The following message was posted on the Camposolers website and kindly passed on by Reg Rogers the site manager for publication here :

I know this has been mentioned before a couple of times, but its important for those in the UK to know the bullish way that the utilities go about treating you here.. the onus is on you to find out, not wait to be told.

Yet another client of ours would have been left high and literally dry if we did not realise they had just been cut off, they are due to arrive at 10pm on Friday and they would have been stuck without water until at least Tuesday morning if we had not have found out.

Justo y Manoli FAILED to request payment for March April account, no request was made to their bank whatsoever so the bank is NOT at fault, so Aqualia .. who refuse to send invoices to the UK simply came round and cut them off with no warning or communication.

OK we managed to get funds transferred to Aqualia account for them but they also had to pay a 75 euro reconnection fee !!!!!!! even though they are not at fault at all, the reconection fee was more than the “missing payment”

Negotiating this with the Aqualia office in Mazarron I was told quite simply “its up to householders to check their bank every 2 months and if money is not taken then they must chase it up !!!!!!!!! Incedentally this set up has been perfectly operational for 2+ years with never a problem.

A point of note here is ……… Aqualia head offices, who have English speaking departments … will not get involved in any quieries involving Camposol “their words not mine” you have to go to the Mazarron office direct as ” Camposol is treated differently” again their words not mine !!

So my advice to all those in the UK, keep an eye on your bank to make sure your bill payments are being requested, as once you have been cut off you cannot arrange payment over the phone and they do not accept cash, you have t get your bank to forward money to their account in Madrid, then fax conformation back to the Mazarron office before they will reconnect you the next working day …. if you are lucky !!

Andy Coombs

At the time of writing we are looking forward to two main events. Over the weekend of 22/23 May we are planning to clean up the area of zona verde opposite the new health centre below the commercials and the corner of San Sebastion. We have advertised for more volunteers and all are invited . We shall meet opposite the health centre at 9am for about two hours. I know that this will happen before publication of some of the “freebies” but do watch this space for further appeals and updates.

Also, we are having a fun night for fundraising on the 29th May with live music, karaoke, barbecue and dancing in Calle Teruel off Calle Madrid.If you read this in time do come and have an enjoyable night. It starts at 8pm and please bring a chair.

Many people have been complimentary about the improvements that we have made on our sector and we thank them all for their encouragement. We do need, however. More volunteers and we would welcome anyone who can give an hour or two once a week,or less, or whenever you are on Camposol. As the advert says, “Every little helps ”Please contact me for more information. David 968 130 487.

The Friday Book Club continues to do well but would welcome more support. Books only cost 1 euro. It is situated by the correos on sect,A and starts at 10 am. We were delighted to receive a donation of 50 euros recently at the Bookclub and we trust that your generosity will continue.

New laws mean thousands of Britons could lose their homes in Spain in just 28 days time

Tuesday May 11,2010

By Simon Edge

This week an obscure ordinance came into force in the region of Andalucia, in the baking hot south of Spain. Designed to crack down on dodgy companies who build houses illegally and then sell them to innocent buyers, the new regulation gives local councils the right to send in bulldozers at one month’s notice and knock the buildings down before they can get off the ground. The authorities refer to this procedure as “express demolition”.

The point is to tackle the problem of so-called “urban abuse” that has blighted the lives of thousands of British people seeking a quiet retirement in the sun. But rather than ease their worries, this latest development has sent a further shiver down the spines of expatriates in the Almanzora Valley, about 60 miles north of the coastal city of Almeria.

This area, which hosted a construction boom from 2000 to 2006, has been notoriously blighted by the local town hall’s practice of granting building licences without the authority of the regional government. As a result, many of the residents are trapped in “dream houses” with no mains water and electricity. Some of them are living under demolition orders and the angry, frightened population fear the new regulation could make their situation even worse.

“Based on the track record of the authorities here, we are not being hysterical to worry about this,” says Maura Hillen, who first came to the valley with her husband John in 2002 and is now president of a local campaign group highlighting the scandal.

“One of the things we complain about is that they allowed all this ­illegal construction to take place without stepping in quickly and ­calling a halt,” adds Maura.

