european parliament
March 30th, 2009
The European Parliament today approved a report slamming Spain for all manner of evils relating to the Spanish property sector, including the ‘land grab’ and Ley de Costas scandals that have created so much misery for home owners in Spain. The report, by Danish MEP (Greens) Margrete Auken, paints a depressing ...
Continue reading EU Parliament: Spain Guilty of Property Abuses
March 5th, 2009
He's at it again. Last year he was busily trying to worry us all that inflation was set to get completely out of hand among the 16 countries who make up the eurozone. Now the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, is hard at it on another tack ...
Continue reading No Deflation Threat In Europe: Central European Bank
February 13th, 2009
Spanish MEPs have hit back at threats to withdraw EU funding if the nation continues to abuse property rights. A draft report by Danish Green politician Margrete Auken – who had been commissioned by the European Parliament to investigate Spanish property and environmental abuse in Spain – suggested that Brussels ...
Continue reading Spanish MEPs Defend Valencia Land Grab Laws
January 27th, 2009
Normally implacable foes, Spanish MEPs from the Socialist Party and the right-of-centre Popular Party closed ranks yesterday in the face of heavy EU criticism of Spain’s abuse of property rights and the environment. The criticism came in the form of a draft report by Margrete Auken, a Danish MEP from the ...
Continue reading Spanish MEPs United Against EU Criticism
December 8th, 2008
The European Parliament (EP) recently released the first draft of another damning report on Spanish ‘land grab’ laws and urban planning practises that threaten property rights and the environment. There were also calls from the EP for a moratorium on all unsustainable new developments, compensation for victims of Valencia’s so ...
Continue reading Spain Called to Account over Land Grab
October 24th, 2008
Consumers across the EU are set to benefit from greater holiday protection when they buy and resell timeshare holidays under new rules to be voted by the European Parliament today. The aim of the proposed Directive is to further boost consumer confidence in the timeshare industry, which is worth over ...
Continue reading EU Vote on New Timeshare Laws
August 29th, 2008
Thousands of British expats who lost out to Spain's notorious "land grab" laws were yesterday given hope of getting their properties back after the European commission took Madrid to the European court of justice. The commission is to take legal action against Spain over alleged infringements of European competition regulations governing ...
Continue reading Spain in Court over Land Grab
July 29th, 2008
Two aspects of the eurozone economy are often mixed up. One is its overall performance. The other is the divergences that at any time exist within the single currency area. The Spanish economy may be about to fall off a cliff. But Spain accounts for only 11.8 per cent of the eurozone's gross ...
Continue reading Eurogroup Must Shed Complacency
May 23rd, 2008
After much criticism, and growing pressure from the European Parliament, the government of the Valencian Region has announced its intention to overhaul urban planning laws, including the infamous ‘land grab’ laws that allow developers to expropriate land from private owners. The decision to “coordinate all the town planning laws and satisfy ...
Continue reading Valencian ‘Land Grab’ Laws to be Reviewed
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
July 13th, 2007
50% of Spain’s capital investment is in property, which is also responsible for half of all new jobs and a significant contributor to Spanish GDP. The continued inflation of house prices has put a home in Spain beyond the reach of many foreign and national buyers just when more ...
Continue reading Spanish Government in a Pickle
July 9th, 2007
Rampant construction along the Spanish coastline is damaging Spain’s shores and endangering the vital tourism industry, environmental organization Greenpeace warned last week. “The numbers demonstrate the failure on the part of local administrations to find a solution to the problems of the coastline and the need to adopt important reforms regarding ...
Continue reading Overbuilding threatens Spain's coasts
April 25th, 2007
Spain is coming under renewed pressure to change its ‘land grab’ laws following adoption of an EU report branding the current position a violation of human rights. The report comes from the Petitions Committee, of which UK MEP Michael Cashman is vice chairman. Co-author of the report, which has now been ...
Continue reading Damning report brings pressure for Spanish property law change
April 24th, 2007
In response to a number of planning complaints from residents in Madrid, Valencia and Almería, a fact-finding mission in these regions was undertaken at the of February - led by the president of the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee, Marcin Libicki, and his Deputy, Michael Cashman, MEP. Based on these investigations ...
Continue reading 'Arrogant' Spanish Planners Criticised
March 16th, 2007
Foreign real estate investment in the Valencian region has fallen by a thousand million euros since high profile protests about ‘land grab’ laws began in the region, according to a recent study by the Bank of Spain. Brenda Waddington of Spanish agent Rusticasa told the OPP that: “There has been an ...
Continue reading Land Grab Costs Valencia €1Bn
