Victims of Spanish property swindles have been given some recognition when an amendment to Spain’s penal code means they should be able to receive compensation for property scheduled for demolition.
Judges have been given the authority to postpone demolition orders until compensation has been paid to the owner, who must be able to demonstrate that the property was purchased in good faith.
The legal change was agreed by members of the governing Popular Party as well as the opposition Socialists.
As many as 300,000 houses in the country were built illegally, predominately in Andalucia. Many are owned by expats from several different countries.
Not only did many estate agents and town hall officials fail to inform the buyers of the legal situation, many of them were actually in on the deal.
Gerardo Vázquez, an AUAN lawyer, said that the amendment “protects good-faith buyers, but does not go as far as would have wished”.
AUAN represents the owners of more than 12,000 illegal homes in the Almeria region. It has been pressing for reform and believes the properties should simply be legalised and connected to water and electricity supplies which often cannot be connected with legal licence.
The last known house demolitions took place last November in Almeria. At that time four houses belonging to British pensioners were bulldozed.
