Eight expat owner home owners in Albox (Almería) face having their homes demolished in the New Year – because the original proprietors obtained building licences before building.

Just 11 building licenses issued in Albox since 2001

Council records show that since significant amounts of construction work began in the municipality at the beginning of the decade, the council has only ever processed requests for 11 building licenses – and all eight of the houses affected by demolition orders find themselves among those original 11.

The possession of a building licence is the single common denominator shared by all eight cases, as the properties are divided among six different areas of the municipality and two were purchased as resale while the rest are self-builds.

AUAN president, Maura Hillen, said: “By obtaining a building licence, these people left a paper trail that was easy to follow.”

Albox townhall was in the hands of the P.P. party until the last municipal elections, when control passed to the PSOE party under socialist Mayor Jose Navarro.

Expats were never told of decade long legal case against their homes

The specific details of one property serve to illustrate the process by which all eight houses now face demolition.

The building license was originally granted by the Albox town hall in June 2002. Problems began six months later when the Junta de Andalucía decided to impugn the building licence due to the possibility of “an urban nucleus forming in each of the locations”, according to court documents.

Albox townhall appealed against the decision, and the case eventually went to court.

In July 2003, the Almería court ruled in favor of the Junta de Andalucía and declared the original building license null and void.

In August of 2006 the Junta ordered the Albox council to begin demolition of the buildings, whereupon the council began a lengthy appeal process.

That appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court in Granada, which ruled at the beginning of the month that demolition work should go ahead. Roughly the same process occurred with the other seven properties.

Albox townhall has also been ordered to pay the legal costs of the Junta in the case.

But in a chilling repeat of the case of the Priors, whose house was demolished nearly two years ago, the years of legal wrangling took place without the proprietors of any of the eight houses being informed at any stage of the process.

Owners “shocked” when police served them demolition orders on houses they assumed were legal

Of the eight demolition orders, only four have so far been served. Once served, the proprietors then have 15 days to appeal.

Mrs Hillen said: “There are some cases of documents that were sent to lawyers and builders not being passed on, but in general no attempt to contact proprietors was made.”

The Albox townhall has now been ordered by the Supreme Court to execute the sentence. The townhall, which was not available for comment as they are still trying to notify all the houseowners implicated in the case, has sent notification of the order and will be meeting home owners in the new year to discuss the case.

Legal experts consulted by this paper suggest that the only course of action available to houseowners is to sue the council and to launch an immediate appeal to the Courts asking for stay of execution on humanitarian grounds. However at least one lawyer has said that she expects the demolition to go ahead before the appeal reaches a court.

It is believed that the final date by which demolitions must be finished, as mentioned in the judicial order, is the beginning of April 2010.

Property owners association AUAN has announced that it is working with the Albox townhall to locate and help property owners who are affected. The AUAN has refused to comment on the next legal steps, explaining that until all homeowners have been notified and legal advice taen they cannot prepare a statement. More information on the AUAN is available at their website at http://www.almanzora-au.org/.

As the legal paperwork has not yet been served by the townhall, owners and locations of properties cannot be disclosed by the Press. However, all eight properties are in Albox and are in different locations across the municipality.

Two years since shock Vera demolition

The 9th of January will mark the two year anniversary of the day when British retired couple Len and Helen Prior saw police and bulldozers arrive at their frontdoor to demolish their home in Vera. Local resident groups, amongst them the AUAN and AULAN have organised a candlelit vigil in the ruins of the Prior’s home to mark the occasion. The Prior continue to live in the garage of their home, which was not demolished, and continue to fight an ever more expensive legal battle for compensation against the Spanish State. (Via Original Source)

Related Posts

• January 5, 2010 -- IU demands “political responsability” for demolitions (1)
  The Izquierda Unida coalition, Andalucia's third political party, has deman...
• December 30, 2009 -- British families fight to save their homes in Albox (1)
  Lawyers are working against the clock to try and stop their properties bein...
• December 27, 2009 -- British families served with demoliton orders for their homes in Albox (1)
  Three were served last week and another five are expected Demolition ord...