Allister welcomes Parliament vote on Spanish property scandal
26 March 2009
Statement by Traditional Unionist MEP Jim Allister
"As an MEP I have been seeking to help several Northern Ireland families who have suffered grievously at the hands of Spanish civil authorities and developers in respect of property which they bought in Spain.
The issues are multi-faceted, but include
• buying property to discover years later that the proper planning permission had not issued at the time of construction;
• facing huge financial demands for basic services;
• facing demolition orders because of breaches in the notorious 1988 "Coastal Law", or, because of compulsory acquisition to provide services.
Naturally, the distress and worry for affected families has been immense. Getting satisfaction from the Spanish authorities has been nigh impossible. The sad truth is that deep-seated corruption between civic authorities and greedy developers has given rise to most of these problems, with Spanish courts less helpful than they could be.
In consequence of this being a problem for buyers from across the EU it proved possible to build up a head of steam in the European Parliament, demanding action. Channelled through the Petitions Committee, today, months and years of work came to fruition when the Parliament in Strasbourg passed "the Auken Report", which very robustly addresses the issues and calls on the Spanish Government to act.
I am pleased that the Auken Report was approved by 349 votes to 110, with 114 absentions.
Below is an extract from my remarks in the Parliament:-
"I strongly support the Rapporteur in her report and salute her sterling work on behalf of citizens right across Europe who have fallen foul of the outrageous property practices in Spain.
The right to own and enjoy private property is a fundamental one, recognised by the European Convention. Yet, several constituents of mine, who put their life savings into a home in Spain, now find themselves ambushed and devastated by laws and claims which would deprive them of their homes or cost them enormous sums in order to retain them.
Civil authorities in Spain have turned out, too often, to be in cahoots with grasping, unscrupulous developers and have acted as a terror to the hapless homeowner. I trust this report will at least keep the focus on the issue and force some action."
