A BRITISH Euro MP is advising his constituents not to buy in Spain.
Roger Helmer launched an attack on the prospective demolition of properties in Spain.
The Conservative criticised Spain for not respecting property rights.
“I am recommending that my constituents don’t buy in Spain,” he said.
Meanwhile Labour MEP Michael Cashman said Spain is suffering from significant amounts of corruption and branded it a “totalitarian country”.
He made the comments after numerous complaints by expatriates about their treatment in Spain.
Despite many investing their life savings in property and buying in good faith, their homes are said to breach Spanish laws and may be pulled down.
Like I said ZAK, you just can’t keep up with the threads…Fred commented on your web site! I merely followed up with the comments about your address which you found perplexing, as you stated it was not published on your web site (Granada Properties
27 Old Gloucester Street
London WC1N 3XX
London, Wc!N 3XX
GB)
You really need to remove that huge chip from your shoulders, and get some help for your “persecution complex”
No one asked you too take the vanguard for all the realtors in Spain…That you did yourself, hence the comment about your screaming and crying about the woes of the poor agents in Spain!
Seems to me, what you would like to see happen is the whole system revamped, except agents…I can see why, who would want to mess up the great deal you folks have had for years…Maybe the 300,000 who are up shit creek!
Oh my goodness, this all sounds terrible. Bought a farm near Ronda- what should we look out for!?
Hi Pedro, “what should you look out for”.
I would suggest you accumulate professional advice and information.
Visit at least six lawyers, a few Notaries and as many major estate agents, your town hall planning department, go through the internet,seek out your local action group, they are busy fighting urban abuse, these people employ town planning specialist and legal advisors, they will give you the real picture.
Assimilate and do not trust anyones advice, no matter what wonderful legal titles they have.
It is all very time consuming, just do not bury your head in the sand.
The Spanish PM´S advice “Spain respects and enforces the laws”. you should disregard completely.
The Andalucian housing ministers ranting, “that we have rules and they must be obeyed”, is also a lot of nonsence.
Always remenber a legal binding contract, in Spain, is not worth the paper it´s written on.
If it is not too late try to get out, otherwise prepare to defend yourself against local authorities extortion, they are all out to raise revenue.
You are in Spain, try not to apply logic.
If you are religious, pray a lot.
It amazes me that there are still thousads of pidgeons out there? People who apparently never read the papers, watch the news on tele, or do any checking on the internet except to use the search string “dream vacation home in Spain” If you are reading this and have not already purchased in Spain my advice would be to nothing…but definately use these search strings on the internet and have you eyes opened wide!
1. Valencia land grabs
2. Mayors arrested in Spain
3. Nightmare in Andalucia
4. Spains Disgrace
5. Almanzora illegal builds
6. Andalucias illegal homes
7. Almeria illegal builds
8. Albox illegal builds
9. Zurgena illegal builds
Finally go to, http://almanzora-au.org/index.htm
Don’t mean to be depressing, just want people to know the facts and stop buying in Spain until the existing wrongfully scammed owners are protected and no other foreign buyers are dupped the future!
Those that have contributed to their own demise through their own greed should of course pay the consequences for their actions. But these people are far and few between, the vast majority were just plain ripped off!
So remember…when the agents and lawyers tell you the paper work is legal, even though they know it probably is not, they are technically telling the truth but moraly lieing through there teeth because they probably know this paperwork is worthless if the regional authorities exam it later on down the road they will deem it illegal if it meets the criteria! One day you are legal the next you are looking out the window for the bulldozer…Disgraceful!!
DEMOLITION AND DOCUMENTATION
It would appear in Andalucuia,registered properties with title deeds, and note simple are more conspicuous, consequently more likely to be the subject of legal proceedings and demolition orders. These properties readily identified by the Junta de Andalucia, for their political wranglings with local authorities.
Whatever their motivation, foreign settlers become a target and collateral damage.
Which ever way you look at it, Spain has decided to solve their problems by attacking the most vulnerable and defenceless, cowardly and short sightedly.
