Court probes Granada golf complex

Here is an article  from the "Olive Grove" newspaper, October 2008 - it was news to me any thoughts .........

"A GRANADA mayor has appeared in court over the construction of a controversial golf and residential project. Victor Sánchez, who leads the PSOE-run town council at Atarfe, is being investigated for alleged corruption.  The probe follows complaints by various political and environmental groups that Medina Elvira, which consists of 3,500 homes and a golf course, is “illegal.”
In 2007, Ecologistas en Accion, leftist group Izquierda Unida and Salvemos la Vega, a collective of local residents, complained to the state prosecutor in Granada that the complex not only invades a protected cattle track (via pecuaria), but that the regional government only passed a ninehole course – despite Medina Elvira having double that amount. And the land was sold to construction company Vladigolf SL for 3.6 million euros, an amount less than half of its market value of 8.4 million euros, according to the complainants. Following the conclusion of their investigation earlier this year, the state prosecutor discovered sufficient evidence to charge Sánchez.

During his appearance in front of judges in Granada, the council denied the allegations. Sanchez told the court that the project was “legal and enjoys the backing of various technical reports.” He was threatened with arrest if he did not attend the judicial hearing. This was after his legal team said the mayor would not make an appearance in court.
The case continues."

Sounds a bit of a nightmare eh.

If you paste this:

Victor Sánchez  Atarfe  Medina Elvira
 

into google search you'll see a list of websites with more information.

paste this:

Victor Sánchez  Atarfe  Medina Elvira Olive
 

and you'll see the British newspaper.

My wife is Spanish so I'm asking her to do a bit of translating later on tonight.

WOW!!!

How the hell can a development of this size be illegal? If they are found guilty this beggers belief... What are they gonna do, rip the whole thing down?

My lawyer has told me 'being a buyer of good faith as you are and having carried out all the usual legal searches and having all licenses in place I cannot see how you will be affected'

However I can't help remembering all the scandals I read about in the papers when some block of houses was declared illegal and eventually has to be ripped down...

Do Peninsula (Sharon H for example) have anything to say about this?

How can we be sure the development is safe if the verdict is 'guilty'?

Building licences and first occupation licences have been issued and approved by the Junta de Andalucia. Mortgages have been approved and signed with ALL of the major banks in Spain. Due dilligence by all clients lawyers involved in this development has been completed and approved. A bi-lingual college with over 200 students at present is up an running........none of this would be possible if the development was not legal. Anybody wishing further reassurance can contact me direct at sharon@peninsualpm.com.

In reply to Sharon's message:- I feel that you are insulting our intelligence if you reason that just because the ME development has got this big it is legal, you only have to read Spanish newspapers and in particular Andalucias 'The Olive Press' to realise developments both big and small are being investigated all over Spain with some people having their homes demolished by the government due to corrupt ion and irregularities in planning consents.  What are your comments on this?

I can't see how someone can complete with this hanging over the development regardless of the "current" legal position.  The risks are off the scale until the court case is over.  Do we know when this will end?  No one can rely on a bank's due diligence, many have already learnt this the hard way through investments in Lehmans and banks in the UK and property lawyers will not necessarily pick up on this court case.   

Ponty, that's exactly what I am thinking and I wonder how many people are thinking the same as it would be madness to complete with any court case hanging over the development.  As usual Peninsula have failed to keep us informed of important issues or are they just trying to hide them from us, as you can probably guess from my tone I lost faith in these developers a long time ago!

Guys,

Things may not be crystal clear to us but I have to say that Sharon H has been brilliant with me so far and perhaps this is a  story blown out of proportion by the papers.

If this incident really does not affect the resort legally then even mentioning it to clients would cause instant fear and instability amongst us so I think that the developers have taken the right approach, probably as advised by their lawyers.  There is a huge fear of corruption in Spain right now and rightly so but I think this development is too huge to have fallen into that trap and my wifes translation of the Spanish sites point to speculation at the moment with nothing proven.

We should have solid answers before completion to relieve any fears now that the cat is out of the bag so to speak.

