Historic victory for land grab victims

MEPs back report that slates Spain's development abuses

By Dave Jones

MEPs in the European Parliament today (Thursday) voted in favour of Margrete Auken's controversial report that slams abuses committed by Costa builders.

The document paves the way for European funding for Spain to be frozen if action is not taken to halt the transgressions.

The report was based on the third visit by MEPs to the Costas to investigate complaints from hundreds of European citizens who have become victims of illegal building practices and land grab laws.

Two separate bids by the Spanish Partido Popular (PP) and the Socialist party (PSOE) to water down her report yesterday were voted down after they failed to gain support from MEPs of other nationalities.

Enrique Climent, president of Costa Blanca-based protest group Abusos Urbanísticos No (AUN), told CBNews he was over the moon at the result.

He said: "We are very fortunate that Europe is here to protect us and that the MEPs are not open to manipulation.

"They have agreed that we were right over this."

He added that it was not a case in the Valencia Region of the Spanish on one side and European citizens on the other.

"We have all been fighting together over this," he said.

Danish MEP Margrete Auken's report is a damning indictment of overdevelopment on the Costas and the ‘corrupt' practices of local politicians.

She launches a scathing attack on the Spanish authorities and the now struggling construction industry.

And she also reminds the Spanish authorities that the EU can turn off the funding tap.

"The European Parliament, as the budgetary authority, may also decide to place funding set aside for Cohesion Policies in the reserve chapter if it considers this necessary in order to persuade a member state to end serious breaches of the rules and principles which it is obliged to respect either under the Treaty or as a result of the application of EU law, until such times as the problem is resolved," she states.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Read the full story in Costa Blanca News tomorrow (Friday)

{moscomment}