[Anonymous]

Firstly I’d like to say what a helpful site this is. I’ve managed to glean plenty of useful info from previous forum subject. Thanks!!

We are in the process of moving permanently to Javea. We actually accepted an offer on our house in the UK yesterday and are in the process or buying a resale villa in Javea. We have family in the area already and I’m ok with the process of the actual process of the purchase.

The one main query I have is with land classification. The villa we are hoping to buy is adjacent to “National Park” and we have been informed that it can never be urbanized. As numerous abuses of LRAU have proved over the last couple of years there is no such thing as NEVER when it comes to urbanization and back hand dealings in townhalls!

Does anyone know what the deal is with “National Park”? Can we obtain a certificate confirming the status etc??

Thanks in anticipation

Alister Storey

[Anonymous]

Hi Alister,

I’m glad you find this website useful.

The whole LRAU story has been widely exaggerated and misreported in the British press. There is no doubt that it was badly drafted and did lead to some very unfair cases of people loosing some land and having to contribute to the costs of urbanising land. However, to the best of my knowledge, this has only ever happened to people who owned property that was classified for development (urbanizable). It has not happened to national park or rural land that was not zoned for development. A new law that improves the previous one is now passing through the Valencian parliament.

If the land beside you is national park then it is very safe – as safe as these things can be. However you do need a good lawyer who specialises in real estate law to check the classification for you. Juan Berotmeu is a lawyer based in Javea. I think he has more expertise in this area than anyone else in Spain. I recommend you contact him. You can find his details here:

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/spanish_property_solutions_legal.htm

Mark

[Anonymous]

I suppose you are refering to the Montgó Nature reserve. It is not a National Park, but a Regional one. This park is regulated by the Decree number 180/2002 of the Valencian Government, passed on November 5, 2002, which approved a Plan / law of Arrangement of the Natural Resources of the Montgó (PORN MONTGÓ).

It is a very restrictive Law. For this reason knowing the exact location of the house that you are trying to acquire is crucial to verify the Planning classification and qualification of the land established by the PORN MONTGÓ. According to a property’s planning situation, the applicable rule can change radically (for example, a house included in the ambience of the PORN might not be extended). In most cases, the PORN has respected almost all the existing housings, but there are exceptions.

Assuming that the house that you wish to purchase is placed in land not included in the PORN, and that you have been told that the other side of the fence it is part of the Nature reserve, the response to your question is No: the nature reserve cannot be re-classified under any concept. However for this to be true the information you were given by the estate agent must be correct.

In your case it is essential case to obtain the Local Planning maps of your site and request a town-planning certificate issued by the Town planning Department of Jávea. Once you obtain this certificate, called “Cédula Urbanística”, then you can purchase (or not purchase) with certainty of law.

Good Luck

Juan Bertomeu – lawyer specialising in real estate law

[Author]

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