Anyone following our epic long nightmare and the unimaginable injustice in Spain we, as a family have been suffering, with our home being stolen on the orders of the local judge in Estepona awarding possession of my property to a ruthless evil bank in Gibraltar, who has never even been to the property let alone owning it and despite sentences from the Appeal Court of Malaga overriding the locally concocted sentence, ordering the recognition of me as the owner and that I cannot be removed from my property I built and have lived in with my family for 25 years, may be interested to know what has now happened.
Without going over everything again, anyone new to my story should acquaint themselves with my earlier blog comments on this site with the blogs home “ Our home has been stolen” (27
th November 2010) and “Unimaginable injustice in Spain” (15
th December 2010). Or alternatively email me directly on
peterestepona@hotmail.com and I will send as appropriate any missing comments or facts of the case.,
After months of waiting for our legally submitted appeals and oppositions to be heard in court – nothing has been forthcoming – not even acknowledgement from the courts – principally this is because legal protocol requires all appeals and oppositions to be first heard in the first instance presiding court – in this case, Estepona - the very court that has created all the injustice and pronounce wrongly; obviously they are not too enthusiastic about addressing their own irregularities – apart from the fact that Estepona is recognised as the worst court in Andalucia (ask any lawyer !!).
During the time we have been away from our home, the bank, solely on the basis of a provisional execution of sentence, has contracted the services of a property maintenance company firstly, to remove the remaining items of furniture and private possessions from inside our home, creating a mountain in the driveway, whereupon they were systematically and mechanically crushed, loaded into a truck and sent away for disposal (photos available). The almost 5,000 m2 of landscaped gardens has been transformed by a bulldozer digging up garden beds, uprooting trees, all of which I planted personally during the 25 years we have lived in the property. In the bank´s own interests of security this maintenance company has enclosed the entire perimeter with a two metre high security fence with barbed wire to prevent entry. The absence of any occupants in the property has left it vulnerable to attack, and sure enough it has been broken into twice where two outside doors have been smashed, windows and their frames have been removed along with the two boilers that provided hot water for the property. (In twenty five years we never experienced and burglaries or any kind of illegal entry ! and without a security fence !).
It has become evident that this bank is hell-bent on selling my property before real justice can be served and my property returned to me as the rightful and legal owner. On Thursday 13th January, it became obvious the works of closing the last sections of perimeter fence were upon us and the possibility of me entering the plot freely would be terminated within a day or two. At 7.00 pm I organised a Notary Public to accompany me the following day Friday 14th to enter the property unopposed, freely without violence or intimidation, without breaking or damaging anything and to assert my claim that I was repossessing my property. This was duly done at 8.45 am. When the workers arrived I may clear my intentions of not leaving the property where immediately their boss was phoned – I knew in that moment the sh*t was about to hit the fan!! I was now in the property –unfortunately, not the actual house but the property (In Spain the property is everything within the limits of its boundaries). Messages were being rapidly relayed to the boss of the maintenance company, on to the Bank´s sub-contractors, on to the bank and then back down to the bank´s lawyer who then phoned one of the workers asking to speak with me directly. This break in protocol was accepted by me and so I took the call from the other side´s lawyer. “why have you illegally entered the property- you have broken the law” to which I replied I had entered freely and without resistance etc.etc. “but you have still broken the law and this is still illegal entry” when I pointed out that I was accompanied by a Notary Public and an “Acta” was being raised in this moment his tone changed. “in that case I am inviting you to leave the property peacefully ” to which I declined his invitation whereupon he announce his intention to advise the police and bring them with him to my property; “fantastic” was my reply “how soon can they come” to which he indicated he would also advise the court “this is even better news, in fact it´s the best news I´ve had for some time – try and get whoever here as quick as possible, I´m waiting and I want justice” somewhat surprised the lawyer terminated the call.
In order to make my stay comfortable I had subsequently asked my two heavily pregnant daughters to help bring over some of life´s necessities – an inflatable mattress, sleeping bag, towels, washing items, cool box, cups, glasses, knive and fork, plates and bowls, mugs and a selection of food necessary for my immediate needs. My wife, the sole person genuinely name within the eviction petition, for obvious reasons, declined to attend for fear of arrest.
