Food Project Mogan

Our latest project is the Mogán Food Project - since it started a year ago, we have balooned into a much larger activity than was expected.

Originally we intended to be a bridge for needy families to receive food until they were given more regular aide, however, that hasn't happened in most cases. The lack of coherent programmes to help long-term unemployed and underemployed families in this municipality (we won't go into what happens in other places) has created a regular flow of people and to date (Nov 15, 2009) we have 438 people on our list, of which 42 are babies under 3 years of age, 82 are children between 3 and 12 years old, 123 are youths aged between 12 and 25 years of age, 28 are over 65. 163 are aged 25 to 65. Of the total, 276 are Spanish citizens and the remaining 162 are of several foreign nationalities including British, Moroccan, Czech, Austrian, German, Canadian, Senegalese and Saharaui.

Where do we get the food from?: Contributions from private persons, companies and groups. We have signed an agreement with the European Food Bank to receive food from different sources including the European Union, five times a year, but because the amounts sent are so small and so seldom, we have had to set up other means of financing and several fund-raisers are very busy pulling in as much as possible in financial contributions, but above all, we appreciate donations of foods, especially non-perishable food such as rice, UHT milk, juices, gofio, baby food and nappies.

We have to give hearty thanks to the Norwegian group "Los Amigos" who have been our greatest support during this past year, the Norwegian Sjømannskirken for their solidarity, to Comida para Hoy for their weekly purchase of basics such as potatoes, onions and eggs from funds raised last winter by Los Amigos amongst others, to Frutería La Bella and to Aladdin's Cave, both in Ancora shopping Centre, Friclima for installing an air conditioner enabling us to keep larger amounts of food refrigerated and Supermercados Quevedo Ramírez for contributing truckloads of food when we most needed it!

Remember that people need to eat daily and if possible several times, food that is as nutritious as possible, to avoid health problems. Amongst our families are pregnant women - the most recent baby born was underweight and requires medical supervision because due to her mother not eating adequately during gestation, the child was also malnourished. Fortunately, we have found support from the Maspalomas Lions Club, that has taken the family under their wing and we have seen a marked improvement in their condition.

Several Norwegians have "adopted" local families to help them through this crisis. If you would like to sponsor a food item (for example by purchasing large amounts of one (or more) foodstuff wherever you choose and donating it to us) or sponsor a family, helping them with food, by paying for their water or electric, etc., please contact us at avlaslomas@gmail.com

Each Tuesday at 6pm we distribute the food we have managed to collect from our distribution centre in Arguineguin. You are welcome to visit and see for yourselves.

Some recent pictures are available at: http://picasaweb.google.com/avlaslomas/ProyectoDeAlimentosNoviembre2009#

If you would like to help out or contribute, we can be found at Miguel Marrero street number 69, right next to the Municipal Nursery in Arguineguin, near the marketplace.

More information available at http://mogansolidaritynetwork.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your attention.

Your Property Rates

First of all, be aware that property rates in Spain are established by a very complicated set of Laws.

The Cadastre (Catastro) is the authority that sets the values of property. This is determined by a series of factors including the type of property (urban; touristic; rural; apartment block; single family house, etc.), whether there is anything built on it (a house; a hotel), where it is in relation to things such as the seashore, and the square metres.

When a house is built, a copy of the final deed is sent to the Cadastre where the value is assigned according to regulations taht are set by the Government and applicable laws.


Homes are divided into "usable" and "unusable" surface, so for example your staircase and balconies are NOT taxed. That is why you own 220 metres but your tax receipt only states 208 square metres.

Each Town Council has the authority to set its own percentage rate, with a legal maximum that they are itching to approve but don't dare.

In Mogán that percentage is 0.68% of the Cadastre value. Look at your tax invoice: you will see
at the top of the page :
Concepto (type of tax): I. de Bienes Inmuebles Urbana (urban inmovable goods tax- IBI)

Modalidad: (type of collection) Periodica (yes, periodic)

Periodo: (for what type of time span) Anual (this year twice yearly, 1 and 2)

Contraído (for what time period) 2009 (if it is this year's tax - if you paid last year's it would state 2008)

Ejercicio (tax year), again 2009 if it is this year's tax.

