Not guilty of removing any posts....

A few posts have been removed lately, and not just on this subject.
So who is responsible???

Has anyone ever challenged the Catalunyan govt. and/ or the Spanish govt. in the European court of human rights .W e are members of the EEC and as such have rights to live anywhere in the community. Just because the governments do not want to supply services to rural properties does not mean they can call every campo property illegal as a home.If no services are required or asked for, if no "villa" is built and the properties are bought legally, using Spanish solicitors and in the presence of a Spanish notary , how can a citizen of Europe be told where he can live, providing he is not causing trouble for others in the area.Are the rights of home owners, who have bought their homes and not taken any liberties with the size of the house null and void just because a group of polititians, who change anyway on a regular basis, decide that rural living is   "not allowed".Your comments would be interesting.

Our friends did fight the matter in court but got no where and it cost them very dearly. This was a criminal court because they were formally arrested for the illegal build, despite having sought permission from the local adjuntament and having all the paperwork. They had to hire a barrister and although the judge threw it out of court this was not the end of it. She threw it out as a criminal matter but they still had to face the civil courts and the costs just rise and rise. I hear what you are saying about going to the European courts and it is not the first time this has been raised. The problem is you still have to find someone willing to take the case on on your behalf and it could still cost you a fortune. Unless you have very good back up both legally and financially this could be difficult.

My view is that one of these cases does need to go to the European Court as a test case and it might be better if someone who has returned to the UK leaving their property in limbo took advice from their MP here in the UK. If you tried to do it over there you could simply end up with more corrupt individuals trying to rip you off. I would strongly recommend that anyone in this situation who has returned to the UK, and I know there are many from Catalunya alone, speak to their MP about it asap. They hold surgeries and I'm sure they would be able to offer some advice. It may be that their are legal companies who would even be prepared to take this on as a test case. If they won then it would open the floodgates to compensation. It could well be argued that the adjuntament and local officials have turned a blind eye to what is going on. They knew what was happening and failed to warn buyers.

Lets face it, how difficult would it have been to pass a law to force the notaries to be duty bound to provide clear information in English or other EU languages PRIOR TO THE SALE OF LAND to inform buyers of the restrictions of building a dwelling of any type????? That is all it would have taken to stop this mess and prevent the ' Estate Agents' from passing off agricultural land as being suitable for living on.!!!

Well you said it Gyro! Thanks for the MP lead, that could be helpful! There are many great people out there, of all nationalities, so I wouldn't want people to think that everyone is awful. We had fantastic neighbours in our village when we lived out there and one of them nextdoor still looks after my place when I'm not there. It's just a shame the bad apples got into the barrel!!!Hopefully now that the bubble has burst things will slowly improve and people will realise there is a huge price to pay for trying to make a quick buck at others expense.

I have been watching this post with interest, I am one of the people in Ginestar who is in deep deep dodo with the authorities even though I have only done what the rest of the people have done.  If you are thinking of purchasing a rural property in Ginestar then DONT as they are all illegal.  I know of 4 demolition orders in Ginestar and I believe there may be more to follow.  The trouble is some of the people that have trouble may not be aware of it, the Ajuntament have cancelled many licences issued by the old Mayor.  I have tried to PM the two people that seem to indicate they are in the Ginestar area but as I do not have 20 posts I am not allowed to do this but if they would like to contact my via PM then perhaps we could swap notes and maybe we can be of some help to each other, maybe we already know of each other, naturally I do not want to go into too much detail on the Forum.  I have contacted MEP Chris Bryant and also my local MEP but as yet have not received even an acknowledgement.  Have also tried the legal system in Spain but no luck there either.

Someone needs to get these Estate Agents saying this on record! Perhaps a hidden tape recorder and then present it to the local authorities. They were saying this years ago and it was rubbish then, I cannot believe that they are still spouting these untruths and that, unfortunately, people are still being conned. The Catalan/Spanish authorities need to take some stand on this and catch them in the act. How hard would that be! All they would need to do is set up a 'honey trap' and film/record what the Estate agents are saying. Then they will have the evidence to prosecute. Or does the law allow these Estate Agents to tell lies because they are still not covered by the same type of legislation as they are in other EU countries such as the EU? The government need to get a grip on what is happening rather than simply blame the innocents for being duped. Estate Agents need to sign up to a code of conduct and be strictly monitored on this and the Adjuntament needs to be similarly accountable with a zero tolerance on corruption.

Don't give up folks, keep writing to your MEP, MP and also write to the press. Perhaps we could organise a petition over the forum? Don't know if this would be allowed? Asking for this matter to be addressed in the European Court and an amnesty where people can demonstrate that they have been the victims of corruption or misinformation?

Just a thought but please keep flagging up this issue because my gut feeling is we are not doing this enough which is allowing the problem to continue.

come on Jools, let us know who the 'alleged' person was, we have all had stuff nicked in this area, I for one a generator ( ok. it was old and broken ) a caravan ( pretty knackered too, but that is not the point ) and probably the worst the contents of my wood pile, needed that to keep warm!!! Someone has been very busy if the Mossos got two vanloads. Promise I'm no vigilante, I just want to know who to avoid like the plague.