hi all
first post here. been living quietly in the Coll d'Alba region of Tortosa for the last couple of years, slowly returning the now overgrown olive terraces to their former glory and clearing the land.
Have a casa de campo and just in the last month or so have constucted a covered terrace 3mx7m in size.
Have had a visit from the agents rurals to ask if we have permission (we do not)and they tell us we must go to the ajuntament in Tortosa to apply for permissions.
Just wondering if anyone has experience of this - is it best to just go in and say that we have already constructed it and now are asking for permission? the agents rural want us to ring them once we have been to the ajuntament and tell them what they said.
I know we should have got permission in the first place but it's not like we are taking the wee wee - although I know we are in the wrong but want to make this right asap,
any suggestions kindly received,
thanks, Jellybaby

UH, OH! Here we go again, sorry to hear this. Yes, unfortunately they do have clout and plenty of it and if the authorities have there way they will try and screw as much money out of you as possible.

Officially, don't shoot the messenger, you need permission for any alteration to a casita. This means you are supposed to go to the adjuntament with your proposal. They will then check that the casita is listed on the deeds for the land ( some are not, even if they are old! ) you will be told to apply for architects plans!! As ridiculous as this sounds for a small casita. This will cost you an arm and a leg and you could be told no go anyway.

If they do approve your plans you will have to use a registered builder, can't DIY unless you are registered yourself. After the work is complete you will have to pay a tax to the adjuntament, which will be a percantage of the cost of the work.

Don't sit on this one, go to the adjuntamnet and try to find out where you stand.

Good luck

To be honest I think alot of people have an investment in keeping quiet about this whole subject, including Spanish/Catalan people and British, are you talking about village or campo here? You can probably get away with more in the village because they want the houses done up and won't exactly ask you to demolish it! The vast majority of locals live in towns or villages not campo houses and are probably talking about urban property.

This is not a lie, there are people right now in Tarragona province who have been arrested and taken to a criminal ( not civil) court due to alleged illegal building. There are also people who have come to the end of any appeal process and are awaiting the enforced demolition of their rural properties, with all their money and labour, dreams, life, etc. tied up in it.

This is why I'm not prepared to keep quiet on the matter which is what many people out there would prefer. I no longer live there and I feel safe enough to tell the truth.
I want as many people as possible to know about this so that they are not duped into buying a piece of land, casita, almacen that they are told they can build on. Or to build an almacen and it will be ok to live in it. Or to buy a property that they think is legal but isn't because someone wants to cash in and get rid of their nightmare. It's not fair to do this folks. So stop swallowing all the bull. s.h.i.t and arm yourself with the facts. It could save you a lot of money, time, energy and your health and sanity!!

Viking, thanks for submitting an honest summary of how things stand for rural dwellings - I know some expats who seem to have their heads firmly burried in the sand thinking that the agents rurals will go away, I'll recommend that they read your useful posts and hopefullt they'll take Jellybaby's approach and try and regularise their situation with the town hall.  I sincerely hope Jellybaby sets a precident and gets planning approval for the dwelling.  Best of luck on that one!

Personally I chose to buy a house in Tortosa some years ago having seen some lovely fincas but like you said, I didn't swallow the estate agents Bull s*%t, there were too many unknowns for me and being a foreigner I didn't want to go into battle with any un-neccessary spanish bureaucracy.  Even when you have a legal dwelling, they mannage to put various impediments in your way (especially when you're not there full time to deal with the paperwork) - I have to admit I spend about 2 weeks a year sorting out various bits and pieces to keep all things legal - and I can speak spanish!  I can't imagine what it's like sorting stuff if you don't.

Hi Jellybaby and Furrydoggie,

Well doe Jellybaby for 'taking the bull by the horns' I wish you all the best. Sorry to hear about your experience Furrydoggie, this is all familiar to me.
We were very lucky because I bought my land about 3 years before we moved out, I was fed the usual rubbish like we all were but thankfully by the time I arrived out there with my family it was already apparent that my dream of living on the finca would remain just that, a dream, and we could sense that something fishy was going on! We bought a village house and began to renovate it with all the permissions. We used reputable Catalan builders who had done a lot of work in the village and our street. We inspected their work at other houses and asked about so we knew they were reputable. This is really important as there are some cowboys out there ( British of course ) Of course the work cost more than a British cowboy would have quoted but for that you get a good job, not something that will fall apart in a few years, a roof that leaks and poor insulation. I'm not saying all the Brits out there are cowboys by the way, but some are so you will need to check their reputation, talk to previous clients and generally root around before you hand out your hard earned cash and get ripped off. Why do we let them get away with it?

There is huge corruption around the building industry in Spain, it has gone on for years and I have heard of similar stuff in the South of Spain so it is not just Catalunya. Now the authorities want to do something about it but it seems it is the victims who are paying the price not the perpetrators who have cashed in. We are not allowed to name and shame either and many are tight lipped so don't assume an Estate agent or builder etc.is ok because you haven't heard anything bad said about them. The ex pats are living in a very small community and if you piss someone off it can have negative consequences for you and your family.

If we had built on our finca we would have lost everything, all our savings from working bloody hard at difficult jobs. Thankfully we still have our house in the village which is worth something and can be sold once the situation improves in Spain.

As far as I'm concerned the Estate agents who have cashed in on peoples dreams and innocence are scum, predators, crooks, leeches and parasites who should be driven out of their webs and sent on their way.

I wish everyone luck, keep your eyes and ears open and arm yourselves with the facts, stay safe and don't hand your money to these crooks.

fan bloody tastic i have just heard that my place in the mora valley has been broken into recently,where are the rurals when all the crime is going on,
(i bet if you tried to do any work on your building in the dark in the middle of the night and on a festival holiday they would be there in a flash),only consolation being after all the  effort to get in there is nothing in there to steal anyway,thanks to a dodgy agent selling me a property i cant make any use of , im really beginning to love catalunya what a fantastic place!

Well I have a bit of a different spin to this topic, I have had my roofless casita for over 6 years now, I bury most of my valuable tools ,but one year I tarped over the roof, and left my strimmer inside only to come back several months later to find the  tarpe had been ripped of by the winds, and no strimmer !
The farmer below me with the help of "sign language"  let me know that the owner of the finca above me had taken the strimmer inside his locked up shed, safe from the "Bandits" well it took me 3 years but I managed to get it back from him last year,I can only thank the locals around the campo,who always give a wave, and even though I cannot speak Spanish they will try to communicate.

Dear Moderators,

Did somebody remove my posting about the crime and burglaries around the area, and naming the person responsible who the Police are now searching for?

Also explaining to the people with property here how to get back all of their possessions, which apparently comes into many 1000's of Euros, as the police removed 2 van loads from the burglars house.

Surely nobody would remove a helpful posting like that, which obviously affects many members on here!!!!!


Jools