Parcent villagers protesting on the mountainside

Land Grab’s Mugabe Tactics
Spain Under Siege Over Property Theft

Valencia stands accused of employing tactics similar to Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe as it continues to steal property under notorious ‘land grab’ legislation.

In a heated European Parliament debate, the regional government’s attempts to justify its LRAU and LUV legislation as being “respectful” of property rights and the environment were savaged by politicians of all parties. And during this week’s packed petitions committee meeting, a “shocked” Roger Helmer, MEP for the East Midlands said: “This is the Robert Mugabe school of land re-distribution.”

The committee were debating Danish MEP Magrete Auken’s hard-hitting report on the abuses of human rights and environmental law as developers continue to concrete over huge parts of the country despite millions of  new houses standing empty. Under the Valencia laws, people faced having their private property seized and paying massive bills for infrastructure costs as constructors built large ‘urbanisations’ – frequently high rise property.

Other householders who purchased property legally and in good faith have seen their investment later deemed illegally built by developers – and the building condemned for demolition.

COURT
Spain already faces an embarrassing hearing in the European Court of Justice, while victims are also pursuing cases through the European Court of Human Rights. Mrs Auken’s report – which is scheduled to be put before a full hearing of the European Parliament in March – calls for EU payments to Spain to be “frozen” in a series of punitive measures designed to halt the “abuse” of the rights of Spanish and European citizens. And MEPs called for a halt of property seizure and demolitions while Spain’s land laws were debated in Brussels, the politicians accepting that the position was becoming “increasingly desperate.”

Mr Helmer said the debate risked being “bogged down” in jargon, saying I was not about planning, water resources, or public tendering. “It is about thousands of European citizens having their property confiscated and their homes destroyed. “We talk about freedom and democracy and the rule of law, but we cannot have freedom without property rights, legal certainty, and enforceable contracts. These are being denied in Valencia. “There is no democratic legitimacy in property confiscation. It is just plain theft.”

TALK
Neil Parish, the West Country MEP, said Europe had spent too long talking about the problem without taking action. He said “squabbling” Spanish politicians “seem to underestimate the depth of anger, betrayal and desperation felt by many people who have bought homes in good faith and in many cases with their life savings. “Spain will not get out of the recession by stealing people’s properties or by passing the buck between local, national and regional governments.” And Mr Parish said property ownership was a fundamental right and it was high time the Spanish authorities recognised this. “If not, no-one will dare to invest in property in Spain.”

MEP Michael Cashman, a veteran of two fact finding missions to Valencia, later commented: “It is disgraceful that lives are in ruins and dreams shattered. This should have been resolved years ago.” Having seen more than 20,000 appeals for assistance received by the petitions committee, he accused Spanish politicians of doing “absolutely nothing” to help resolve the crisis but by playing party politics and blaming others “show they have no concern, nor any commitment to help the petitioners or the ailing construction industry.

CHALLENGE
“My challenge to them is to support the European Parliament, support the petitioners, and help restore confidence in the Spanish housing market.” Jacqui Cotterill, deputy-mayor of Parcent and fighting development plans that threaten to swamp the village and surrounding countryside, was in Brussels to hear the debate, said the council was pleased MEPs continued to support the community’s campaign. She told Round Town News: “We think Mrs Auken’s report is a vital step in not only resolving our problem, but the long running issue of Valencia’s land laws and the lack of legal security which have caused such distress and hardship to so many European and Spanish residents in our area.”

And Charles Svoboda, of the protest group Abusos Urbanisticos No! said it appeared one “sorry development” was members of Valencia’s Partido Popular apparently persuading socialist colleagues “to turn this into an issue of patriotism, that being the last refuge of the scoundrel.” He said his view was a member of the European Union had to obey its rules “if it wished to get the benefits of belonging.” Charles, who addressed the committee, attacked Valencia politicians as being “hypocritical and unprincipled” as they sought to justify land grab.