European Property Rights and Wrongs - Diana Wallis MEP

where the property problems are affecting Member State nationals as well as
ex-pat communities. It should be noted, however, that there are critics of the activities
of some groups who may levy a high membership fee or offer seminars to
provide information at a cost, creating a market out of hardship. There are many
reputable groups, however, providing a collective and organised stand against
what they see as injustice. In many cases they have successfully worked with
MEPs to bring their case to the attention of the European Parliament through the
Petitions Committee or by lobbying.
Mr Charles Swoboda 12 , co-founder and Vice President of Abusos Urbanísticos
NO! (AUN) describes the beginnings of this campaign group:
Our association, Abusos Urbanisticos N0! (AUN) began its existence in 2002. The
very personal event that prompted its creation was the intrusion of a team of topographers
on our property in Benissa, Alicante. It turned out they were scouting
our property for a very unfriendly developer and the plan, had it been agreed by
the town hall back then would have ruined what we had built, totally legally over
the previous decade- and us financially (luckily, the plan was then shelved indefinitely,
but still hangs over us to this day). This left us in a small panic, we had read
about the urbanisation land laws in the Valencian region and about some of the
victims, but we trusted in the sanctity of our legally acquired property.
The more we investigated, read, and consulted lawyers, the more concerned we
became. Once we had defined the problem, our first task was to analyse our
situation and develop a strategy to deal with what we saw as a nearly impossible
position, so familiar to many others. That is, small property owners are cast
as David vs. the Goliath of a system involving developers, promoters, town halls
and the region’s laws, which together conspire in the now infamous ‘land grab’.
Shocked as we were, we quickly learned that we were far from unique. It turned
out that thousands of small property owners, Spanish citizens and foreigners
alike, faced the predatory and unjust practices that were sustained by the
Valenican LRAU.
12 Mr Charles Swoboda Vice President of AUN and FAUN Federation of Abusos Urbanisticos
No! groups throughout Spain
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European Property Wrongs