I've never heard of this tax

Residents in La Siesta and San Luis were confused by the letters they received earlier in the year telling them that they were going to be taxed for the right to drive across the pavement to their houses. The letter explained that they were also being asked to pay for a ‘Vado Permanente’ sign.

In a recent meeting with the Finance councillor from Torrevieja all was explained.  Joaquín Albaladejo said that everywhere in Spain you have to pay a tax if you want to cross the pavement in a car to get to your property. You can also apply to have a parking restriction in front of your property, the ‘vado permanente’ but this is a separate issue.

The law related to this tax was passed in 1980 by the Torrevieja council but because information about new developments has been slow to filter through to the relevant department, it is only now that the tax is being imposed on the Las Siesta/San Luis urbanisations.

The councillor went on to explain that the tax was based on the catastral value of your house which is why it would be higher for some properties than others. He also explained that it was not a tax that SUMA could collect along with IBI.

When asked about houses that didn't have a dropped curb where the owners had made a concrete ramp, Sr Albaladejo said this was illegal. It wasn't clear whether people who had a dropped curb but didn't use it would still have to pay the tax.

My comment

I've never heard of this tax nor can I find any reference to it on the Internet.  I don't know of anyone here paying a tax to cross the pavement to get to their houses. Maybe they do and the council haven't caught up with us yet. It might be yet another thing that Euro Anglo Sur neglected to tell us about.

If we ever have to pay the tax, I'd like a vado permanente sign placed opposite my driveway. Although there is a marked out parking bay on the other side of the road, when people park there it does make it difficult to get my car in and out of the drive.