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A friend of mine recently had his retirement home in Catral demolished losing all his life savings and possessions, it has made him and his wife quite ill, They are now living in rented accommodation in the north of England and now having to start again at the age of 64 , they had paid over 400,000 euros to a local builder for their villa 4 years ago, only to have a demolision order placed on it 12 months later, they have now given up hope of getting any of their money back ? is there anything that can be done in this sittuation. a
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Hi sorry to here about your friends, where abouts in catral did they live we have been there for a number of years and have not heard about any properties being demolished in the area recently, I know there are problems with some properties constucted on less than 10,000 m2, the legal requirement but i thought the latest news was they were going to be regulated. Chingo
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We live a short distance from Catral and have not heard about this demolition.
I know about homes built on the Hondo national park that could not be legalised but not of any coming down.
Do you know where in Catral your friend lived?
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Hi Alb,
There was another thread on this subject about a couple who had their place demolished in January. I can't find it now - maybe it's been deleted. Anyhow I posted a reply which I didn't get much response to but I'll try again as this is a newer thread. I find it unbelievable this is happening in a European country and think it's something that every foreign national that has property in Spain should get together on and try and do something about. The web is a very powerful resource and if enough pr is generated then this country might stop acting like some tin pot African dictatorship and realise what they're doing will worsen what is already a very serious property crash.
One of the ideas I mentioned were somehow getting an email together (preferably written by a Spanish abagado - there must be a few that read posts here?) that individiuals could send to the Ministry of Housing. One email means nothing, but 1000's might get someone thinking? A link to the letter and a relevant email address could be placed on sites like this, mine and all the other people that have web sites and post here? The same approach could apply to the Spanish and British Media.
It would take some co-ordinating but I am willing to help as much as I can if others are interested.
Greg
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Greg
www.GoCatalunya.com
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be under no illusion that this happening purely to foreigners......
On the Spanish news last night the crew were filming a live demolition of a Spanish Residence.
It shouldn't happen to anyone but their is no discrimination involved,it affects everyone regardless of race or origin.
itis a very rare occurence but once is once too many.
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www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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I would certainly support any campaign, email, petition, just point me in the right direction.
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Poppyseed
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Hi all,
What a terrible situation for this couple to be in. My heart goes out to them and wish them well.
I cant beleive that this kind of thing is still going on. I know it's not just happening to the Brits the Spanish are suffering to. I think that it's now time that the Spanish authorities got this mess sorted.
We built our house 8 years ago and were told by the local council that we did not need planning permission or building licence because we had a 10,000m plot. We went ahead and build our dream house. 3 years after we built, the Junta decided that all illigal houses would be demolished and began taking ariel photographs all all the area. We were extremely worried that we would receive a letter of demolition. We went to our solicitor who assured us that we would be fine, we didn't believe him!! But 5 years later we are now registered and legal luckily enough. and the house is registered as a house with no restrictions unlike some that have been registered as agricultrual buildings or navi's
But the worry and the waiting was almost unbearable and made me quite ill. i would never have believed that people are still be led up the garden path where building is concerned but it still goes on with unscrupulous estate agents still taking peoples money and dodgy solictors working with them. It owuld be allowed in the Uk, so why haven't Spain wised up and put legislation forward to stop it.
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Sterling
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Hi, ive been living just outside of the village of Catral for numerous years and surrounded by hundreds of houses that are on less than 10,000m2 however I nor my neighbours have heard anything about houses being demolished in the area, I would have thought this would have been big news if it had happened recently as was the sad case of the Priors earlier in the year. We all love Catral and the only reason my family is moving away is we now feel confident enough to integrate more into the Spanish way of life away in the countryside and also to get away from having to tend a hectre of land which can be very hard work in the hot sunshine. I feel really sorry for anyone who has had the misfortune to get tied up in these situations, however when we first bought our land nearly ten years ago we had no alternative other then to purchase 10,000 m2 the min requirement, in hind sight we appear to be lucky. but we did do a LOT of homework before puchasing, sadly many people do seem to leave their brains at the airport and enter into things that they would never dream of doing in the UK. Anyone thinking of coming over here to live, dont be put off by all of the negative reports you here, yes there are problems for a minority but there are also MANY thousands of us that love our adopted country and have no problems. If you are looking to live in the country side check the minimum size of land required for the area, generally it is 10,000ms plus and then you can only build on 200m2 floor area max.
unless the land has been requalified into urban land as is where we are moving to inland. Ask to see licenses if the land has been authorized to be segregated. Spain and the Spanish way of life cant be fantastic, just do your homework first, and then do it all again. Chingo
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I agree with Chingo, Spain is a fabulous country with wonderfull people and is a great place to live. But anyone wishing to move out must do their homework. like Chingo says dont leave your brains at the airport. 
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Sterling
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Hi all, yes Chingo it does seem a little strange that you have heard nothing about this demolition, i have only known these people since their return from spain, but i have no reason to doubt their story.
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Hi Alb, we are not doubting these peoples story however it just seems very strange that it does not seem to have been made public, beleive me the slightest wiff of anything un toward the local and international media are on it like wild fire, thats why Catral for the wrong reasons has become so famous over recent years. When all these problems started a local action group was formed who are now in regular contact with the officials of the town hall, as for my neighbours as far as they are aware any demolision orders have been lifted and the Catral officials are trying to regulate all of the properties from what they are led to believe, the only ones still at risk are properties that were constructed within a protected park area. Again I think most people that live here would agree Catral is a fantstic place to live, we were out to the early hours this morning enjoying the fiestas and free concerts which go on for the month of June, every weekend something to enjoy for all the family and all free of charge, something not so common in the UK anymore. Again I do feel sorry for your friends but I hate to see Catral as being portrayed as a hell hole when for the majority of us its not.
Chingo
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In the UK the developers just build where they want and then ask for retrospective planning permission. Councils give in because they cannot afford to fight the cases in court. At least thats the story they give us in our area
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If you're going through hell keep on going, you might get out before the devil even knows you're there.
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Yes but is it not true that the Spanish goverment has put millions into demolising illegal property and no area is safe haven .
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Well I suppose the answer is do your home work and purchase a legal property, get yourslf an independant lawyer check all paper work is in order before handing over your money. As I mentioned before there are many THOUSANDS of us expats here enjoying our adopted country, unfortuntaley you never get to hear about the good side, only bad news makes the headlines and sells newspapers. On a positive note this problem has received so much attention that many of the dodgy agents, ( english as well as spanish) developers, town mayors and officials have been bought to task or have ceased trading. The UK is not all roses you know, maybe us expats should start an eyeon uk and bash that at every opportunity !!!
Chingo
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Yes I agree no where is perfect and hoefully it should sort its self out in long run and up to then we all should be extra carefull.
Regards Alan
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sorry IF Im going off the point a bit but Im trying to locate Catral but cant seem to find it on the map can anyone give me some idea where it is by etc thanks
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HI Smiffy
It is on the costa blanca about 5 miles inland from guardamar del segura and la marina.
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thanks alb I was looking totally in the wrong place ill get my map out again thanks. Its just that I understand I can get the train from there to Madrid
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You can get a train into Alicante from Catral and then change for the fast train to Madrid, the train leaves Catral around half past the hour. The station is not in Catral it is situated just outside of San Isidro, but is known as Catral Albatera Station.
Chingo
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