The Latest Spanish Property News from Kyero.com

For nearly two decades, Spain has actually had a strict law governing building near the coast, the Ley de Costas. Under this, Spain's beaches are public land, and building residential properties within 100m of the high tide mark is prohibited. (Some commercial use is permitted, and some homes do have special planning permission from the coastal authorities.) However, the law was not always strictly observed in the years after it was passed. Now Spain's Environment Ministry has decided to get tough and, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais, it's going to apply the law retrospectively.

Properties affected by the law can be found all across Spain. There are illegally-built hotels, such as one at Calpe in Alicante. Of more interest to British property buyers and home owners are the illegally-built residential properties, which may have to be demolished when the law is enforced, and for which no compensation will be given. These aren't one or two homes here and there; 500 homes by the beach at Adra in Almeria and several apartment buildings near Los Cristianos on Tenerife are all also illegal. In all, around 3,500 developments have been identified by the Coastal Office as breaching the Ley de Costas.

Some commentators are hoping that the estimated five billion Euro cost of demolishing the properties may put the Environment Ministry off carrying out the demolitions. These are worrying times for anyone who already owns a property that breaches the Ley de Costas. However, if you're currently looking for a property near the beach in Spain, protecting yourself should be simple. You should employ an independent lawyer, not one recommended by the vendor of the property or the estate agent selling it, and you should expressly instruct him to check whether the coastal property you're looking at breaches the 1988 Ley de Costas. Once he's verified that the property was not bult illegally close to the coast, you can proceed with the purchase.

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