14 posts from June 2009

Optimism

Following a fairly lengthy Pleno today, where the PSOE councillor continually raised issues under any other business which were all dealt with, I had an opportunity to discuss both the latest upcoming court case and developements on the PGOU. The main business of the meeting was to welcome a new councillor for the PP but he did not even turn up! We then dealt with a number of other mundane matters such as land for the school, European Sports day and others.


Firstly regarding the new case listed for next Tuesday, and involving people from near the cemetery in Zurgena, some of the houses off Avenida Poetas in Llanos del Peral and some from Los Menchones, I asked if this was the same scenario as the previous cases from Los Carasoles, La Alfoquia and Cuesta de los Pinos. Candido said that this particular case is actually part of Operation Sewing Box, the investigation which involved his arrest and that of a number of builders, architects and councillors under allegations of bribery and corruption. He informed me that the legality of none of the homes, who have been warned, is subject to any legal action and anyone instructing a solicitor to act for them may find it interesting to pose a question to the court regarding whether their property is or is not legal. I also asked what sort of lines of questioning the people attending court may receive. He said that he did not know but that it may be around details of their purchases and how they paid for them. He also suggested that I might like to ensure that everyone is aware that it is a crime to buy houses with black money and that, not only is the recipient of such money possibly guilty of an offence, so is the payer. He told me that he would expect the questioning to be about things like what licences they had, how they paid for them, how much they paid etc. He also said that any solicitor acting for any of those warned might also like to ask a question about if these houses are illegal, then whose fault is it and who should I be looking to claim compensation from. As no one has so far been found to be in the wrong  then there would be, in his contention, no point in registering a claim for compensation. If that is in fact what they want people to do. However as was shown on the previous cases each individual will do what they think is best for them.

We then discussed the progress with the PGOU and he was really pleased to inform me that there did at last seem to be movement from the Junta which would allow almost all of the developed areas in the previously agreed urban centres to be included in the PGOU. 

Manolo has a meeting in Seville next week either Wednesday or Thursday and it is strongly believed that substantial progress will be made on this. Candido is now more hopeful than ever that a satisfactory PGOU can be in place and effective by October this year. I asked about my own area Cuesta de los Pinos and he said that would take longer as the intitial PGOU would only consider developements built close to the agreed urban centres eg Los Carasoles, Los Llanos del Peral, La Alfoquia, Zurgena, El Palaces and Cucador. For areas such as mine which are between two urban centres he is optimistic that these could be incorporated in the following years plan as, if they reach the agreement he hopes, they can increase the developed area by 40% the following year and this should be sufficient to include Cuesta de los Pinos.

I asked if there had been any news on the project for the street in Palaces and the barriers on the road to Los Llanos del Peral and he said it is out of their hands and they were still waiting for the junta to allocate the contract.

These being the most important issues for today I did not press him on the less important points which I will leave fo a week or two. I will of course be chasing Salvadore for the rest of the inventory at the end of next week.

As sual any question or clarification just email me at jiminysimpson@gmail.com


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More Court Warnings

The Polizia Local have been out warning another number of owners of houses to attend court next Tuesday.

I am informed it is all part of the same case as the previous one for Cuesta de los Pinos. 

Could not see Candido this week as up until today he was in meetings and today he is down at Almeria as his son is undergoing an operation in hospital.

I am attending a council meeting tomorrow at midday so will try and speak with him after that meeting. I had hoped to avoid doing any stuff this week as I have visitors but in view of it being my best chance to catch him I better get there. 

The NHW coordinators for the area around the pool bar have been issuing the street addresses to people in that area and obtaining their NIE nos etc. I will collate those and return them to the Town Hall next week when I hope al the other areas on the plans will be available.

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Hooray Stage 1

I was in the Town Hall today doing my surgery and got the opportunity to speak with Salvadore. I asked him if he could let me have a copy of the plan with the house numbers on and he agreed to give me the first part of it which covers the area around the Pool bar in La Alfoquia. It took ages trying to copy the right bits from the plan as it was huge. So we now have that details and we will have to communicate the numbers to the occupants and obtain details for each occupant and whether owners or tenants, in order that the Town Hall can update their computers. I will discuss this with Mike Foulkes (La Alfoquia postman!) to identify the best way to role this out, in that area. I was told that he, Salvadore, would have the rest ready to copy within a week or two. I will hold him to that. At least we are making a start. 


I also, following the surgery, asked Candido about what was happening with the Certifcates of Expediente as none had been returned form the solicitors yet and more people are needing these. This led to a healthy discussion between Isabella (our secretary and Candido). He was saying that it was still too complicated and Isa was saying that she would chase the solicitors up next Monday. I will ask her again next week.

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What a Farce

Today at 9.15am the Mayor called round to update me on what the solicitors were saying. They had decided that it would not be a good idea to use them to represent any of the people attending court as it may be seen as a conflict of interest acting, as they do, for the council. They did say that, from what they had been told, there would be no need for solicitors at this stage. I was told that the council's solicitor would be there and would try and ensure people were treated fairly.


