The Sun Palace in Albir was the venue for an important meeting about Spanish land law abuses.The meeting was arranged by the “Neighbours of Alfaz” and as a guest speaker on the panel they had Margrete Auken ,the MEP who is responsible for the Auken Report on “land-grab’ practices in Spain .The report was very damning of the abuses which have taken place in Spain .Also on the panel was Professor Jorge Olcina,deacon at the University of Alicante,who specialises in sustainable urban development.Covering the coastal law side of the “land-grab” was Carmen del Amo,President of the European Association of those affected by coastal laws(AEPLC).
This conference drew in an audience of 400 plus a number of journalists.Some had been affected and were there as individuals,otheres represented associations,others were thinking of purchasing and wanted to educate themselves before they committed their money to a project.Many were just interested in the topic .The people who attended came from all over Spain and was an indicator of the widespread nature of the problem.
Legislation in Spain provides a path for authorities to make sure that individual property owners cannot stand in the way of what is seen as progress and so impede what is seen as necessary improvements.Since the Auken report was published and approved by a large majority in the European Parliament these land grab laws have been considerably clarified.Under the European Court of Human Rights the “obligation to cede legitimately acquired property without the due process and proper compensation,and the obligation to pay costs for unrequested and often unnecessary infrastructure ,constitutes a violation of these rights”
Those who are affected by such issues should contact the AUn website www.abusos-no.org