Comments welcome.
HMS,
yes there are plenty of pidgeons out there, why – just google – books on buying a home in Spain.
I did just this only a couple of months ago – there was’nt one book that warned about the nightmare of buying in Spain. Personally I think that these ‘authors’ are complicit in the whole embroglio.
Dunn – I see you have picked up my baton, well done mate. You will of course be abused by those with vested interests, just as I was.
Just for a moment forget the whole corruption thing and look at the fundamentals – Spain is trapped in an ongoing desertification. It is paying a huge price for the stupidity of previous generations cutting down the once great forests without replanting. The top soil long gone, so reforestation is impossible.
What’s left – two points which are incontravertable – all Spanish housing is crap built and will collapse when the big quakes hit – the whole Med coastline is on a fault line running from southern France to Agadir in Morocco.
Water – the most important element in our lives. The Spanish have no idea how to handle water in an intelligent way. They squander this most precious substance on golf courses and the insane way they irrigate.
So even if your house is deemed legal, it is crap built and your water supplies are almost exhausted.
There was an excellant article in the FT(Financial Times) just over a year ago that painted a picture that was truly frightening in it’s implications – by 2050 (no problem for me, long gone) the whole of southern Europe will be permanently drought stricken – that includes the whole of Spain/90% of France/90% of Italy/Greece/Portugal and north Africa.
Instead of wasting vast sums of money on Metro systems for small cities like Seville and Granada (trams would have been far cheaper)and a TGV train system when what they needed was dedicated freight lines, the Spanish need to build more and more desalination plants.
These fundamental points are far more important than the illegal builds. Yes I know there are so many innocent foreigners petrified at the thought of the bulldozer arriving tomorrow but these are points that cannot be ignored.
I selected the Guadix area as the only possible place for us to live in Andalucia simply because of the huge aquifier that lies beneath – I give this aquifier 20 years max. because when the snows fail year after year in the Nevadas, the levels will drop dramatically.
Don’t accept a word I say – check it out for yourselves.
THE ANDALUCIAN ILLEGAL HOUSING SOLUTION.
The ministers at the Junta de Andalucia have worked hard over the last few years to resolve the problem of 250,000 illegal homes. We have had many reassuring words, “stay calm, don´t be concerned, it may not happen,we are doing everything possible, and we must remember, that in Spain, the law is the law”. How many elderly expatriates living in Spain were reassured by those words? These “Despots”, who succeeded in terrorising thousands of the most vulnerable European settlers have now been sacked, many of us breathed a sigh of relief, wonderful news, at long last the authorities have come to their senses. Unbelievable, but true we have a new Minister for housing, who is also working hard to resolve the illegal housing problems, with her slogan, “we have rules and they must be obeyed” and another reassuring message to stay calm, we should not be worried as the illegal homes would be dealt with on a case by case bases and not be demolished all at once.
So after all the hard work put in by these “buffoons” the figures for illegal homes has increased to 300,000.
In the Almanzora valley a figure of 1200 illegal homes was bandied about some four years ago, many voiced their opinions that these were largely exaggerated, again after much hard work and many promises over the last few years, these figures increased to an approximate 5000 to 6000.
With these sort of numbers the Junta has now taken things serious, working even faster and harder, an Inspection team to collect an inventory of housing, of course they have learnt some lessons and know what they are doing.
They nominate a reputable local company, which markets illegal houses built and sold by their boss who is subject to criminal proceedings.
Now with an illegal homes builder and developer onboard, we would, if nothing else expect the numbers to be reduced.
Having calmed our fears with explanations of work going on as fast as possible for a solution to these problems, we now find 11000 illegal homes in the Almanzora valley and an escalation of court hearings with charges for more and more demolitions.
The Junta de Andalucia has already threatened the victims with the bill for legalising their homes. It does not take a lot of savvy who benefits by these increased number of illegal properties.
“PLEASE DO NOT BE CONCERNED, IT MAY NEVER HAPPEN”, OR “TRUST US, WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN”.
