Spain: Almeria Dream Home Demolished

A British couple living in Spain have become the first expatriates to see their home demolished reported The Telegraph. Helen and Leonard Prior sold their home in Berkshire and spent £570,000 turning an area of scrubland into a villa with heated swimming pool and landscaped gardens. The £570,000 villa in Vera, Almeria is now reduced to rubble.

”We were utterly powerless to stop them,” said Mrs Prior. “We had hoped to spend the rest of our days here but within hours everything we worked for was destroyed.”

Thousands more expatriates living on the Costas could see their homes demolished after it emerged the properties - bought in good faith - had been built illegally. Local corruption and the flaunting of planning laws have allowed swathes of the Spanish coastline to be developed during the last decade.

Last November Spain’s socialist government vowed to pull down all illegally built property on 480 miles of Mediterranean coastline. The Priors, who are believed to be the first British couple to have had their villa torn down, say they did everything possible to ensure they had approval to build their home.

“We used a local builder and lawyer and have documentation from the town hall giving us planning permission,” said Mrs Prior.

She added: “About 18 months ago we were informed that although the local council had approved the building the regional government of Andalusia had not.” After seeking legal advice they were told that although their home had been built on designated “rustic land” it would probably be allowed to remain. But on Dec 16 a policeman came to the door with a demolition order.

“Even as late as Tuesday we were reassured by our legal team that the demolition would not go ahead as it was against the Spanish constitution,” Mrs Prior said. It was not until Wednesday morning when the water was disconnected followed by the electricity that the couple realised what was going to happen.

The couple were given two hours to remove their belongings from the house before the bulldozers moved in.