I certainly wont jump the gun but will ask my solicitors to ask a few questions to the local government. 

There is a lot of turmoil in the market right now for obvious reasons.  But if I think back to why I bought here - guarenteed retal, skiing, Granada city, high quality build, good developers mortgage on offer etc then I still believe that in the long term this is going to be a sound investment.  We shouldn't lose sight of this.

Hi looney - did your wife pick up on when the case might be resolved / when the next hearing is?  I've tried to translate articles using google but with limited success.

I'm expecting to complete at the resort this year and would obviously like this to be resolved before I complete. 

I chose to put this report on a forum because I valued fellow purchaser's views / advice / experience so any input is greatly appreciated.

For any of you following this thread but not looking in the other Medina message boards MrUnlucky posted 2 more sources on the net confirming this court case... Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/espana/reports/destruction-at-all-coast.pdf and http://www.lukor.com/not-soc/sucesos/portada/08102345.htm. MrLucky deserves a big thanks for bringing this to our attention

The Spanish article on lukor.com is very serious and detailed and talks about a whole bunch of potential iregularities not mentioned in the Olive Press article

I am working from a google translation of this article also. If anybody is able to translate this properly and paste the contents on here it would be very informative and makes sure we can all get our facts straight. From what I can understand, the article suggests that the building area of the site has been expanded to include some protected land due to forged plans. And it suggests the water treatment plant which I would assume is necessary for our water supply from Cublias lake has been built without license and may not meet proper environmental conditions 

Maybe the whole case is a farce and will get thrown out of court, but courts of law do not do this stuff for fun and if these allegations are proven true then surely there WILL be repercussions for the site as a whole. Building licenses granted by a corrupt local government based on falsified plans built on land sold for half the proper price, some of which is protected... this does not bode well at all

I don't see how completions can continue until the case is resolved and all the implications are fully understood by all parties involved

I will ask my wife to do a proper translation but it will take her a couple of days I imagine to get it spot on between work and kids etc.  Will keep you informed guys but I'll keep an open virdict on this one too as greenpeace etc seem to have something to protest against most big developments into rural land.

Yes I agree we can't take Greenpeace very seriously. If your wife can take the time to do a translation it will be most appreciated...

I must first just endorse the earlier comment that Sharon at Peninsula has been extremely  open and helpful in answering any queries I have on this and other issues concerning the development.

I cannot understand why some people have said they can't get information from Peninsula.........she has stated on this forum many times to get in touch with her,and when I emailed her y'day,she rang me in minutes.

I really don't think there's much mileage in speculating among ourselves as to what is going on........only ask the appropiate people to explain the situation and to get our lawyers  to investigate where necessary.Obviously,we will need definite answers and a clearer picture before completing.

However,I do believe the potential significance of all this may be over-exaggerated.The bottom line is that as far as the Junta of Andalucia are concerned,the project is 100 per cent LEGAL,and under current Spanish legislation,they have the final say(as i understand it).They gave all the permissions,licences etc,the banks are continuing to hand out mortgages,and I can't really see how this could have been done if all was not in order.But then this is Spain,so who knows?

Anyway,Peninsula are obviously well aware that buyers need re-asurances,and as Sharon said to me y'day,there's really not much more she can do other than invite us to CONTACT HER direct.

Sharon also confirmed,by the way,that Fairways is due to complete AHEAD of schedule.....so hopefully

it's not all doom and gloom!

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/buff/2009/01/court-orders-developer-of-santa-maria-green-hills-to-return-stage-payments/

This link could be of interest if it is found that the development is "illegal".

Sorry....can't find link,says "no longer available".....what are we looking for,Mr U?

The Junta have the final say with regards to what is legal and what isn't,and they have issued all the licences!!

The banks are going to be looking a bit silly too if it's found to be illegal!

The difference between Medina Elvira and the developments under threat elsewhere,is ,as I understand it, that those developments were passed by LOCAL authorities but NOT by the Junta.

I'm not sure under what circumstances the Junta's ruling can be overturned...by whom?