“The intention now seems to be that the man from the ministry will step in soon and stop it, which we welcome. But our concern is that, in the wrong hands, this new power could be used to destroy houses that people have invested their life savings in. After all, the authorities here have been known to do crazy things.”

Len and Helen Prior can attest to that. In January 2008 they watched as a bulldozer tore down their £350,000 house outside the village of Vera.

Their building licence, issued by the local town hall, had been revoked by the regional government. As his home was demolished, Len collapsed and had to be taken to hospital with a heart condition.

With nowhere else to go, the couple were forced to live in their garage, the only part of the property spared from demolition, while spending money they didn’t have to keep their ­salvaged furniture in storage.

Meanwhile the British owners of eight other properties in and around the small town of Albox have been served with similar demolition orders. Scandalously, neither they nor the Priors were informed that judicial proceedings were under way against them – which would have given them a chance to fight their corner – until the orders were issued.

Spain’s supreme court has now ruled that the Priors’ demolition order was invalid and it seems likely that they will eventually be compensated. In the interim, the judge ordered that they should be provided with rented accommodation equivalent to the house they had lost.

“It’s not equivalent to the one that was demolished but at least it’s a proper house and they have been able to take their furniture out of storage,” says a friend of the couple. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

As a result of a growing campaign all over Andalucia, culminating in a mass rally in Malaga in March, two of the other demolition orders have been set aside, again because the court recognised the homeowners were not fully informed of the process.

But John and Liz Brown, who spent their £140,000 life savings on a villa in Albox, are still under threat. “Their house was a couple of months away from completion when it was taped off,” says Maura.

“That’s the sort of building we would be worried about with this new legislation. We know that the local councils are anxious to satisfy the regional government and they have been targeting new properties. We are concerned they could quickly demolish one of those before the owner had any chance to appeal.”

Maura estimates 5,000 expatriate-owned properties were sold under false pretences in the Almanzora valley alone. There are similar problems all over Andalucia, as well as those in other regions of Spain.

The beleaguered owners do not dispute there is a problem if their homes turn out to be built on ­“rustic” or green-belt land. Their complaint is they bought them in good faith. They were not alerted to any problem by solicitors and in many cases the local town hall granted planning permission. They were not to know the town halls were in defiance of the law.

“When we came here we engaged what we thought was a reputable building company of long standing,” says Maura. “They were offering parcels of land and you could pick the design of your house. There was lots of development going on and we didn’t for a moment imagine anything would be wrong.”

Then came the bad news. “Our neighbours, whose house was built at a similar time to ours, had been living there for two weeks when police knocked on the door, asked for any paperwork and said: ‘By the way, do you know your house is illegal?’”

The Hillens may not have been issued with a demolition order but, like thousands of other expats, they are stuck with a house they cannot sell. Others are worse off.

Of the 300 households who are members of the Almanzora campaign group, about 50 per cent do not have secure access to electricity and water.

“These are beautiful houses that aren’t really houses because they don’t have the services,” adds Maura. “People can’t switch on their lights or pump their water. I’m 47 and probably the youngest here. Most people have at least 15 or 20 years on me and those aren’t the conditions they want to live in.

“And if their medical circumstances change and they need to return to the UK, they won’t be able to sell their houses.”

MAURA recognises that the authorities are trying belatedly to deal with the local chaos that has turned ­paradise into a living hell for British and Spanish homeowners. However, she is nervous that the supposed ­remedies will end up further penalising the innocents.

“They have thousands of houses that are built on green-belt land and they now need to create town plans retrospectively to regularise them.

“But who is going to pay for the ­infrastructure: the sewerage, roads, street lights? As the person sitting in the house you are the sitting duck for those costs.

“I appreciate they are trying hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again but for people like ourselves who are caught betwixt and between, it’s a bit of a nightmare. It’s like we are swimming towards a shore that’s moving away from us.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the experience hasn’t put her off her new home. “In an odd sort of way I’ve probably learned a lot more about Spain being involved in this,” she says.

“You shouldn’t let this sort of thing tar every single person in the country or indeed the country itself. It’s a lovely place.