I got the people together before we went to court and explained how the case should proceed when we got there. 
I had arranged to collect an interpreter on the way to court and I briefed him before we got there. He cost 75 euros but I am going to try and get the Town Hall to pay for him. We will see.

On arrival at Court I met with the Council's solicitor, Fran. I asked if the people would be going in one at a time and whether both I and the interpreter I had brought could accompany each party in.  He made enquiries and said that it may be possible. During a few discussions between the solicitor and the court officials it soon became apparent that they did not even know that the people attending were not, in general, the persons they wanted to question. There were 8 couples present and I was aware, even before we got there, that most of them were not who the court wanted to talk to but, we had been told they all had to attend, by the Polizia Local. 

It transpired that, because the Police were only given a rough sketch map, they did not warn the correct people. It was decided by the judge that he would call each couple in to examine pictures, of the houses they were interested in, and the individuals would have to say whether the houses were theirs or if they know whose they were. Out of the eight householders represented only one lived in the houses pictured. That individual was questioned about her ownership of the house and she gave them as honest answers as she could. At the end of the questioning they put that person under pressure to register an interest in the case. She replied that as far as she was concerned her house was fully legal, that she had her licence of first occupation, building permit etc and could see no good reason at this stage to commence any action. The judge said she could initiate it today but change her mind later. I asked whether the reverse was also true and he agreed and so in the statement, made to the judge, the lady stated that she was not initiating any action at the moment but, after talking with her solicitor and partner, she my do in the future. 

All the others signed a statement to the effect that their properties were not one of those featured on the pictures and were not even questioned.

We finally left court about 1.20pm after 2 and a half hours.


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Tomorrows Court Case

I again discussed tomorrow's court case with Candido this morning. He is to discuss the case again this afternoon with the solicitors. On behalf of those involved I asked if the solicitor he had previously mentioned could act for all those at the hearing. He said he doubted that but he would ask. He again said that it would not really be necessary to have a solicitor at this stage but that that would be each individual's choice. The main thing we should be conveying to the courts is that as far as we are all concerned our houses are fully legal. We have all the necessary documentation and have only attended court as a result of being told to by the Police.


It transpires that Andreas cannot attend court so I have arranged for another interpreter to attend and I will pick him up before the case.

The Court is on the left of the Casa Consistorial in Huercal Overa.

I will communicate anything further from the solicitors directly to the individuals later today.

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Cuesta Meeting & New Park

As mentioned in the previous entry I went down to the opening of the new Padel Tennis Court in Zurgena last night to talk with Candido and discover what advice the solicitors had given.


There were quite a number of young local men who had a play on the new court whilst I talked to Candido. The solicitors advice very much supported our contention earlier in the day that the purpose of this court hearing is to try and involve more people in the legal process thereby keeping open the cases and making it look, to any examining Judge, that the people had instigated the actions, not the Junta. Their advice was to help people understand the process that would take place in the court e.g that the judge would be asking questions through a court appointed interpreter about the individuals property. The court would then ask the individual if they wished to declare an interest (a sneaky way of getting people to effectively denounce either the council or their builder) although there is no need to do so at this stage as any action can be taken regarding these issues at any time and probably best when a court decision is reached as to who is at fault. Otherwise if anyone signs any papers at court it may well create the situation where they will have to keep paying solicitors etc whilst that new process goes through the courts. I am informed that by not signing any papers they would not restrict their future possibilities of action. That is a decision for each individual to make based on their own circumstances.

The council's solicitors are actively going to pursue an initial action against the courts in view of the way these cases are being instigated as, they say, this is almost an abuse of process.

We had a meeting today with all the people from Cuesta de los Pinos and I advised people of the facts, as given to me, and tried to ensure that all those going to court are aware of what is going to happen and what the likely outcomes are. 

I have to meet with Candido again Monday morning to discuss what we (the Town Hall) should do on Tuesday but I think I will be going to court together with Andreas as interpreter and at least the Council's solicitor and maybe other solicitors.

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Cunning Plan Uncovered

I was in the Town Hall to see Candido today arriving about 11.30am but had to go away and return as he was busy. Went back about 12 noon and sat down. I immediately asked for the plan with the house numbers. He rang Salvadore and it was arranged that Andreas and I should go round and get the paperwork, return to the Town hall and start photocopying it. He said almost all properties had been numbered but if we found any not allocated numbers that Candido would sort it.