Mr U's link works for me:

"The Provincial Court in Malaga has dealt a serious blow to developers trying to force buyers to complete on properties with planning irregularities, a common problem in Marbella. The ruling will give hope to many foreign property investors who are trapped in off-plan property purchases of illegal properties in the area
The court found in favour of an appeal by would-be-buyers of an apartment on the Santa Maria Green Hills golf development in Elviria, Marbella, who refused to complete on their property when they discovered it had been illegally built
In the sentence, reported in the local daily ‘Sur’, the counrt accepted that the planning irregularities at the development meant that the buyers could not be “forced to honour the (purchase) contract and occupy a home with an uncertain future.”
The lack of a licence of first occupation, not to mention the golf course originally promised by the developers, were further arguments used by the buyers’ lawyer, Carlos Cómitre, and accepted by the court
As a result, the court ordered Marbella Vista Golf, the developers of the Santa Maria Green Hills golf development, to return all the stage payments of 98,803 Euros to their former clients and pay all their legal costs
This decision overturns a judgement by a lower court in Marbella that found in favour of the developers, who argued that they were not responsible for planning irregularities in the municipality"

So as I understand it there has been a test case finding against the developers in the event of a planning irregularity. Of course every case is different and it all depends on if the planning irregularities in Medina Elvira are serious or not...

Sorry for my ignorance, but I don't understand the term 'Junta' - the building license for ME23 was issued by Atarfe council and is signed by the same Mayor who is now in the dock. Who is the junta and where do they come into this?

The Junta are the governing body who have the final say on everything.Many of the planning problems that have arisen in Spain are due to the fact that local councils have issued permissions when arguably they shouldn't have done,and the regional govt -the Junta- are now retrospectively over-ruling them.That is NOT,apparently, the case with Medina Elvira,as the Junta have agreed all the licences,permisisons etc,and have issued the licence of first occupation,which is the bottom line  in terms of legality (as I understand it) . If they hadn't have done so,people wouldn't already be living there!

Still,it's good to know that if it does all turn sour for whatever reason,we should get our deposits back,although I had always presumed,rightly or wrongly, that would be the case anyway.

In fairness to Peninsula,Sharon has explained all this to me,and on  JANUARY  l3 did post much of the information about the Junta etc on this forum .

I really do suggest that anyone with any queries gets in touch with her,as she constantly  invites us to do.

Am I right in presuming,Lurker,that you haven't had any contact with her? I'm sure she would have explained to you who the Junta are,and what their role is..........as I say,.they are the govt  of Andalucia,and as such the highest authority. 

As others on the forum have said,she is extremely helpful and I really do think she will answer most of your questions.I noticed on this and other threads that some people are saying "will someone please tell me what is going on?". Well,she will do if you ask!! 

Obviously,I apologise,Lurker, if you HAVE already contacted her!

Hi Seagull - I agree with you that Sharon has addressed these issues as best as she can on this forum - something which not many developers would be prepared to do.  However a small part of me thinks why would they be bothered to monitor a forum if their customer service is fine and there is nothing to worry about.  I actually don't think that there is a lot Sharon can do apart from reassure us. 

It is reassuring to hear that the Junta have approved everything so far.  Whether they were aware of these issues at the time is unknown to me but it makes me anxious.  In addition I am also unsure at what stage all of the other facilties are at in the planning process and whether permission will be as easy in the light of this case. 

A forum is a place where people should be able to express general concerns and that is why I brought this to light. 

So Mr Unhappy, its a case of damned if we do and damned if we don´t! We will continue to repsond posts ont he eye on spain whenever we see fit to, as all we have ever tried to do on this forum is answer your questiosn and concerns. It does seem slightly strange to me that two of the people with the most to say (yourself and lurker) are the only two clients who have not contacted me direct to discuss your concerns.

As I have stated on many, many occasions you can contact me direct by emial on sharon@peninsulapm.com or on our freephone 0800 622 6900

Kind Regards,

Sharon Hitchcock sales & Marketing Director Peninsula