Andrew

Hi All,

3 years ago my wife and I bought a first floor apartment in a small village in Cartagena area. It is in an old building which only has 2 floors.  We are not residents in Spain but, with the help of a local British builder we have spent a lot of money renovating it to a high standard. There was an area of rough ground along one side of our building which was bought by a local at the same time that we bought our property.  Withoutout any notice this guy built a wall with a high fence around this land and, in doing so, blocked car access to our property. He then laid concrete over the whole area and has been using it to repair fishing nets. The lady owner of the other flat is British and she has bought legal action using a well respected local lawyer. Although it took time this action appeared to be successful as the Town Hall issued an order to remove the wall, the fencing and the concrete.  In addition there was a fine of about €10,000. To our horror nothing has been done to the wall etc but instead a nave(shed/hangar) is currently being built.  It is massive being more than 6 metre high and covering the length of our apartments. Our lawyer is attempting to stop this construction but we guess it will be completed by the end of the week. We have no understanding as to how Spanish law can allow such an occurence when there has already been an order against it. The guy who is doing this is ruthless, wealthy and apparently somehow has a licence to put this building up. Any suggestions welcome.

Andrew

I just wonder what would have happened if the apartments had been Spanish owned and the land Brit owned, with said Brit erecting an illegal building and blocking access to the Spanish apartment owners car parking, a buldozer comes to mind. The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing but I wager that you and your Brit neighbour wish that you had bought the land along with the apartments.

This is up johnzx's street, having been around the block a few times in Spain he tends to know what folk should do when as in your case, you find yourself up against an actual brick wall.

Good luck. 

Sorry to hear about your situation Andrew. Has anyone actually been to the Town Hall to see if this man does actually have permission to build this monstrosity ? If you are not in Spain perhaps your solicitor or neighbour could do this. How this man could have permission to build something on a base that he is suppose to remove doesn't make any sense........BUT a lot of things in Spain do not make much sense to us and money does talk. Maybe someone will have some suggestions but it is a tricky one. Good luck to you and do let us know what happens. (if I wasn't law abiding I might suggest a bulldozer, with profuse apologies for the accident, of course!).

This situation is bizarre.

When i had some work done without a perit (and this was after I actually went to the ayuntamiento to ask if I needed a permit for this work and they explicitly said no) I got a letter saying I needed to stop construction immediately and if I didn't legalize the construction within a set timeframe that it would be torn down and the previous situation restored at my cost.

Anyway, I jumped to it and got my lawyer to submit the paperwork within days. I'm pretty sure that if I had ignored them that they would have followed up on their threat.

It might be of interest to see my update.  The nave has now been completed. It is a quality building and not quite as bad as expected but it does block our view. The interesting development is that the wall has now been taken down but no vehicle access has been made which was part of the Town Hall order... The real bit of news is that our lawyer has now obtained copy of original plans. Nave should be 8 metres from our building.  It is less than 6 metres.  Can a Brit get a devious, wealthy Spaniard to take down his building? I doubt it but would be interested in any comments..

alebalncsmith

Can a Brit get a devious, wealthy Spaniard to take down his building?

It should not come down to nationality and the answer to the question is YES if the building is illegal

stick to your guns and fight it as far as you can - it is election time so badger the mayor and the town hall evey day if necessary - if they do nothing make an official complaint evry day