Dear José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,
Mr Zapatero was again on the 10th of July lambasted in EU parliment for land abuses being perpetrated against Expats (illegal builds) and Spaniards alike (Valencia land grabs)!
He, as we have been accustomed to from Spanish officials is defensive and accusatory, and as usual he offers no concrete evedence that his government is neither willing or even interested in amending the land laws in question!
What arrogance…something we have come to expect from bull headed (no pun intended) Spanish officials at almost all levels.
I wonder how mr. Zapatero would like it if cops showd up at his residence with demolition orders for a new shopping strip mall? Would he shout loudly…”We have Laws!!!” I was just kicked in the ass by them!
This type of colonial mentality is still present in the people breed specifically to rule, they are totaly out of touch with reality.
Dear Mr. President; as a person who fashions himself as a ‘Moderate who beleives in Social Democracy’ don’t you think that the land issues at this time, are paramount to a ‘Social Democracy’
FYI: The president is also an avid trout fisherman. I would of thought that would make hime much more sympathetic and willing to take action, as a guy who likes fishing can’t be all bad!
ANTONIO RAYA:
Dunn, you are warning people to be wary of this lawyer. can you email me and give me more information please.I know somebody who has had dealings with him and am worried that he may be getting ripped off. loverose72@yahoo.co.uk
Re: The rogue lawyer Antonio Raya
loverose, I would be more then happy to share information with you and anyone else, regarding this “con man´s” activities.
He is subject to legal proceedings, so the sooner he gets dragged to court the safer it will be for his potential victims.
Thank you for your comment Dunn.I am in the UK. Could you let me have your email address and if possible a telephone number for yourself so that I can fully explain the situation to you as Mr Raya is asking for more money from the person that I know after he has already passed over a large sum of money.
Alternatively please email me loverose72@yahoo.co.uk. Many thanks.
Hello Dunn, I have not heard anything from you but really need to hear the information you have on Antonio Raya. You have my email address. Would you contact me on that please?
loverose has been contacted
Here is another warning, PROYME INGENIEROS CONSULTORIA, S.L.,in Albox, Almeria are again advertising, claiming to be in a position to solve all your housing problems, legal or structural, promoting themselves as being closely associated with a number of town halls. Be warned they are even more closely associated with building and fraudulantly selling illegal,substandard properties and are at present waiting a verdict regarding their criminal activities.
hi
I have not seen any comments lately.
Have things got better for you all in Spain.
I live in Ireland and would soon like to buy a property.
We holiday in Spain every year and love it but is now a time to buy and how can you tell if you are buying legally or not just being dumped with a house someone else is selling because they are trying to flee.
Is this land crab/house demolision just in certain parts or all over Spain.
How do the Spanish know where to buy, its their country after all.
Dear John. Its not all bad. We bought an old farmhouse and land near Ronda, Andalucia 5 years ago. No problems with the paperwork. The lawyer was very helpful and answered all my paranoid questions religiously !
We are by a small, clean river, with our own spring for veg. and plant watering. The neighbours are lovely – very friendly and helpful. Its an old house so could fall down in an earthquake, but I hope not !
Parts of Spain are desert-like, eg near Almeria where they made the spaghetti westerns, but around Ronda is one of the wettest places in Spain (rain from the atlantic hitting the nearby mountains). Just be cautious and think things through for yourself – new build is probably the riskiest buy.
John and Kestel:
Of COURSE it is not all bad! In fact it is a minority who have encountered problems, for a variety of reasons.
It is vital, vital, to do the homework before buying anything. There are good and ethical lawyers here in Spain. It is good to find a lawyer on a recommendation (not a recommendation from the property agent). Important to interact with the lawyer, ask questions, take notes, then ask more questions. Make sure you are satisfied. Cheapest is not best, by any means. As with most things in life you get what you pay for. As a colleague of mine is wont to say: “Pay peanuts and you get monkeys”. Try to get that word “cheap” out of your vocabulary. Buying an apartment or house is a big undertaking, no matter where you are doing it. It is not the same as buying a designer dress or even a car. So take great pains to ensure everything is as you would want it.
