AUAN press release
AUAN is pleased with the modification of the LOUA…
Gerardo Vazquez, spokesperson for AUAN stated ‘I sincerely believe that those affected by planning irregularities within the associations AUAN and SOHA.ES, and also CALU, will be pleased with the announcement of the change in the LOUA which the Governing Council of the Junta de Andalusia has presented to Parliament. I believe that this modification planned for the LOUA will permit a solution for many thousands of houses that were irregularly constructed in Andalusia, many of which were acquired in good faith by innocent people’. Sr. Vazquez added, ‘It is said that the number of houses that will benefit is around 25,000 although the total number of irregular houses in existence is around 300,000. However, we are still talking about 25,000 houses with an average of 3 occupants, so we are talking about, say, 75,000 people, who today can be calmer and more hopeful for the future. We think that this is the way forward, to resolve the everyday problems of the people, to put forward practical solutions. We can only be grateful for this step forward, which is another big step towards a solution for the grave problem of illegal houses and we hope to continue working and moving forward’.
Asked about the environmental impact of these regularizations, Sr. Vazquez clarified ‘I believe that once this law is approved, the environmental impact of these houses will be reduced by the procedure required to grant an AFO certificate. It is not good for the environment or the inhabitants of these houses if they are allowed to remain in a legal limbo. Everyone knows that it is impossible to demolish the three hundred thousand irregular houses that are estimated to exist in Andalusia, so you must try to find solutions for them, even if it is little by little’.
Maura Hillen, president of AUAN was in agreement with the words of Sr. Vazquez and added ‘the truth is that those affected are victims of these planning problems, in the same way that the environment is a victim, and AUAN is asking all the political parties to take practical and real measures to avoid a recurrence of this problem in the future. Irregular houses must be stopped from the laying of the first brick because once they are finished, little can be done. I believe that this is an important battle that we must fight so that never again can we have the same magnitude of illegal construction’.
As for the future, Maura Hillen stated that ‘this change has yet to take effect because it must first go through its procedure in the Parliament of Andalusia, including the eventual vote on its text. However we have already asked all the parliamentary groups in person to approve this initiative, in consideration of the common good, and we have the sincere hope that they will do this, in the same way that the Spanish Senate did with other recent measures’
