Call for action against Spain

By Dave Jones
CAMPAIGNING MEP Michael Cashman has called on the European Union to freeze funding for Spain unless drastic action is taken to stop town planning abuses.

Last week a nine-page draft report went before the EU's Petitions Committee responding to the complaints of hundreds of expats on the Costas who have been hit by illegal building, land grab and issues associated with overdevelopment.

The European Union is set to vote on the document in March which contains a clause stating that cash can be withheld ‘in order to persuade a member state to end serious breaches of the rules'.

Speaking to CBNews this week Mr Cashman said: "We should withhold funding, though this will be fiercely resisted by Spanish MEPs."

Mr Cashman has formed part of delegations which have visited Spain three times in four years to interview residents affected by town planning abuses and to collect evidence on overdevelopment on Spain's coast.

However the Labour party MEP for the West Midlands in the UK said he was sceptical that ‘justice' would be swift for those affected.
"I wish it were true, but we will not give up," he said.

"Unless the Spanish government brings these bandits to book then it will have to be resolved through the European Court of Justice (for EU laws) or through the European Court of Human Rights.

"But I urge the regional governments and the national government to do the right thing now and resolve these issues.
"All it needs is the political will."

The preliminary report, which will be presented as a motion for a European Parliament resolution, examines ‘the impact of extensive urbanisation in Spain on individual rights of European citizens, on the environment and on the application of EU law'.

Danish MEP Margrete Auken, who drew up the report, states that many expats have become victims of urbanisation abuse by unscrupulous local authorities and that their properties face demolition because their homes have been found to be illegally built.

She also argues that ‘extensive destruction' caused by overdevelopment ‘constitutes a tragic and irretrievable loss' to Spain's identity and heritage.

In order to reverse the situation, she also suggests the Spanish authorities ‘revise all legislation affecting the rights of individual property owners in order to bring an end to the abuse of rights and obligations' contained in European law.

Read more in CBNews on Friday