News today that the Spanish government has climbed down over 2 tower blocks built too close to the beach in Benidorm. This supports the suspicion that, when it comes to enforcing the Ley de Costas, and expropriating homes built on or too close to the beach, it is one law for private owners, and another one for big developers.
The 2 tower blocks of 22 floors and 168 flats were being built by the developer Ballester Inmobiliaria on Punta Llisera, at the northern end of Benidorm’s Playa Levante. Building work was stopped by a compulsory purchase order in 2007, but not before the structure of all 22 floors had been built.
Now the Ministry of the Environment says that it will not proceed with the expropriation of the property, citing the “general interest” as the reason for the decision.
Meanwhile the government is using the Ley de Costas to expropriate the properties of individual private owners up and down the Spanish coast with no compensation.
