What get’s measured gets managed. That seems to be the new approach of Chiclana’s town hall to the problem of illegal building in the municipality, in agreement with the regional government in Seville.

After years of town planning chaos there are an estimated 15,000 illegally-built homes in and around Chiclana, to which the town hall is struggling to find a solution that the local population can live with.

The first step will be to quantify the problem by counting the illegal properties in the area, with the help of a team of specialists from Seville. The audit is expected to take 6 months, and once completed, will be used to prevent any more illegal building taking place.

The regional government in Seville is claiming down on illegal building across Andalucia. A team of 25 town planning inspectors has been created, with plans to hire another 11.