Owners of thousands of houses situated on the shorelines of the Canaries are to take the fight to prevent their homes from being torn down to Brussels.
The owners are embroiled in a battle with Spain’s Department of Coasts, which is seeking to apply strict legislation that designates land within 100 metres of the shore as public land and therefore not usable for privately-owned dwellings.
It is estimated that up to 200,000 people could affected by the loss of their homes under the law, which dates back to 1988. The PCALC association set up to defend the interests of the owners says that 66 of the 88 municipalities in the Canary Islands have dwellings which were built inside the limit, the vast majority of them long before the 1988 law.
Association president José Luis Langa said a visit is planned to Brussels in June to meet with Members of the European Parliament to enlist their support to exert pressure on Spain to exempt the houses from demolition and recognise the special nature of small waterfront communities in the Canaries.
Although applauded by environmentalists in many parts of the country, the drive to apply the coastal legislation has drawn fierce criticism due to the alleged arbitrary nature of the demarcation by the Department of Coasts of areas affected.
A further obstacle for the owners is that, in many cases, the dwellings were built without planning permission and cannot be legalised retrospectively to be considered exempt from the strict rules.
The association is also critical of the Canarian government for not being firmer when claiming powers from Madrid to run the islands in a manner that reflects their special characteristics.
“The Canaries would be inconceivable without the many homes built on the waterfront in countless locations. We have been fighting this unjust law for 15 years without success and have no choice but to take the fight to the EU” said Langa.
