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This sent to me by the property rights activists “Abusos Urbanisticos – NO!” Article by Linda Palfreeman.
Almoradi’s San Andrés Cultural Centre was, last Friday, the setting for a conference on Unsustainable Development and Political Corruption. The conference was organized by the Association Plataforma Defensa De La Huerta and sponsored by Abusos Urbanísticos No (AUN)
The guest speakers, emeritus judge of the Supreme Court, José Antonio Martín Pallín and university teacher of law, Manuel Alcaráz Ramos, spoke frankly about the lack of ethics and the widespread corruption now pervading all levels of Spanish society. Attention was drawn, during the debate, to the Valencian community and, in particular, to those areas such as Alicante that are economically dependent on the construction industry. In addition to the problem of illegally built houses, stated Martín Pallín, ‘the race for easy money and lack of scruples has led to the emergence of mafia-related drug crimes and arms trafficking.’
Both speakers underlined the vital importance of tackling the widespread corruption that currently poses a grave threat to Spanish democratic society. Judge Martín Pallín also signaled the link between urban corruption and apparently ‘ordinary and legal’ financial institutions that are carrying out questionable parallel activities in tax havens. The only way to eradicate the illegal finance and tax havens, he declared, is by reducing corruption in its many and varied forms.
The judge went on to voice his belief that prison sentences should not only be applied to those who fail to integrate into society, but also to those who have failed to comply with ethic and moral codes, achieving social and economic status as a result of illegal activities.
It was acknowledged, however, that in order to deal adequately with corruption, some revision of the law is necessary. The slowness (or ultimate failure) in application of the law, explained the judge, has led to an erosion of citizens’ confidence in the legal system. He maintains that those guilty of crimes against the environment, such as illegal construction in rustic or coastal areas, should have the products of that activity (in this case, the buildings) confiscated, in much the same way as is the merchandise of drug smugglers caught with kilos of cocaine.
Both speakers stressed the opinion that it is totally unacceptable to put immoral and unethical behavior of any kind down to ‘human weakness’, as has been done in the past. Manuel Alcáraz described the community of Valencia as a ‘great laboratory for discovering all about corruption in its various forms, where politicians and business entrepreneurs behave as though they are ‘untouchable’ and above the law. The overall message of the debate was clear: it is about time that those guilty of corruption, whomever they may be, be made accountable for their actions.
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THIS IS ONLY MY VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN?
Again in this article it is easy to see why it is becoming nearly impossible to purchase any form of property in Spain.
Everybody and their dog is on the make. NO confidence is shown from the Government at the top, to the back street
property sellers at the bottom. They are all out just to rip any un suspecting purchaser off. NO one is safe from these sharks.
I would assume that Spains GDP is based largely on construction which in my opinion will never return to the pre crash era, If they think for
one minute that this is going to recover overnight they are living in cloud cuckoo land.
They need to get smart and get smart quickly, be very brave and call the situation as it really is and produce some credible purchase price
costings. People are still trying to get ridiculous prices for property that they bought at the wrong time or where hood-winked into
purchasing. Cut your losses and get out! YOU WILL NOT GET THE PRICES YOUR ASKING, DUE TO YOU TRYING TO RECOVER YOUR OWN
LOSSES. YOUR STUBBORNESS WAITING FOR THE MARKET TO PICK UP WILL NOT HAPPEN. YOUR JUST DRIVING THE MARKET FURTHER INTO
DEPRESSION.I am still in the mind that Spain is on the brink of further disaster they took the euro millions and spent the money like it was going out of
fashion on high speed trains, infrustructure (Roads to nowhere), property developing. This country cannot survive without Tourism but even
that is now shaky, as people cannot now afford to live there or holiday there. They burst there own Golden egg. In big letters GREED.I WILL GIVE IT 6 MONTHS AND IT WILL GO BELLY UP BIG TIME because to many top brass heads are buried in the sand hoping someone is
going to waive a magic wand and bail them out, cost will have to halve to bring back any sort of tourist or property purchasers
because AS BUYERS, all we need to do now, is sit and wait and pick up the pieces. -
The ‘buried heads in the sand’ mentality and GREED of Spain is spot on John, until they completely change their attitude, things won’t change significantly for the better.
I’m sure things are going to get a lot worse for a while in Spain, they perfected the art of self-destruct. Because of this, I doubt it makes sound investment sense!
That said, things are getting worse in the UK and many other countries too.
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Germany didn’t bail out East Germany, they had to rebuild its communist infrastructure when it was returned to them by the Russians in 1989, having lost it to them in the war.
The rebuilding cost them dear and they started on austerity measures long before anyone else in Europe. They contribute the highest sum to the EU budget because of the size of its population and its GDP.
In percentage terms their contribution is no higher than Ireland’s or Spain’s, but the Germans object more loudly to any Greek bail-out because they are a nation of prudent savers and the Greeks are the exact opposite.
Their keenness for the EU is entirely due their recent history, and it’s fading fast. They admit that the Deutschmark presses have started running again, just in case.
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“In percentage terms their contribution is no higher than Ireland’s or Spain’s, but the Germans object more loudly to any Greek bail-out because they are a nation of prudent savers and the Greeks are the exact opposite.”
Germany pays to the EU (UK, NL and Germany are the biggest contributors), where as Ireland and Spain, in net, receive money from the EU.
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@Rocker wrote:
Germany didn’t bail out East Germany
Try suggesting that to West Berliners Rocker.
Western Germany has bailed out the East to the tune of 100 billion euros over 20 years, and is continuing to subsidise them. It’s the main reason Merkel has had difficulty selling the idea of a further 9 billion euro contribution to the Greeks, the Germans have serious ‘bailout fatigue’. 🙂
Whether you’re talking German or European unification, there’s no disputing the Germans do pay heavily for their partner’s economic mismanagement.
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At the time of reunification, the West German government decided to allow East Germans to convert their Marks into West German Deutsche Marks at parity (1 East German Mark = 1 Deutsche Mark). That amounted to a massive transfer of wealth from West to East Germany. And what is a bailout if not a massive transfer of wealth?
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On the surface, Germany are the biggest contributors and some EU members get rebates, but taking into account the original idea of a group of trading nations in Europe getting together and thus controlling foreign imports, Germany is the biggest winner.
Their exports are guaranteed within the EU, and their economy is export based..
To keep it simple, for myself, Spain is overrun with German goods. The streets are full of Mercedes, BMWs, VW’s and Audies; indoors there are washing machines, refrigerators, computers, all Made in Germany. Etc, Etc.
Unkindly, I don’t suppose there are many Seats on German streets, or Corbero washing machines or Teka cookers (I’ve just been out to check).
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There are no “Corbero or Teka”, because they are crap. Like most things made in Spain. The Spanish products are substandard, poor in quality, lacks attention to details, post sales service is non existent.
The Spanish do not realise that an economy based on Sun & tourism cannot support 58 +/- million people and they expect to have Northern European standards.
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@katy wrote:
Benignus, despite all you have written above you still seem keen to buy. Appears you have been looking for property for years. Why are you still wanting to buy?
Spain would be a great place to live AGAIN, I lived there from 1980 to 1986 and have many friends there.
You would not pay up to £200.0000 for 80sq meters of property in the UK so why do we allow people to sell us property
in Spain for such low sq meterage. space THAT YOU CANNOT SWING A CAT AROUND IN.
I WILL BUY AGAIN IN SPAIN but when I am ready and get VFM ( Value for Money)
As I have learned in Spain, It takes a long time to make money and only 2 minutes to lose it.Hope this helps Katy
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