Death wish costas
I watch as Guardia Civil officers enter the lively restaurant whilst ignoring the Chinese sellers of bootleg CDs standing in groups outside. Identifying the eatery’s owner they tell him in no uncertain terms that he must stop the live music or he will be closed down.
The officers’ visit leaves tourists and diners crestfallen. They came to enjoy the sub-tropical atmosphere and entertainment. Shaking their heads in silence they look at each other resignedly as the truth sinks in.
Nothing underscores better the reason why tourists are deserting the Costas in their millions. A festering culture of antipathy towards tourism and la dolce vita Spanish-style has set in. Reason seems to have deserted the policy makers.
A fellow diner says: “If their purpose is to return Benidorm to fishing village status they could hardly do it better. There is no need for eastern Mediterranean resorts to pass the brown envelopes in pursuit of high-spending tourists: the Spanish do it unpaid. They are misguidedly reversing the gains of decades.”
HANDING IN THE KEYS
The Poor Man’s Solution
Handing in the keys by hard pressed homeowners unable to meet their mortgage payments can lead to collateral damage that worsens the problem. The banks, the biggest unwilling estate agents in the UK and Spain are not happy. Repossession proceedings are time consuming and expensive. The procedure can take up to three years and there is the additional haemorrhage of lost interest and legal fees.
The legal procedure known as a Dación en Pago may be a better option for the defaulter who may otherwise face years of legal wrangling and even bankruptcy: The outstanding mortgage is still an obligation as are the additional costs in the event of default.
Put simply it means surrendering the keys to the bank by formal declaration before a notary. In return the bank agrees to cancel the balance owing and release the mortgage holder from further liability.
NEW AIRLINE TICKET REGULATION
A new regulation introduced last week stipulates that taxes and other extra charges can no longer be hidden in advertising for airline tickets. Airlines have to show the final price in all their publicity from now on, with fuel surcharges and airport taxes included. The regulation is part of an EU initiative designed to allow the public to better compare offers in the marketplace.
WOMAN PLEADS DEMOLISH MY HOUSE
Mijas resident Isabel called on the Town Hall last Thursday to knock down her house and stop fining her. Sra Mart�n, 56, and her husband began building their house four years ago in the La Rosa urbanisation in La Cala but the Town Hall paralysed the work because of town planning irregularities. Accompanied by Antonio Blanco, president of the Association for the Regularisation of Housing in Mijas, Sra Martin told a press conference that her husband had then gone into a deep depression and died a few months ago. She said: "My husband lost the will to live, his dream had died." Her lawyer had written to the Town Hall on July 11th asking them to demolish the house but had not received a reply. Sra Martin said she had received three fines - the last one on October 3rd - of €2,356 for a house measuring 288 m2 when in fact the building only measured 100 m2. She said it was "not even a house, just a structure". She added: "If they are going to demolish it, then they should do it now and stop fining me because my health is not good and I'm going down the same road as my husband." Antonio Blanco compared the situation to Marbella where the mayor has announced that she will fight to ensure that not a single illegally-built property is knocked down.
LESBIAN GETS PATERNITY LEAVE
A Madrid court has granted paternity leave of 13 days to a lesbian after Social Security had told the woman she was not eligible. Carmen Diaz married her wife in 2006 who gave birth in February 2007 to a son, who she adopted. The Workers Commissions union said that when she applied for paternity leave, the Social Security Authority had made extra demands which were never made when men claimed, A union spokesman said it regretted what he called "these situations of discrimination", and considered the court's decision an important one because it would encourage gay and lesbian couples to apply for the paternity leave which they were entitled to.
LAND LAW ROW GROWS
According to a report in El Pais newspaper last week, the United Kingdom and Germany have asked Spain for explanations about what they consider to be abusive expropriations of property owned by their citizens here. Britain has already asked for information from both the Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, and the Spanish ambassador in London. Thousands of foreigners and Spaniards are affected by the Ley de Costas, Coasts Law, which came into force in 1988, but remained largely unenforced until 2004 when Cristina Narbona was appointed Environment Minister. The law forbids building on coastline land and states that those built before 1988 will be expropriated by the state, which will give the owners a 30-year use of the property, to be extended to 60 years in some cases. The paper cites the case of the Briton Cliff Carter and others at the La Casbah urbanisation in El Saler in Valencia. In a statement, the Environment Ministry said it has no intention of changing the current legislation. British consuls are reported to be recommending British citizens to complain to the Defensor del Pueblo, the Spanish ombudsman, or to take their case to the European Parliament which has already been informed of the problem. Britain said she understands that Spain wants to limit construction along the coast, but they do not share the method by which they are expropriating property, considering that it affects those who have purchased in good faith.
