The abuse continues

For the last seven years, the Wesenauer family has been fighting against a decision which will see their garden completely destroyed by developer, San Jose, and a three storey apartment block erected within 5 metres of their 150-year-old finca in Lomas de Don Juan, Campoamor. To add to this family’s misery, the constructor is demanding 44,000 euros to cover the infrastructure costs of the new development, a sum they cannot afford to pay.

Under the abusive Valencian LRAU Land Grab Law, the constructor, San Jose, is allowed to effectively steal a portion of the Wesenauer’s garden, providing the land grab will be of benefit the local community.

The EU has declared that LRAU is unjust, and since its introduction in 1994, there have been some 30,000 denuncias regarding this law in the Costa Blanca alone. While anyone can call themselves an ‘urbaniser’ and apply to grab someone else’s land, there needs to be a benefit to the community as a whole, and the decision to licence the build ultimately rests with the Town Hall.

It is hard to understand how building more holiday apartments will benefit the community but, as the Wesenauer's have learnt, once planning has been granted it is almost impossible to get the decision reversed.