April 2013

Save Our Homes Axarquia (SOHA.ES) was formed 6 years ago when home owners in the Axarquia suddenly found that their homes had been declared illegal by the Junta de Andalucia. 6 years on and we are still fighting. This is the first in a series of short monthly articles aimed at keeping you up to date on the issues that we face.

Over recent years other organisations have been formed to fight for the rights of home owners across Andalucia, from Córdoba, Mijas, Malaga, Almeria, Cadiz, Jaen and Sevilla. In fact there are 24 different organisations fighting for their homes, some made up of mainly foreigners, some Spanish.

On the 6th of April representatives from all of these organisations met in Córdoba to discuss how they might work together to further the cause. Now we have an association of associations known as CARU, La confederación Andaluza para la regularización urbanística, or The Andalucian Confederation for Planning Regularisation.

These organisation represents around 80,000 home owners across Andalucia. A very sizeable number which when organised should be able to apply significant pressure. What is interesting, though, is that the Junta tell us there are 300,000 illegal homes in Andalucia. This begs the question where are the other 220,000?

Well I know from first hand experience that those houses are all around us. Indeed,there are home owners close to me who have had their licences annulled by the Junta and unless the law is changed they should eventually be demolished. Yet they have not joined any organisation or done anything about the situation.

One of our committee, Harro Postumus from the Netherlands, in between translating legal documents and meeting with officials, used to knock on the doors of houses in the Arenas area urging the owners to face up to the situation and join SOHA.ES.

I say “used to” because sadly Harro died last week in a 4×4 accident in the Sahara. He was an absolutely wonderful man and we at SOHA.ES will miss him dreadfully. The fight will be a little harder now but, rest assured Harro, we will fight on.