Press Release (resume of facts re planning 2007/8)

I have posted below a statement which the Almeria Messenger asked me to prepare to explain what I understood was the situation regarding property developement in the area.For those of you who have been following the blog there is nothing new but I appreciate many people have not been reading it and this will save them trawling through the past 10 months worth. 

Firstly let me make clear the following article is of information I have gleaned from various sources since I became involved with Zurgena Town Hall in April 2007, I have no way of confirming the accuracy of all the statements but in almost every case they have been supported by solicitors or public figures of standing. It also has my personal interpretation.

I am advised that to understand why the situation is in such a mess, one has to look way back almost 35 years ago to when the autonomous regions of Spain were set up. At that time a vote was held in Andalucia seeking the support for all of Andalucia to be governed from Seville. The only area not to vote in support of that proposal was Almeria. People in the Almeria area felt that Seville would only look after its own area and that Almeria was too far away and too impoverished to be of any value to Seville. Nonetheless the autonomous region was established and almost ever since then the PSOE (left wing party) has governed the region. This has led some people to believe that they govern without consideration of the views of anyone other than their own supporters. This is given added credence by the response of the Spanish people when you ask them about politics as they will invariably tell you that it is a constant battle between PSOE(left wing) and Partido Popular (the right wing party). The next election in March sees the launch of a small party which is seeking to represent the middle way. This is the party headed by Rosa Diez (UDP) but it is unlikely this party will achieve more than a few seats in the upcoming election.

As a result of the totality of power which PSOE has had over the years, they take great exception to areas that have the temerity to elect parties other than PSOE, as a result we have this conflict over who has a right to decide planning rules. Herein lies the conflict. One only has to look around the area of the Almeria to see the differing ways in which the Junta's actions have impacted. But I will return to that later.

When I first became involved with the Town Hall (April 2007) there were a few rumours that some of the building in Almeria may have been illegal and as a result I asked the politicians what truth there was in that regard. The response I received from everyone I asked was that this was a purely politically motivated attack on non PSOE councils. At that stage I was not sure whether this was true or not but as little was happening I chose not to enquire furher.

In May/June of 2007 I discovered that a number of lists of properties numbering about 200 had been referred by the Junta to the courts. These lists identified houses whose building licences had been granted between 2/5/2004 and 1.5/2005. This prompted me to make more thorough enquiries of our council. Again I was told that this was malicious actions by the Junta, as the Town Hall had complied with all the necessary land laws in Spain, from the granting of the licences to issue of licences of 1st Occupation. That all their efforts to get a general plan agreed with the junta fell time and again due to the intransigence of the Junta. One example of this was in the summer of 2007 the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were asked by the chief man in Almeria, responsible for Planning, to remain quiet until October 22nd, when, if they attended with their plans, an accomodation would be reached. This they did, wasting 3 months in the process, and when they attended at Almeria and placed their plans on the table this gentleman walked into the room glanced at the plans and said words to the effect that the only legal houses in all of the Zurgena municipality were the old houses in Zurgena village.

During this period the lists of houses referred to the courts grew to over 400. All these cases are ones where the Junta maintain that the local authority did not have the right to issue building licences. A point which is obviously considered untrue by the Local authorities. The constitution of Spain, as I have had explained to me by more than one person, gives the local authority undisputed rights in establishing their own planning developments and it is only when the Junta deem a local authority inefficient that they can have any effect on their plans.

This issue of locally decided plans is at the crux of this issue. The Junta have issued their version of the POTLA (their plans for development) for various areas of Almeria, none of which has had the input of the local authorities or local people,and contains many suggestions which would go against local wishes.

To return to the inequality which highlights the political nature of the actions of the Junta we can look at a few examples. Firstly when you consider what demolition should take place to reinforce your political position and you are faced with the choice of a) a huge illegal hotel, El Algorobbico between Mojacar and Carboneras or b) a private dwelling owned by a quiet retired english couple we know which they chose. But why? You only have to look at the parties in power. In Vera, Partido Andalucista and in the other PSOE!

I was also shown a local example where on one side ot the road the houses are under Zurgena (referred to the courts as illegal) on the other side of the road Arboleas (PSOE) legal. This even though the Arboleas side did not have sufficient water and their water had to be supplied from the Zurgena side!

So far, of all the cases referred by the Junta to the courts, only two sizeable cases have been heard and in both cases the courts found in favour of the Town Hall. They the Town Halls are confident that all the cases will be so found. I have also been told that it is expected that over 50% of the cases referred should be heard within the next 2 months.
Of the original listed houses in areas such as Carasoles, Palaces, La Alfoquia, Llanos del Peral and Cuesta de los Pinos even these lists have been subject to variation. The list for Carasoles was withdrawn and then reinstated again but without a previously listed objection and most recently the cases regarding Cuesta de los Pinos (63 houses) have been withdrawn. This is not considered surprising as the cost of compensation, should the Junta proceed with all these cases, would amount to many millions of pounds.

This is only a resume of information I have obtained over the past 10 months and I reproduce it here for people's information. Further information is available on my blog at http://jiminy304.vox.com and an excellent english abbreviated translation of a book about Spanish property and development can be found at; http://www.levantesostenible.es/landgrab1.htm

Our council in Zurgena are very optimistic that all the issues will be resolved in their favour and that a Plan will eventually (no timescale given!) be agreed which will incorporate all the houses already built with scope for some more building.