Expat association and main opposition party slam Junta bid to regularise illegal homes

Costa Almería News | Noticia

The much vaunted Junta decree aimed at regularising most of the 300,000 illegal properties in Andalucía was approved by the regional government this week amid fierce criticism from the AUAN association and the main opposition party in the region who say it will not solve the problem for homeowners.

The 22-page document took almost a year to compile, and according to initial estimates more than 90 per cent of the 12,697 illegal properties in Almería province will be regularised by the decree.

In effect, they will not become legal now but will enjoy a ‘fuera de ordenación’ status, which the Junta claims will ease the process of integrating group dwellings into future town plans and end the threat of demolition hanging over them.

The Junta’s public works delegate, Josefina Cruz Villalón, described the decree as an “exercise in realism”. She said the aim was not to initiate a wide scale legalisation process but to acknowledge those cases where it was feasible to legalise homes.

However, in the decree’s preamble the Junta stresses that the affected properties will remain illegal and that only through the PGOU town plans (the vast majority of which have yet to be approved in the province) can councils hope to resolve long-term planning disputes.

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