Best wishes
Patricia
Patricia should have also told you that doing your homework is very difficult when as many lawyers do not do proper due dilligence. Also, most of the paperwork on property registers is incorrect and out of date, and of course town halls have been incorrectly issuing building certificates and other meaningless pieces of paper (for decades in some cases) when they should not have been.
The crux of it is that it is almost impossible to find out if a property is 100% legal, indeed people are now just finding out that the properties that they have been living in for decades are retrospectively illegal. All of those people were paying taxes as well of course.
John and Kestel: Visit the websites of organisaions such AUN, SOHA, AULN etc etc to see a bit of reality. You should also ask yourself why all these organisations exist if there’s no problem in Spain’s legal and planning sectors? Personally, I would suggest you purchase in a EU country that has a proper land registry and who respect human rights in such matters. Spain does not, unfortunately. Being “in the EU” in Spain is meaningless and you will get zero sympathy when things go wrong, even if you are totally blameless.
Hi Guys
I have been interested in buying in Spain for a long time and the time for this to happen could be next year.
Where I live we have a proper land registry and buying procedure.
The problem is this in Spain and correct me if I am wrong in any way.
It seems in Spain there appears to be no control under law and if it is not under law it is not worth the paper it is not written on.
Am I correct to say there is no proper land registry, no proper searches by solicitors, corruption at every level, no law to control estate agents ethics, no protection at all for buyers of property under law, no justice even if one has been conned by the state officials/solicitors/town halls/estate agents/sellers/courts system/developers/ land and property speculators and no protection under European legislation.
And of course then the nightmare of not knowing if you will
lose everything when ever the failed system wants to change what it has allowed you to do in the first place.
Is this all correct and if so why would someone buy in spain.
John:
Hundreds of thousands of people have bought in Spain (not just British but other nationalities) and the majority of these people have not encountered problems. Which means that evidently proper parameters are in place.
Certainly, and very unfortunately, a minority of people have, to put it bluntly, been conned. Rogue estate agents (and to be fair the majority were British estate agents) simply waltzed people into very unsuitable deals. In the boom years there was a gold rush, people, I am sorry to say, often did not even think of what they were doing.
The Land Registry does exist, you can obtain a Land Charges Certficate, and check the registry to see if there are charges registered against a property, the same as anywhere else. IMO it is important to take certain scare-mongering with a grain of salt.
This is purely a personal view, but I would never buy anything off-plan.
If you have ideas of buying, visit the area personally, talk to people who already have bought and live there, ask questions, and buy something that is up and built.
Patricia
Equally, it is also important to take people who say everything is ok with the property sector with a grain of salt. Most are estate agents or have an interest. Buying something that is up and built is slightly better, but it’s by no means a guarantee that everything is ok. People have lived in places for years only to then find problems.
Be very careful John. You only have to read on this blog about how expats are treated by Spain when things go wrong.
It is not the issue that only a minority are affected. That “minority” could extend to hundreds of thousands of people and it is the treatment of those people when they are blameless that is the real worry. They get their electric and water cut off forever, they get fines and interest on fines, they get zero tolerance from their local authority etc. Not good, not nice.
Do you want to live in a country that treats people badly in scenarios where the system conned them?
Gosh. What paranoia! LOL.
Not everyone posting on a forum is a “property agent”. Sure, there will be some who will put a spin on things and there may well be property agents who post here.
Of course, EVERYTHING is not O.K. in the property sector. Prices continue to fall, houses are not being sold, and this applies not just to Spain, but also elsewhere. I can only go by people I know who have bought property, some of them decades ago, and not one has encountered a problem. I actually have a couple of acquaintances who are buying in Spain as I write. It goes without saying that I gave them all the cautioning in the world, so they are going into the transactions with their eyes open.
In the scheme of things, people will buy where they like, be it in Spain, or elsewhere.
Patricia
I am confused
That is why I am asking i hope the correct questions and putting them to real people with no vested interested one way or the other.
