5% of households would be “outside organization” despite occupying public land or special protection.
Certainly the protest in Almería will attempt to embarass the socialists, the PSOE government of the Junta de Andalucía and the more ‘colourful’ mayors of the province. The PSOE and their newspapers and radios (La Voz de Almería, Teleprensa, La SER, Canal Sur, Canal Plus, El País, Localia, Diario de Cadíz… Goodness – there are a lot of them) will try and twist the story. However, other media will be more receptive. Perhaps.
The British (in their wheelchairs and slippers) disrupting Almería and throwing Molotov cocktails may be a bit of a stretch – as I would expect more Spanish than British demonstrators anyway. Remember, the small towns of the rest of the province (and other coastal Andaluz provinces) are being asphyxiated by these shallow, callous and evil politicians and their pals.
Funnily enough, almost all of the media outlets you mention are part of Grupo Prisa (El Pais et al). And people wonder how Chaves was elected President For Life.
Lenox, are you attempting to bring in people affected by the Ley de Costas? Times seem to be ripe for a backlash against that particular little law.
Costas… indeed yes.
Let’s just leave our doubts about Junta and Costas impartiality with the rules as we watch the waves breaking around the foundations of the Hotel Algarrobico.
Hi, there is now quite an active thread on the http://www.portalmanzors.es spanish site site, under Vera and manifestación pacifica
Also on
http://www.teleprensa.es/almeria-noticia-153859-Manifestaci26oacute3Bn-pacifica-en-Almer26iacute3Ba-ciudad–el-viernes-9-de-enero-2009.html
This one is particularly of interest as it describes aa spanish person’s experience of land grab in Garrucha
Personally I look to El Almeria for a rather more objective view – haven’t got a clue who they are apart of!
There is plenty of stuff in teh Brit online papers (like Costa and Sun and forums), but of interest to me is how the Spanish have picked it up and are running with it
As a matter of interest…how ‘strong’ a response would you have liked to have seen from the AUAN given your published reservations about the march in Almeria?
Regards,
Maura……. currently warming up my slippers for a trot around almeria on the 9th.
Strong as you like Maura! But I’m still trying to find time to come along to the march, so don’t worry I’m not anti-march, just concerned about the PR side of it.
BTW- nice bit in the Telegraph about it: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/4125824/British-couple-forced-to-live-in-garage-for-a-year-after-Spanish-government-knocked-down-their-house.html
Didn’t realise Lenox was 55.
55. Don’t look a day over 54!
See you on Friday.
Anyway, Robespierre was 55 as well…