Homeowners' Rights in Spain

Spanish Law 7/1985, Ley de Bases de Régimen Local or LBRL, regarding Local Government states very clearly in its Articles 25 and 26, which rights Homeowners have with regards to the services that EACH town council MUST provide. It does not state anywhere "except if the home is in Mogan" or "unless the Council has "taken over".

In 1994 we began to insist on our rights and with the support of the then Ombudsman received a legal report rgarding the servies that the Council is obligated to render to taxpayers and residents. We began a series of petitions to the Council that were ignored.

In 1997 we initiated a legal suit against the Council of Mogán and won in First Instance in 2003- the promoter Cornisa del Suroeste appealed, forcing us to fight further, and in October 2006 we were awarded a final sentence from the Supreme Court of Spain, that, in summary, says that if a council collects all the taxes due to them, they must provide all the services detailed in the abovementioned articles 25 and 26 of the LBRL 7/85.

This sentence affects ALL the "private" urbanizations, where we have all been paying all taxes required of us for years and then have had to pay revolutionary taxes to companies like Aguas de Arguineguin and Puerto Rico S.A.

If you own property in Puerto de Mogán, Taurito, Playa del Cura, Platero, Tauro, Helsodalen, Puerto Rico, Agua la Perra, Los Caideros, Vallemarina, Patalavaca, Arguineguin, you are paying property rates to the council that does not give you any services in return.

Over the years many lies have been told. One of them is that the only service the Council must give us is Police. The Police is one of many other obligatory services, including but not limited to:

Article 25 of the LBRL 7/85
a) Safety and b) traffic (Police)
c) Civil protecion, fire prevention and extinguishing
drinkable water
d) Urban Organisation, Management, Execution and Planning: promotion and manangement of housing, parks and gardens, paving of public streets and maintenance of rural roads.
e) Public historical and artistic property
f) Environmental protecion
g) Supply, Markets and Defense of Consumer Rights
h) Protection of Public Health
i) Participation in the management of primary health services
j) Cemeteries and funeral services
k) Social services and social reinsertion services
l) Supply of water and public lighting, street cleaning, garbage collection and management, sewage management and treatment;
ll) Public transportation;
m) Cultural and Sports facilities and activitieis, leisure activities, tourism;
n) Partiaption in education and cooperation with educational authorities, construction and maintenance of public education centres.

If you have been here for any length of time and are informed and aware, you are probably totally surprised by now. People have been telling you for years that since you pay "so little" in property rates, you can't possibly expect anything in return. Wrong again!

Why is this happening? Well, think about all the income the council is getting without having to lay out any money at all in exchange! It is very lucrative to collect all those taxes and then set huge wages for politicians and their friends and let the residents fend for themselves.

Law 7/85 continues:

Article 26:
Municipalities, on their own or in association with other municipal authorities, must provide the following services in all cases (boldface ours):

a) In all municipalities:
public (street) lighting; cemeteries; garbage collection; street cleaning; supply of drinkable water to all homes; sewage; accesses to all populated areas; paving of all public streets; control of food and beverages.
b) in those municipalities with above 5000 inhabitantes, furthermore:
Public parks; public library; market and refuse treatment.
c) in those municipalities with a popuation in excess of 20.000 inhabitants (which Mogán is now):
Civil Protection; social services; fire prevention and extinguishing; and public sports facilities.

So, as you can see, we are entitled to a number of services, BY LAW that we are not getting in exchange for our taxes.

Now that you are thinking, about this you're probably asking what we can do about it.

The first thing we did, back in 1994, is UNITE FORCES! By insisting on our rights and forcing the Council to do what the Law establishes, we have slowly achieved much greater awareness and even a few minor victories that others have claimed for their own. It doesn't matter who takes the medals or the honours: the important thing is that we all have our rights respected!

We want drinkable water at reasonable and legal prices, real sewage treatment, clean streets, regular trash collection, working street lights, safe streets, properly paved streets and pavements: nothing strange there....

So, are you ready to support legality in Mogán? Write letters to the Council, complain about what is wrong, get together with your neighbours and decide what you want improved in your neighbourhood - set up a group to pressure to have those services provided - anything but just sitting there thinking you have no rights! Write to the Ombudsman in Madrid or in Brussels... We need to show we want things to go according to Law. No more, no less!