I think the problem for me anyway is the apparent lack of responsibility by the local/ regional/ country wide and European authorities on this.
If due diligence is observed when buying a property in respect of employing the services of a solicitor, not jumping in to a deal that is too good to be true, getting all your paper work in order, obtaining deeds of ownership and paying all your fees to the local authority for the utility services and obtaining your proof of ownership and all the maps.
But still run the risk some day that you will be forced from your home by government thugs after all that you have done according to the law and its servants to buy your property.
How can thousands of homes including high rise apartment complexes get built without the proper planning being in force yet they are recognised by the authorities for years in order that they can collect your taxes and utility bills.
Road maintenance, street cleaning/lighting/ rubbish collection etc etc how can all this be in place if the properties are not legal.
Why have all these solicitors/ real estate agents/local authority official’s/mayors etc etc who have conned people not been sued and put in prison.
Did all these so called professionals not have insurance and be liable.
“PARANOIA of REALILISM”
Example: Buying a new property in Albox (2004-2008), from a respectable builder, with licenses issued by the Hunta, with a final Habitacion certificate issued, everything should be fine right…WRONG! Along comes the same corrupt local government years later issuing letters of demolition as the property is most ILLEGAL!
YOUR RECOURSE: ZERO…NADA…ZILTCH…NIET! Over 100,000 home owners from Valencia to Cadiz face this problem and are fighting it as we speak!
And to you Patricia, this is PARANOIA? I think you need to pull your head out of what ever 300 foot hole it presently resided in!
No one is saying Spain is’nt a beuatiful country, and extremely desirable to Norther Europeans, but the Spanish system of property rights and corruption that has taken place is unprecedented in any western domacracy to date!
Ther only way to pressure the Spanish government to change it’s predatory ways is to BOYCOTT! Do not buy in Spain until the current property mess is sorted out and current owners involved in this shameful scam are made wholely legal, and in the future propery owners have legal rights and remedies, not just a knock on the door, or a secret hearing and viola your property is demmed illegal and the papers and titles you have are toilet paper!
Get it Patricia!
What is your problem HMS? LOL. My goodness. You need an anger management course, if all you can do is shout at people and be insulting. Oh dear!
Talking of “get it”. You need to GET a psychiatrist.
Patricia
John, it is confusing and quite astonishing that these problems in Spain have arisen. Astonishing too that Spain actually gets away with this behaviour whilst being a full member of the EU (for now at least). I know it is an isolated case, but look at the Priors. They are living in a converted garage for 3 years since their house was illegaly demolished. No compensation, no justice. A risky business indeed.
“and this applies not just to Spain, but also elsewhere. ”
Patricia, please show us the stories of other European countries where hundreds of thousands of homes are made retrospectively illegal after people have all the necessary paperwork. Don’t get me wrong, if you build a Cortijo out of a goat shed then you deserve demolition, but the cases being fought by AUN and SOHA et al are not about that.
John: I am not surprised you are confused. I repeat: of course there are and were problems, in some areas, and in others not. Otherwise every single building in the country would be demolished. LOL.
There are angry people out there who have, unfortunately, got entangled in problems. Each of them will, I assume, in his or her own way, seek redress individually, or as a collective. That is their right.
You must take your own counsel, John, and decide what you think is best IMO.
Patricia
Hay Patricia,
You seem quite defensive. Just exaclty what do you do for a living in Spain? Having a hard time time haering an opposing view to what clearly in your case is “living in denial” I’am so sick of hearing people like you spout all of your uasual retoric about how things are being blown out of proporsion in Spain and actually everything is just great. My guess is your some how tied into the market some how…right?
Asking people to boycott buying in Spain requires me to take a anger management course? Thank you for the advice which seems to be as stupid as most everything else you have to say. Your right, not everyone posting is a property agent, but my guess is you are!
Poetic justice would be if you got an eviction order!
HMS: Try not to be abusive, if you can, that is. Why ARE you so abusive? What is your problem? If you are like this in real life, then I feel sorry for your family. Or maybe it is easier to be abusive in cyberspace….