RESIDENTS WANT TOUCH ACTION ON HUNTERS
A delegation from Alozaina village met Junta de Andalucia officials last Friday to demand changes in the gun law arrangements around their village during the annual three-month shooting season that began on Sunday, October 12th. A local resident reported that Junta workers have been putting up "hunting land" notices on all the roads around the village without consulting local homeowners and without any consideration for the safety of local people and their domestic animals. Last year, weekend hunters and their dogs indiscriminately killed cats and protected birds such as eagles in a succession of blazing shooting sprees. Shotgun damage to an electricity pylon resulted in a major power blackout and one homeowner standing outside his house was hit by shotgun pellets. Since last years successive "invasions" killed off all the local cats, rats have been free to proliferate and have now become a serious problem. Local residents want the Junta to enforce national laws that are supposed to regulate shooting and protect homes and special agricultural areas such as their commercial olive and orange groves. But they suspect the Junta has been ignoring the controls because it has been making a lot of money from selling hunting licences. It is estimated that in 2006, the Junta may have made nearly €500,000 from licence sales. The Alzoaina delegation included representatives of Spanish families who have owned local land for generations as well as expat owners including Dutchmen, British and Danes. Between them they own about 100 acres, most of which is supposed to be out of bounds to hunters, but the latter claim that the Junta notices free them of any restrictions.
HUMAN BILLBOARDS BANNED FROM MADRID
Madrid City Council introduced a law last week to take human billboards off the streets, along with pamphlet distributors and cars with huge ads on their roofs, at the beginning of next year. Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon announced the clean-up two years ago, although not all advertising symbols will be banned. The familiar chemist's green cross stays, as do Tio Pepe and Schweppes. The city's famous Gran Via and Puerta del Sol will still light up at night but the neon lights will disappear from most of the oldest parts of the city. And the new law also limits the amount of light output for the ads. But there will be no more two-legged billboards offering to buy gold, discounts on all and sundry, or advertising the services of African witch doctors "littering" the streets and causing "visual contamination".
NO BLANKET AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL PROPERTIES
A source close to the Guadalhorce Valley municipalities reports that Alhaurin de la Torre has joined the list of local councils that are seeking ways to penalise property owners whose papers are not in order. Owners there who apply for any municipal services such as connection to the water mains or the sewage system face a bill of 6% of the value of their property if their properties are illegal. The council in Alhaurin el Grande is already making owners in a similar situation pay a fee of €3,000 for a building licence before they can be connected to municipal services. The source said most other councils will soon follow suit in an effort to comply with the Junta de Andalucia's proposed Territorial Planning Law, which is aimed at making local council put their houses in order as far as illegal properties are concerned. He said the Junta is currently giving people what he called a "window of opportunity" to regularise their properties, which involves going through all the steps required by law for legal properties - architect's plan, notarising the escritura and registering it with the local Property Register as well as the provincial register in Alora. He said those people who believe that the local council is going to wave a magic wand and "legalise" their properties for free, are in for a shock. He said people will be given time to sort out their papers but local councils cannot waive the fees for the architects, notaries and registries, which will still have to be paid. He said councils are now waiting for the Junta in Sevilla to tell them when they have to start dealing with all the illegal properties in their respective areas, which will be done on a case-by-case basis.
NEW TOWING LAW ENFORCED
Since a new law came into force on July 25th, the Local Police in Antequera have ordered the towing of 22 vehicles that appeared to have been abandoned. Under the new law, the vehicles are kept under observation during a period of 15 days and if no-one collects it during that time, they are towed to the local car pound where they are kept for two months before being taken to be crushed in an authorised scrap yard. Owners face fines of up to €1,500 if the police are able to trace them.