[Anonymous]

I have found a website called Nación Rotonda (Roundabout Nation) where you can compared aerial pictures of before / after the boom for selected building hotspots in Spain.

My favourite is Torre Pacheco, the centre of operations for Polaris World.

Torre Pacheco before:

Torre Pacheco after:

I think that the building boom was bad for Spain, though it did bring some benefits in some areas / to some groups, which you could argue was good for Spain. But I sometimes get the feeling that some people see all building development in Spain as a bad thing. That is simplistic and wrong. All societies need to develop, which includes developing their housing stock.

For example, sustainable development that attracts “climate” migrants from northern Europe to Southern Spain is good for Spain. It’s certainly good for the local economy. Retirees from the north spend their money on goods and services in areas with few other economic alternatives other than agriculture, creating jobs and wealth, and acting like an export for Spain.

But it all depends how it’s done.

If it’s done with lashings of greed, corruption, over-development, environmental destruction and general ignorance & thoughtlessness, then it’s obviously A VERY BAD THING.

Sadly, that’s the way it was done in too many parts of Spain. Now we are living with the consequences 😥

[Anonymous]

Very true. The town halls and others have been comparing Google earth to catastral maps for years whilst silently tutting about it all… too many heads in the sand whilst backhanders were going on.

The boom was good for some and then it turned very bad for most.

I don’t understand the whole ‘illegal house’ situation. If there are houses which were deemed ‘legal’ when sold then they should be still said to be legal now. How can the Junta de Andalucia say that they are illegal and can’t have papers? Did noone from the authorities drive past and think ‘blimey, there was a field here before and now there are houses, how did that happen?’ !!

Why do the owners of these properties have to suffer for administration errors and corruption? Why can’t those with four walls and a roof at least be allowed to have an escritura…..? They could then put in their own water tank, solar panels and septic tank and at least be able to live in their ‘home’. It’s bonkers having properties deemed ‘illegal’ when it’s doing so much damage to the reputation of the Spanish system?

[Anonymous]

THery dont care about their reputation. Remember sun only shines in Spain.

[Author]

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