demolitions
April 6th, 2006
Last year it was reported that the Government had plans to buy land on the Mediterranean coast and on the archipelago of the Balearic and Canary Islands so as to prevent deterioration of the coastline through excessive development.This pioneering effort by the Spanish Government to protect the coastline, was announced ...
Continue reading Spanish Government set to buy coastland to prevent excessive development
November 23rd, 2006
A surveyor in Spain believes that banks, buyers, lawyers, developers and advisers are all to blame for Marbella’s illegal homes but, acting for the vendor rather than the buyer, agents are only morally obliged to compensate. In response to the OPP’s question of the week (about whether UK buyers should be ...
Continue reading Everyone Should Compensate for Demolished Homes
August 27th, 2007
A politically charged building scandal has tainted Marbella’s reputation. Now the new mayor is spearheading a legal clean-up – but some British owners may still lose out. It was the Spanish playboy Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe who put Marbella on the map in the 1950s, when he founded the swanky Marbella ...
Continue reading Costa del comeback
October 31st, 2007
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 ...
Continue reading Restoring the Coastline
January 8th, 2008
Expats who own homes in the Valencia countryside are overjoyed as demolition orders are suspended. Valencia’s regional government has announced that 40 demolition orders issued against illegal homes built in Catral’s countryside have been put on hold. In October 2006 former regional planning boss Esteban González Pons stated that 1,270 properties had ...
Continue reading Expats In Spain Enjoy A Reprieve
February 12th, 2008
Potential overseas buyers might be put off by reports of land grabs and foreigners’ villas being demolished in Spain. But the news isn’t all bad and being properly advised could save you the nightmare of losing your investment The recent reports from Spain of a retired British couple who had their ...
Continue reading Who's to Blame in Spain?
April 8th, 2008
Members of the European Parliament have held a two-day meeting in Brussels to address the growing number of complaints from British, German, Dutch and other European citizen’s whose properties have been demolished in Spain – particularly across the Valencian region. At the close of the meeting, MEPs from both sides of ...
Continue reading Euro MPs Call for Action in Spain
May 13th, 2008
Last week I asked Who are the bad guys in Spain? This week, two news articles provide the answer. The tedious account of a meeting in Planning Abuse in Almeria reveals a partial list of things wrong with the property market in Spain: No regulated steps for conveyancing No registration, supervision or compulsory ...
Continue reading Bad Guys – Part Two
August 21st, 2008
Politicians and local governments throughout Spain are still struggling to decide what should be done about the number of illegal properties which have been built in the country over the last few decades. According to the website Spanish Property Insight, reports from the Spanish press have revealed that the Popular Party ...
Continue reading Planning Amnesty For Illegal Homes In Málaga
December 7th, 2009
Talking to residential investors in Europe these days, Spain is almost never mentioned as a target. Even groups with vulture funds say they’re not quite ready to dive into that market, despite prices down 20 to 40 percent, in many areas. It happened again last week. I was talking to Stuart ...
Continue reading Investors Still Wary of Spain
