Nightmare tennants in commercial unit

Hi
 My wife and i own a small local in Alicante province, and at the end of February we signed a 5 year contract to rent the local to a Dutch couple.
     Last week we received a fine from Iberdrola of 2119 euros, as someone had tampered with the electric supply.
 The electrician got in touch with us to explain that he had been contracted by the dutch couple to Up the Potencia in the local, and when they didnt pay the final amount outstanding, he did not present the "bolletin". it would then appear the Dutch couple, or maybe the electrician connected the electric supply. This lead to an inspection by Iberdrola who have then send the fine to us.
 The fine is based on an estimated usage for 2011 giving the total of 2011 euros. In 2011 the local was not used by anyone at all, and as such there was no consumtion in 2011.

My questions are..
  How can we claim the money back from the dutch couple, and also can we try and get the fine reduced by iberdrola as their calculations appear to be inaccurate.

On top of this, we have also been now contacted by a builder who was contracted by the dutch couple to carry out some minor work within the local, building interior walls, tilling etc etc. This builder also tells me that he hasnt been paid, and he is owed 3000 euros.
  Today the builders lawyer phoned me to tell me that they were going before a judge on Thursday to start legal proceeidngs to recover this money, and if the Dutch couple did not pay up, then i would be liable, as owner of the local. Can this be true???

In both cases we were at no time involved in getting the trades in to do work.

Im quite amazed at what has happened here over the last week or two, and we are only one month into a 5 year contract so you can imagine how we feel.

Im sure there are some lawyers who view this forum and so would appreciate any answers

Rob

What a nightmare!

They sound like they are going to be very complicated tenants.

Have you approached them about these bills?  What has their response been?

I assume you must have a contract in place?

Send Maria de Castro (the lawyer) a private message and ask her to look at this thread and see if she can give an opinion on what to do.

Best of luck.

Justin

 Iberdrola will have calculated the 2011 according to a set formula set by the Ministry of Energy.  I have dealt with a case similar to this (in a residential property) and we proved that their property had not been used, by showing them the consumation of water, provided by the water company.  They will then reduce the debt.

Hi

 Thanks for the comments,

i visited the OMIC office yesterday and they also said i should send a letter to Iberdrola to prove the local was empty last year.

  So thats one of my jobs today, and fingers crossed we can get the fine down a lttle anyway

they are due to pay the next months rent in a few days time so that will be a sign as to whether we have any more problems with them or not

Rob