42 | NEWS FEATURE WORDS | Adrian Bishop
Brits to battle a giant O
riginally posted on OPP Connect, we found this news item so interesting that we decided to publish it in hard copy as well. Watch this space for more developments… Two British pensioners are going to the European courts in a ‘David and Goliath’ fi ght to try and stop the Spanish government demolishing their home in Andalucía.
The couple, who are in their mid to late 60s and in poor health, so do not wish to be named, have already fought through the Spanish courts to save their Albox home, without success. Now, with the backing of AUAN (Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora NO), which campaigns to save homes in the Almanzora Valley currently considered illegal and SOHA (Save Our Homes Axarquia), they are taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights (EHRC). An AUAN spokesman has told OPP, “The couple, on the brink of fi nancial and emotional exhaustion, were about to give up when members of AUAN and SOHA stepped in to provide the fi nancial support needed to keep the case going.
“After considering the case, the lawyer currently representing the couple decided to take it directly to the European Court of Human Rights. “We believe that it has a fair chance of success, if heard, but nothing is ever guaranteed. Our biggest problem is funding. The associations barely scraped enough money together to keep the case going. We now have to fi nd more funding to build it and take it forward. That is the biggest challenge.” The couple, from Yorkshire,
originally paid around £70,000 to have the house built in 2001, but added a swimming pool and tiling, walls, garage and landscaping for around £50,000 more. They had planning permission and the property is surrounded by other homes.
In December 2009, they were among eight homeowners in Albox who were informed there was a demolition order on their properties. The couple have since been
appealing the order through the various courts in Spain.
Just two months ago, the Superior Court of Justice rejected their appeal, leaving them with the option of a fi nal appeal to the Constitutional Court of Spain or going to the ECHR. “In order to take a case to the ECHR you must fi rst exhaust all legal remedies in Spain and you must argue the issue of Human Rights along the way. Given the slowness and vagaries of the
“The couple, in their mid-60s and in poor health, have already fought through the Spanish courts”
Spanish Legal System it is relatively rare to get a case so close to the orbit of the ECHR. Hence the interest of our associations in backing this case,” the AUAN spokesman explained. “There are two other cases already before the court and we now hope to add more cases establishing a pattern of problems with the same root cause. There are a number of cases the same position or in the lower courts that we can draw on.”
The campaigners were encouraged when the European Court of Human Rights recently stopped an eviction in Madrid. “There is some evidence that this court is beginning to pay attention to property issues in Spain,” they say.
If the European Court of Human Rights does rule in the couple’s favour, then there will be implications for other house owners in a
similar position.
“If the European Court of Human Rights establishes the principle that a person who acted in good faith cannot be deprived of their property without prior compensation it has implications for all those with legal proceedings against their home.
“However, there is a long road ahead. This is just the beginning. If the case cannot be funded it will fail. This is our next challenge,” the spokesman says. The case echoes that of Len and Helen Prior whose home in Vera, Andalucía, was demolished in
January 2008 after a planning dispute between the local council and the regional government. In both cases the properties had full building licences. AUAN President, Maura Hillen,
says, “We feel there is no other option. In the case of Helen and Len Prior the Spanish Constitutional Court, the highest court in Spain, deliberated for two years over whether or not their property should be demolished by which time the house had already been fl attened. And even if compensation is actually awarded by the Spanish courts, it can take up to fi fteen years to receive any money. There must be no more demolitions without prior compensation.” SOHA
LEGAL
www.opp-connect.com | FEBRUARY 2013
After years of legal battles and the eventual demolition of their home, two British pensioners are going to the European Court of Human Rights. Backed by AUAN and SOHA, this court case could set an important precedent for Spanish homeowners in similar situations. OPP Connect editor Adrian Bishop reports...
President Philip Smalley says, “While the problems that we face in the Axarquia are, in many ways, very different to those faced in Albox we all feel a shared wrong which must be righted. If only one of us can establish this fundamental right to live in peace in a home bought in good faith then surely this will help to shift the intransigence of the Spanish legal system and will be money well spent.” The case will focus on Article 1 of Protocol Number 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights which guarantees the right to property. This is a fundamental right, which according to AUAN “holds little sway in the Spanish judicial system”. “This is a David and Goliath struggle. This couple were on the brink of giving up when members of AUAN and SOHA put their hands in their pockets to fund the submission of this case.
“We cannot afford to fund this case any further but we intend to try to raise enough funds to see it through. We believe that this is not just about one couple or one case. It is about the fundamental principle that a person who acted in good faith should not be deprived of their home without prior compensation as a result of the action or inaction of the Spanish state. We feel that if this couple wins, we all win.”
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