Mayor Tries to Calm Fears Over Illegal Zurgena Property
February 25th, 2011
After having been deemed illegal in 2007 by the Andalucia regional government for being constructed on non-urban land, around a thousand homeowners in the town of Zurgena have been assured that their properties will not be demolished.
Despite assurances from the town’s mayor, Candido Trabalon, that the homes will not be demolished, residents remain sceptical and fear that regional government could override the decision made by the local council.
According to the regional Andalucian government, the local council’s urbanisation of 358 hectares of land, on which many Zurgena properties had already been built, did not adhere to planning legislation that came into effect in 2003.
The local mayor is facing 12 separate criminal proceedings for allegedly authorising the building of the illegal homes, but explained that Zurgena council would grant provisional approval to its entire town plan in March with the intention of submitting it to the regional government.
He stated that if the regional government did not respond within three months then this plan would be approved by default due to “administrative silence”.
The meeting finished with the mayor calling for the residents to be calm and that the town hall would pay for the legal defence of all the homes involved.
He also added that should any infrastructure be required to ensure full urban legality, the town hall would pay for it.
Maura Hillen, president of an expat action group was not impressed saying “this is nonsense, most town halls are bankrupt or have no money so can’t afford to pay for everyone’s legal costs or cover infrastructure costs and compensation payouts”.
“We recommend seeking independent legal advice because then you will at least know where you stand instead of relying on others.”
Zurgena lies within the Almanzora Valley where numerous licenses granted by the town hall but without authority from the regional government are under scrutiny.
The first legal hearing will be held against the mayor next month, together with his town planner and other councillors involved in the suspect cases.
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