Assetz® News - Spanish government protects coast from developers

Spanish government protects coast from developers

10th November 2006 |

In seizing 42 areas of intrinsic environment interest, the Spanish government has taken a major step in the fight against corruption and the exponential housing development of its coastline.

As a response to the spate of property development scandals that have hit the country in recent weeks, Madrid has called on its reserves, spending €120 million to buy up 24 million square metres of coast to halt the persistent spread of property construction, according to reports by Typically Spanish.

The government has been prompted into the move by minister for the environment Cristina Narbona who is concerned that if the coastlines and their inland areas are not protected from ravenous property developers then they could be lost forever.

The country's newspapers have been awash of late with scandals of property developers making illegal deals with local authorities to reclassify land as 'urban' so that it can be built on.

Once land has been reclassified, residents have no or little say in how the land around their property is developed and are sometimes forced into selling for compensation at less than the market rate.

Spain has recently been coming under pressure from the European commission, which has said that the government has until the middle of December to form a satisfactory reply to a formal request to modify Valencia's law on land and town planning. If Madrid fails to do so, the case could be referred to the European Court of Justice.

Although the latest move may help to appease Brussels, local reports suggest that the government has a long way to go to route out corruption in town planning policy.

Ricardo Aroca, dean of the Official College of Architects of Madrid, said that the number of recent high-profile scandals, widely publicised by the Spanish media, were only the "tip of the iceberg", reports Spanish news agency EFE with Expatica.

He explained: "It is a social blot. In reality, it is so easy to make money by reclassifying land so that, independently from our principles, there are some who cannot resist and then there is a scandal."

In proposing that no more land should be reclassified as urban, Mr Aroca insisted that "in this country, there is enough land reclassified to last many years".

The move to protect large areas of the Spanish coast will help to appease these fears but a Typically Spanish editorial argued that the current climate could be a pivotal moment in the long-term future of the country's property market.

"Whether all this is just a cosmetic exercise on the part of central government, or the start of a serious commitment, supported by the judiciary against reckless and excessive building along the Spanish coastline, remains to be seen," it said.

Rooting out corruption and creating a transparent legal framework will give investors the confidence in a market that has and is seeing exceptionally strong returns in the long-term future.