You are so far out (and out of line too, HMS). No, I am not a property agent, nor am I connected with the property market in any way whatsoever. Are you so paranoid that you think every poster on here is a property agent?
What I do for a living is none of your business. Did I ask you what YOU do for a living? Of course not. Then again, maybe you are a “career abuser”.
LOL “eviction order”. You really are quite vicious aren’t you? Be careful of wishing ill-luck on others, HMS (whatever that stands for). It can boomerang.
I certainly never said “everything is great”.
So people who have a view which opposes yours are “automatically “stupid”?
I feel sorry for you.
Patricia
Open letter by Roger Helmer MEP
European Parliament – Speech given on 13th September 2011
Topic: Spanish Property Law
Mr. President,
I have only one problem with this otherwise excellent report. It omits any mention of the issue which has generated the highest number of petitions in recent years. This was the Spanish property issue.
Hundreds of EU citizens from many countries have spent their life savings on dream properties in Spain, only to wake up one morning to find an eviction notice on the mat and a bull-dozer at the gate.
For a decade, Spain has refused to deal with this issue. It denies property rights and enforceable contracts to EU citizens. It defies the rule of law. It makes a nonsense of our commitment to human rights.
This is a scandal. It shows the impotence not only of the Petitions Committee, but of this parliament, and indeed of the EU generally, to deliver on the promises we make to citizens.
It is time to make a stand, and to tell Spain that we expect it to meet its obligations, and to resolve this problem.
Some 300,000 problem properties in Andalusia, now consider the other 17 autonomous communities in Spain all with similar problems!
Spain is politically organized into 17 autonomous communities – Castile and León, Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Aragon, Extremadura, Catalonia, Galicia, Valencia, Murcia, Asturias, Navarre, Madrid, Canary Islands, Basque Country, Cantabria, La Rioja, Balearic Islands and 2 autonomous cities – Ceuta and Melilla.
I would suggest “due diligence” is and was not the answer to this problem (catastrophe)
In Spain, owners of retrospectively deemed illegal properties are dealt with in the Criminal Courts of Spain; they are criminals, not homeowners. Is that how a EU country should treat its citizens?
Roger Helmer MEP outlines exactly the issue at hand. Spain is essentially a human rights abuser of the worst kind.
Hi Guys
I am so sorry that maybe I have opened up a can of worms.
I do appreciate all of your comments and the time needed to post them.
I understand that there are two sides ( opposing views) but information is just that information from which ultimately I will have to make a choice on whether to buy in Spain or not.
I am sure that there are the good the bad and the ugly stories and I just don’t want to end up conned because I did not ask.
To say I am confused is an understatement really, disgusted comes to mind.
We holiday in Spain every year and the next step is thinking of owning in Spain or is it.
I am sorry but I just don’t understand how such a wide reaching and dangerous practise could have been implemented by so many people for so long.
Sorry about the questions below.
Is there a map of areas to avoid buying in.???
Have all the so called illegal properties been located or assessed by the local Juntas who said they were legal in the first place???
Has this been mainly perpetuated on non Spanish residents. ???
Could I be offered one of these so called illegal properties to buy by an estate agent. ???
If a property is bought now and deemed legal now could it be illegal later.???
Are the coastal areas or inland areas more effected.???
Hi Guys
I could not find any hits with searches for the 2 organisations mentioned above.
Would someone have their proper names
thanks
Your view that people who are in a pickle in Spain somehow dropped the ball on doing due diligence when buying they’re property in Spain couldn’t be farther from the truth! Also your assertion that buying in Spain at present is perfectly safe is so absurd as to be laughable! Banks at present are knowingly trying to flog illegal homes in Almeria and Murcia, knowing full well the proerties have been deemed illegal! The reason they have so many repossessions from these areas? The owners have fled back to they’re respectice countries, why pay for a home you do not own!
And here you are spouting all the BS about how safe it is to buy in Spain…no one is arguing that proerties exist that are legal, and have no issues as far as the Huntas are concerned, but that could change in a heartbeat the way Spain operates!
