| (Note: English follows) Nota de Prensa AUAN –11 de marzo de 2011 Contacto: Patricia Sampson, Tel: 638323706 Email: info@almanzora-au.org | ¡Qué desastre! Comentando sobre la confirmación del consejera de Obras Públicas y Vivienda que hay 12.697 viviendas ilegales en el Valle del Almanzora con 920 destinados a la posible demolición, la presidenta de la AUAN, Maura Hillen, dijo "¿12.697 construcciones ilegales en el Valle del Almanzora y nadie se dio cuenta? ¿Estas casas surgieron desde nada entre un día y otro? ¿Dónde estaba la Junta cuando se construyeron esas casas?
¿Y cuántas personas se quedarán sin hogar y / o perderán sus ahorros si se demoliera 920 casas para 'restablecer el orden'? siguió. "Un cálculo conservador pondría las pérdidas financieras en algo alrededor de 90 millones de euros. ¿Quién va a compensar a aquellos que compraron de buena fe? ¿La Junta? ¿Los ayuntamientos? "
En cuanto al anuncio del consejera de un decreto próximo, la señora Hillen dijo: "Sin ver el texto de este decreto, que por supuesto no estará disponible hasta después de las elecciones municipales, es imposible decir algo significativo. Sin embargo, el gobierno ha tenido siete años para hacer frente a este problema y ahora de repente dos meses antes de las elecciones ¿existe un decreto nuevo y emocionante? El momento es un poco sospechoso a nuestro juicio, y huele a campaña electoral. Nosotros lo llamaos "el Decreto Fantasma." "Y ¿qué va a pasar con todos los procedimientos administrativos y penales que se encuentran actualmente en curso y que también podrían llevar a la demolición? ¿Cómo va el decreto a salvar estas casas? Como siempre, hay más preguntas que respuestas y más problemas y complicaciones que hay cambios verdaderos en la posición de la Junta ", concluyó.
En cuanto a las declaraciones de la consejera de Obras Públicas y Vivienda el miércoles pasado, en la audiencia de la comisión parlamentaria, donde se informa que dijo que "personas de otros países se han instalado de forma ilegal" dijo la presidenta de la AUAN "Si las observaciones son correctas, echar la culpa de las dificultades del sistema de planificación de Andalucía a los propietarios extranjeros es bastante ofensivo y claramente falso. Comentarios como éstos, si son de verdad, demuestran una falta completa de comprensión de la enormidad real del desastre de planificación en Andalucía y no ayudan nada a fomentar la muy necesaria inversión británica en el mercado inmobiliario español ". "En nuestra opinión, el Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo es como la orquesta en las cubiertas del Titanic. Tocando mientras se hunde el barco, llevando con él los propietarios de viviendas y lo que queda de la reputación de la industria inmobiliaria andaluza. ¡Qué desastre!" concluyó. ------------------------------------------------------------ Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No Campaigning to safeguard our homes AUAN Press release – 11th March 2011 Contact info@almanzora-au.org It's official. There are 12,697 illegal properties in the Almanzora Valley - 920 properties earmarked for demolition.
- The remainder likely to foot the bill for legalisation
The Minister for Housing and Planning, Josefina Cruz, met with the Mayors of ten municipalities in the Valley of Almanzora in Almeria on Thursday to deliver the results of the Inspection of houses constructed on land not zoned for building in Albánchez, Albox, Arboleas, Cantoria, Fines, Líjar, Lubrín, Oria, Partaloa and Zurgena. The Minister revealed that 12, 697 'irregular' constructions had been identified in the Almanzora Valley alone. Of those some 7.2% or 920 buildings have been found on specially protected land or are less than 4 years old or are incomplete. In these three cases the offence is not proscribed by law and the ministry has instructed the councils to 'restore order' as a priority. As for the remaining 11,777 houses Sra. Cruz went on to state that her ministry was working on a special 'decreto' or decree to define a uniform set of procedures which would allow these houses to be granted an occupation license and obtain access to services in a manner described as 'self-sufficient' making it clear that public funds will not be used to resolve the situation. Speaking about illegal houses in Almeria in a hearing of the planning commission of the Andalucian Parliament on Wednesday, the Minister is reported to have said "people from other countries had set up home in an illegal way" and now "residents want us to solve a problem that some of them have created". "12,697 illegal buildings in the Almanzora Valley and nobody noticed?" said Maura Hillen, president of Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora NO (AUAN), a homeowners association composed mainly of British residents . "Did these houses pop up like mushrooms overnight? Where was the Junta when the houses were being built? " "And how many people will be made homeless and/or lose their life savings if 920 houses are demolished to 'restore order'?" she continued "A conservative calculation would put the financial losses in the order of 90 million euros. Who's going to compensate those who bought in good faith? The Junta? The town halls? " Commenting on the Ministers announcement of a promised decree Mrs Hillen said "Without seeing the text of this decree, which of course will not be available until after the local elections, it is impossible to say anything meaningful. However, the government has had seven years to deal with this issue and now suddenly two months before an election there is a new decree? The timing is a bit fishy in our view and smacks of electioneering. " "And what about all the civil and criminal proceedings that are currently in progress and could also result in demolition? How is the decree going to save these houses? As usual there are more questions than answers and more smoke and mirrors that any real change in the Juntas position" she said. Speaking of the remarks attributed to the Minister by the Spanish press the AUAN president said "If the remarks are accurate, blaming foreign homeowners for the woes of the Andalucian planning system is quite insulting and clearly untrue. Comments such as these, if accurately reported, demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the realities of the scale of the planning disaster in Andalucia and are hardly designed to encourage much needed British investment in the Andalucian property market". "In our view the Ministry of Housing and Planning is like the orchestra on the decks of the Titanic. Fiddling away whilst the ship sinks taking homeowners and what is left of the reputation of the Andalucian property industry with it. Its all a bit of a shambles" she concluded. | 
