Debate in the European Parliament re the Spanish presidency:- question for Zapatero on Property rights

Marta Andreasen, on behalf of the EFD Group . – Mr President, thank you. Mr Zapatero, I have listened with attention to your proposals for the Spanish Presidency, and I can only wish you luck. I will now refer to a reality. I represent the South East of England, and many of my constituents – together with other European citizens – have been suffering urbanisation abuses on the Mediterranean coast and in other parts of Spain for a long time now. Three reports have been adopted by this Parliament urging the Spanish authorities to take action but, other than the conviction of a few politicians and the passing of a new Land Law, no specific action has been taken to defend the people who are suffering prejudice. The problems my constituents face range from the dramatic situation of Len and Helen Prior of Berkshire, who saw their house being demolished because the authorities said it was built in breach of coastal law, to cases like that of Doreen Snook, also from Berkshire, in Alicante, and Mr Lohmann in Lanzarote, who cannot actually live in the houses they have purchased because of the lack of proper infrastructure and services. As a national of Spain, I am ashamed to see what is going on in my country. I have big concerns for the future of the Spanish tourism business now that the press is writing about the bad fortune of these people. Señor Zapatero, me dirijo ahora a usted en su lengua materna, que es la mía. Los afectados no son personas de gran fortuna, son simplemente personas que, con el fruto de su trabajo, compraron una casa en este país de clima benigno y buena gente para vivir una vez jubilados. Esta gente se ve injustamente abocada a pagar honorarios de abogados y otros expertos para defender el caso por vía judicial, todo ello sin grandes perspectivas de éxito. The European Union has been convincing its population that it is there to maintain peace in Europe. Is this situation I describe going to bring peace to Europe? You are telling us that you are going to get Europe out of the crisis. If you cannot solve the problem I am referring to, how much credibility can you have in solving Europe’s financial crisis? Mr Zapatero, we want a solution now. We want the people to be able to live in the houses they bought. If this is not possible, they need to be granted a fair compensation that allows them to buy a similar property. This Parliament has only threatened to block payments of subsidies to Spain, but I can assure you that, if this situation is not resolved during the Spanish Presidency, I will do everything I can to turn this threat into action. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20100120+ITEM-003+DOC+XML+V0//ES&language=ES&query=INTERV&detail=3-018