NO…the answer is to put pressure on the Spanish government by turning off the foreign revenue tap to force them to deal with the reality of the abonimable and illegal way they deal with property human rights!
A reality you have surely missed!
Sorry I forgot to mention the above post was directed at the resident Spanish propery expert PATRICIA
Here’s a few:
http://soha.es/
http://www.auln.eu/
http://www.abusos-no.org/
http://www.aulan.es/
Regarding your questions, they have all been answered online, so you’ll need to do some research. Sounds like you’re writing a book John ;)
If the Spanish Prime Minister has problems with his holiday home in Vera, what are the odds on lesser mortals getting it right?
Dear John
If you decide to buy a property in Spain, my advice is to only invest the amount you are prepared to lose as the value of your investment may rise as well as fall or be demolished and you may also find yourself a victim of state laws and undeniable corruption. Either way, bring a large contingency to cover the costs and some diazapam. If to live in Spain is your dream then I strongly recommend that you rent first for a minimum of 3 years – it takes the same amount of time to get a degree and in this amount of time you will have learnt what you need to know to decide how and if to proceed. Tienes buen suerte mi amigo!
p.s. Don’t take anything at face value.
It’s interesting to take a drive down memory lane… for instance have a look at what this poster Paul Z. Martin had to say on April 30, 2010.
“Not true. The vast majority of Spanish properties are perfectly safe to buy. My company, Granada Properties, only handles properties whose legality has been checked out thoroughly by experienced property lawyers, and we have never sold a property in the ten years we’ve been in existence which subsequently turned out to be at risk in any way.
Our advice to anyone from abroad thinking of buying property in Spain is to go ahead (while prices are at an all-time low: sooner or later they will rise to “normal” levels), but to make sure to have the property checked out by a local (preferably Spanish) lawyer who is familiar with the area, and who specializes in property law.
From a business/investment point of view, there has never been – and there may never be again – a better time to buy property in Spain.”…..
Boy was he WRONG!!!
This illustrates perfectly why buying in Sapin at present is and has been for years (unknowingly to all) DANGEROUS!
Until the spanish government legislates property owner rights across the board, and removes predatory land grab laws, that at present allow any greedy developers and local councils to appropriate (steal) your property, and then send you a bill for the costs! Spain will be a country to avoid buying in!
The abuses against basic civil rights in spain are rampant!
They seem either paralized or unwilling to admit or deal with any of the major problems (unemplyment @ 20+%,etc…) facing Spain. The country seems to be run by corrupt “FAT CATS!”
Buying in North Africa (Morocco) is safer!
Just say no to buying in Spain!
Ah yes, Paul Z. Martin. Still no houses for sale on his website lol. Also still waiting for Patricia to show us all the similar cases in Northern Europe…
Good lord – is “Fred” still here posting hysterical rants and dire warnings about how dangerous it is to buy property in Spain?
For the record, my company, Granada Properties, has a very nice selection of houses for sale in the Granada area.
And also for the record, the level of interest in properties in Granada from buyers from abroad has been higher this year than at any time since we launched our website ten years ago.
It’s not just me warning people about Spain, it’s also all the press in Spain, the national press in the UK, the British Consul in Spain and just about anyone else with a brain lol.
So are are you Decreto 218 registered yet, Paul? if not, that means you are not a proper agent.
And did you bring the Marxist Hackers to justice?
Do tell.
Like a few other ex pats, over the years I’ve watched all the ‘Tengo una pregunta para usted’ programmes and not once have I seen a question presented to any politician regarding the appalling lack of compliance in the housing sector and the blatant abuse of property owners rights.
Bearing in mind that the vast majority of ‘estafas’ are suffered by the Spaniards themselves one wonders why they are not more inclined towards kicking ass. Unfortunately this results in the expats being labelled as a load of moaners.
Since we cannot vote in the national elections it’s about time our Iberian cousins demanded from the politicians immediate and positive action for which they are handsomely paid.
But of course, España es diferente.