[Mark Stücklin]

[caption id="attachment_187727" align="alignnone" width="728"] Property rights activists and members of the Andalusian regional parliament[/caption]

Yesterday, 7th of October, the first reading of the Parliamentary Bill to change Andalusian town planning laws and deal with illegal land divisions (parcelaciones urbanísticas) containing irregular houses, took place in the Parliament of Andalucia.

Many of the owners of illegally-built properties in Andalusia are British, especially in the province of Almeria. They are represented by groups such as AUAN and SOHA, who are fighting to defend the rights and homes of buyers who bought in good faith.

As Gerardo Vazquez, spokesperson for AUAN, and other associations, and who was present during the parliamentary session explained ‘Those affected support this change and in general are pleased with it. Obviously, it does not cure everything and we must continue to work. Whilst it is estimated that there are 300,000 illegal houses in Andalucia, the means to regularise 25,000 of these houses, would bring relief to 25,000 families, many of whom acquired their property in good faith and invested their life savings in Spain. Therefore AUAN, SOHA and other associations belonging to the CALU confederation welcome this change’.

After the parliamentary session, the associations briefly met with Jose Fiscal, Minister for the Environment, as well as members of the PSOE and members of the Ciudadanos parliamentary group such as Irene Rivera, spokesperson for this group, and others.

Maura Hillen, president of AUAN, who was also present in the parliamentary session, said ‘It was an exciting day. None of the political groups objected to the bill in its totality by submitting objections at this stage and we thank them for that. We understand that the bill will now pass to the Environmental and Planning Commission and we hope that the final text will be approved as soon as possible. It would, for example, be a good Christmas present for many people’.

Some owners in Andalusia have had their homes demolished by the regional authorities, despite doubts about the legality of demolition.

[Aunty Val]

I have to admit to being completely confused by this news.  Part of me welcomes the fact that Spain is now dealing with the mess that it created during the boom years but does it really help?

So, 25,000 homes will be “regularised” but what about the remaining 275,000?

Will regularisation lead to owner’s additional costs, will it provide the comfort a buyer wants, will it even be acceptable to lawyers?

As often within Spain, laws are introduced which don’t always consider the wider ramifications.  It may help some but not many.

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