I thought great, but, I had one more pressing issue to discuss and that was the latest Court Case involving properties in the Cuesta De Los Pinos area. He, at first, said he did not think the Town Hall knew about this case but, after studying paperwork from the solicitors, it transpired they had been notified. I had originally been told that they thought it was a similar case to the one regarding the Sunlit houses in La Alfoquia and the ones at Los Carasoles. However the more we looked into it the more perplexing it became. Following over 2 hours of enquiries of the paperwork in the Town Hall it appears that the courts are using most sneaky ploys to try and involve as many people as possible and trying to get them to issue denuncias against either the builders or local councils and thereby create more delays to the process and ensuring that it is not the Junta who are seen to be instigating any of these actions but the property owners. It was a very complex situation and one which at first even Candido did not believe but in view of our findings (which shows how the Courts have created an environment whereby people, who are not on any denuncia list, are brought into the process. It even involves mildly misdirecting the Polizia Local in how they inform people of the Court Case. I will elaborate on how this is done at the meeting and later blog. After all our discussions Candido suggested, as an idea that he may arrange to have representation at the Court case to try and ascertain what is going on. This will depend on how he is advised this afternoon when he does to see the solicitors. He rang them  to arrange his appointment for 5.0pm today whilst I was with him. I left him at 2.10pm. we may now look as a council to taking action against the courts!

As an interesting side it transpires that the Judge in the Huercal Overa Criminal Court is the wife of the Fiscal in Almeria!! In the meantime he is going to see their solicitors this afternoon and would let me know the result of that later today.

I got a call at 7.0pm to say that he was on the motorway and that if I went to the opening of the new park in Zurgena which is due to be opened at 8.0pm tonight he would brief me on what the solicitors advise so that I can brief the people involved tomorrow. I shall go down there and get the information. I will brief the people who attend the meeting tomorrow and then post on here.

One other bit of good news is that the civil courts in Almeria had ruled in favour of the Town Hall again in a case this week, which related to the Sunlit houses in La Alfoquia. The judge had also passed comment, at the conclusion of this case, to the effect that he saw no purpose in the Junta appealing this decision, as it was based on the same facts as the Prodelor houses. This had recently been settled at the appeal court in Granada in favour of the Town Hall.

We examined all the other cases which are currently pending before the Criminal Court at Huercal Overa and there does seem to be some other anomalies which we need to examine through the solicitors more closely. 

As you can imagine the work on this, this morning, took so long that, by the time we had done, Salvadore had gone and we could not get the plans. I hope you will appreciate that this work did take precedence over the plan.

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Cuesta de los Pinos' Turn

I was advised this morning that a number of my neighbours on the Cuesta de los Pinos developement have been served with notices regarding another court case in the court at Huercal Overa next Tuesday. It seems to only affect those on Calle Francia and Calle Irlanda


I strongly believe that this is following the format of the cases that regarding Los Carasoles and parts of La Alfoquia. That is what I am being told by the Town Hall. I am hoping to have a meeting with Candido tthis Friday morning about other things but will try and see if there is any further information when I see him.

In order to communicate, what my understanding is, to anyone who has received one of these letters I am inviting them to be at my house on Saturday morning at 10.3am. I am down in Roquestas from now until late on Thursday and obviously it would be better to see if there is any further info in the Town Hall Friday before the meeting on Saturday. 

If you wish to attend just drop me an email, so that I have some idea for seating, to jiminysimpson@gmail.com

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Hopeful

I called into the Town Hall today to see if Candido had got the paperwork for the plans from Salvadore but he was in a meeting. I managed to get a call into him but he is busy with meetings all today and tomorrow. He agreed to see me on Thursday but I have to go down to a medical centre in Roquetas on Thursday morning so I hope to get the details from him if we can get together Friday morning.

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EU Result

Unfortunately the CDL did not get sufficient to win a seat but as shown by Sean below it is a start. The biggest winner was the PP and that at least gives the PSOE something to think about. 

The days of an expat in Brussels are still a way off - Sean O'Curneen's CDL came in with a small number of votes. Locally, it scored fifth in Mojácar, fourth in Albox and third in Cantoria and Bédar. I know, small beer. The big winner for Almería was the Partido Popular with 52% of the vote (PSOE with 40%) and nationally, the PP takes 23 seats, the PSOE takes 21, the CEU and IU take 2 each and UPyD and the Greens both get one seat. See El Mundo for details including each pueblo, province and autonomy. About 46% of the electorate voted.

Later: A letter from Sean O'Curneen

Dear Friends,

With 100% of the votes counted, CDL has obtained 5.733 votes (0,04%). It is worth noting that for every euro spent, CDL obtained more votes than some of the more successful parties. Therefore and first of all, I wish to thank all of those people who have given us their vote, and who have shared our analysis that Europe needs Spain’s potential and that in order for Spain to be able to give its full potential, politics in Spain will have to work in a different way.

Breaking this brutal two-party politics that Spain has been experiencing for more than fifteen years cannot be achieved overnight, and we must remember that only a few weeks ago CDL was still totally unknown throughout the vast majority of Spain. Today, in those places where CDL has campaigned actively, the party is no longer unknown. Nevertheless, in order to gain the support of citizens it is necessary to gain their trust.

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