At 3.45 pm the Bank´s lawyer arrived at the front gate, needless to say, without a police accompaniment – “where are the police” I immediately asked, “I have come here to invite you to leave the property peacefully and without resistance” to which I replied “I should like, again, to decline the invitation, I intend to stay until justice is served” - “of course you realise there will be consequences by you declining my offer” to which I responded “the only acceptable invitation to leave will be when it comes from a judge telling me I do not own my property and that I have no entitlement to remain - only then will I leave” this lawyer somewhat perplexed, I asked “why did you take a case against my innocent wife , who is now so ill over the whole affair and is presently under psychiatric treatment – did no one have the balls to take the case against me – the one everyone supposedly has the problem with” to which he made the most absurd statement “you told the court your wife lived here alone and that furthermore you were divorced ” - “WHAT, what the hell are you saying this is absolute lies” I immediately called my daughter over and asked him to repeat exactly what he had said in front of my daughter as a witness ; his lips remained shut after several further requests for him to repeat his statement, I said “you call yourself a lawyer, you make an untruthful statement and haven´t got the ¨cojones¨ (Spanish for balls) to repeat what you have just said in front of a witness”. I then drew his attention to the fact that the sentences from the Malaga Appeal Court had clearly identified me as the owner of my property and the instructions that, in this case of eviction, I cannot be removed and that additionally I had been absolved of all pretensions derived from the eviction case – “ ah but this is Estepona and we obey the courts of Estepona who ordered everybody out of the property, not Malaga” to which I answered “but are you telling me that the higher provincial court of Malaga´s sentences are overridden by the local first instance court of Estepona” to which he repeated “ I have already said, this is Estepona and we obey the courts of Estepona” how ridiculous and totally illegal - after a few more niceties he left visibly perspiring, presumably to get the police.
An hour or so later the National Police arrived at my property simply to take the names and details of persons present. When they enquired as to what this was all about and an explanation was given with the offer of showing them the relevant sentences etc, they were equally confused as anyone coming into contact with this whole case – they left us alone, my daughters and son-in-law outside the property and me locked inside behind the iron gates not knowing whether any charges are being brought or not.
As night fell my son-in-law and my two daughters bid me goodnight with a kiss through the railings to return home to their own respective young daughter being looked after by my other son-in-law.
Being unable to enter the house without breaking something – which could put me in trouble before proceedings are issued, I was forced to “set up home” in a corner of the covered terrace, quite cosy and somewhat protected from the elements. Once the inflatable mattress was up, topped with a colourful double sleeping bag, pillow, two fold up chairs, candles in bottles etc. my adventurous spirit was starting to kick in. I read the newspapers SUR in English and Euro Weekly did a Sudoku had a bite to eat and was ready for sleeping at the unearthly early hour for me 10.00 pm . It had been an eventful day and I really was so tired. My mobile phone awoke me with a call from my eldest daughter asking whether I had had a goodnight´s sleep and was warm enough through the night – I thanked her for all the help she had given the day before but was unaware of what news I was about to receive within the hour. At 9.15 my other daughter called to say that her sister had gone into labour, a week before the due date ; it appears that all the activity of the day before and attached emotions had triggered the onset of labour. At 6.15 pm our third grand daughter was born, and I was locked in my own property unable to see our daughter or glimpse a view of our newest arrival. It was just twenty four hours before I had kissed my daughter goodnight through the railings. Apparently she had started labour pains at 1.00 am and when she spoke to me at 8.15 didn´t want me worrying about her condition.
It is now 8.00 pm Saturday 15th January – a day I will never forget. Self-imposed imprisonment within my own property being unable to be with my daughter, see my new grand daughter and the rest of the family, all in the interests of seeking justice in Spain and the return of what is rightfully mine makes me very sad.
As I have no fixed telephone line where I am, least of all internet. My only means of communication being by mobile phone or visits from the other side of the gate, I have to write on my laptop and save to pen-drive for uploading by another member of the family so dates of submitting may vary.
15TH January 2011
Peter2010
peterestepona@hotmail.com