Before we moved to Spain in 2008, we spent several years researching stuff and reading books. We decided to buy on a community, because there was all the furore about the Land Grab Laws and illegal builds, and obviously we didn't want to see our hard earned cash being bulldozed a few years down the line. Our estate agent suggested we buy on a community on an urbanisation, so that's what we did.
At first, it was pretty good.The community was fairly new, and as nobody really wanted to be President and set things up, they were more than happy to agree with everything the people who put their heads above the parapet and volunteered as President and Vice President proposed. The first two or three Annual General Meetings were, if not oases of tranquility, at least fairly civilised.
However, when everything was running smoothly, and the fees were coming in and the jobs getting done, a few people decided they weren't happy about not allowing lilos in the community pool, and not being able to have huge satellite dishes on their property so they could get the TV channels they wanted. This despite the fact they'd agreed unanimously at the inaugural meeting that the pool was too small for inflatables, and that individual satellite dishes were an eyesore the community didn't want or need. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Now, all of a sudden, those people who only ever spent two or three weeks a year in their property found they couldn't manage without a lilo in the pool or their favourite TV channel. Going to the beach with their inflatables, or missing out on a couple of episodes of their favourite programme was not an option - the rules they'd helped to formulate and agreed to would just have to be changed, and if they couldn't be changed, then they'd be broken. After all, that's what rules are for, isn't it?
Basically, the vociferous minority have managed to get their own way on everything, because the majority of residents are either too apathetic to be bothered to stand up for what they really want, or too scared of inviting the approbium of the people on a mission by saying what they really think and really want. And it all came to a head this year when around a quarter of the community managed to push through a vote for an inferior contractor because the people who could have made a difference didn't think it was worth bothering to turn up at the AGM, since the vociferous minority always get what they want, regardless of the views of the majority.
I wish I could say this is an isolated experience, but from reading the local English language press I know only too well that it's not. In fact on many communities, there is open warfare, or at least a declaration of hostilities and a divided community. Why can't people live and let live, and do what's best for themselves and the wider community? I think the basic problem is that when people get to realise they can have an impact on the community by voting in a certain way, they become a teensy bit power crazed. Either that or they've had too much sun or sangria.
The concept of 'An Englishman's home is his castle' doesn't really apply on Spanish communities, and there seems to be a certain pattern at work. The initial reaction is, 'It's my property, and I can do what I like,' but when people realise that by going against the community they may attract a denuncia and be unable to sell their property when they wish to, they spin the opposite way. Then they become community minded, but only inasmuch as they want the community rules changed to suit themselves and their own little clique.
I'm not a regretting type of person. You make a decision, and you take responsibility and live with that decision and adapt to it, rather than wasting time on thinking of what might have been if you'd done things differently. However, one thing I do regret is our decision to buy on a community on an urbanisation. You see, it's not about community at all - it's about politics and personalities. We love our home and garden, and we do have some great neighbours, but if somebody came and offered us a reasonable price for our place, we'd sell up and move into the village tomorow. At least in Algorfa there is a true sense of community.