Obligado al pago (who is obligated to pay- identification of taxpayer liable)

NIF (tax id number)

Nombre (name)

Domicilio Fiscal (this is your TAX address, not necessarily the address of what you are paying for. BEWARE, due to the change in street names and number in 2005, this might be wrong in your case - change it or they will continue to charge you at the wrong address and this could have negative repercussions such as not being able to prove you paid for that same property, as well as not getting your invoices sent to the correct address).

Información de de Finca urbana (código tributario): REFERENCIA CATASTRAL

(this is the Cadastre reference number applied to the property you are paying tax on. MAKE SURE it matches the number in your purchase deed (escritura). Many people in Mogan have been paying rates for a property different from theirs for years and didn't even know it. Whole plots in Tauro with 15 or more houses on them share a Cadastre number because the plots were never properly divided.

Tipo gravamen: 0.68% (percentage rate applied)

Nombre del inmueble: should be the name of the complex your property is in, if any

Valor suelo: (the value of the plot your property is on).

Valor construccion: (the value of the building on your plot that belongs to you)

Valor catastral: (the total of the last two figures)

Base liquidable: (should be the same total of the last two figures)

So, to summarise:
Say the "valor catastral" of your property is 58.868.12€ and they have charged you at 0.68% of that: you would pay 192.48 x 2 this year. or 384.96 Euros for the full year.

This tax year 2009, the Council of Mogan has charged us our property rates in two installments, ostensibly to help us taxpayers over the crisis, but in reality to get money into their accounts without having to wait for October.

Property rates are the same for residents and non-residents and the Law grants us all the same rights with regards to what we all should be getting in return.

We hope this information is useful to you.

Asociación de Vecinos "Las Lomas de Arguineguin"

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!

Mobile phone antenna masts

antenna right next to the schools

One of the most "recent" (1999 to the present) fights has been to have mobile phone antenna masts removed from near houses and other "sensitive areas" and re-located at a minimum of 500 metres from homes, public areas, etc.

The following information has been taken from a US publication:

EMF expert Stan Hartman in Boulder, CO says:

“From my perspective, comparing the “safest” cell phones is like comparing the “safest” cigarettes. None of them are safe, and these kinds of comparisons only serve to whitewash how irresponsible and inexcusable the whole technology is.

Using the word ‘safer’ to apply to any brand just encourages peoples’ denial of the fact that all cell phones are a health menace from which we have hardy begun to see the consequences.”

(read the complete article at
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/05/Top-Safe-Cell-Phones-That-Arent-Safe.aspx )

One may choose to use a cell phone but what do you do if you decide not to for health or any other reasons, and right across the street from your home they install a mast?

Our local authorities are of the opinion that electromagnetic waves are not harmful and that those people who are ill (and coincidently all located near antennas) are hypochondriac or psychosomatically ill.

We feel otherwise: if so many people are falling ill with certain similar symptoms (cancer, high blood pressure, migraines.....) and all within 100 metres of a mobile phone mast, something is wrong and if the European Union has mandated a minimum distance from "sensitive areas" such as schools, hospitals, parks, etc., they are aware of a health risk that the Spanish authorities are trying to ignore or cover up.

For ten years now we have been trying to have the mast right next to two schools, the secondary school, the health centre, the church square and Pino Seco park. removed. Spanish Law states that masts may not be installed at less than 100 metres from sensitive areas and this mast is in incompliance with all the above. Our council has ignored our petitions and we are presently in court. How long it will take to be heard and a sentence to be published and appealed is unknown but meanwhile, if this concerns you, please contact us and if you ahve a child in any of the 3 schools, contact your APA (Parents' Association).

We will enlarge this information as time permits.

Who we are

Demonstration for the Council to take over
the urbanisations, October 1995

First of all, who we are NOT: We are NOT a political party nor are we connected to or participate in any party. Our members may also be members of political parties, but according to our statutes, may not be candidates for nor occupy any political position whilst holding a Board position in our association. We are totally independent and self-sufficient and plan to stay that way!

We are Homeowners who are tired of being cheated. We are Spanish, British, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Palestinian, Morrocan, French. We are women and men: retired; active professionals; housewives; cleaning ladies; waiters; cooks; electricians; taxi drivers, etc. Our members live in Arguineguin, Patalavaca, Tauro, Mogan, Veneguera, etc. We are just people who live in the municipality of Mogán and want our rights, as established in the Laws of Spain, to be respected.

You become a member, or not, as you wish. We meet every Thursday in Arguineguin at 8pm in Pino Seco Park, under the stage. You are welcome to attend, even if you are not member. If you wish to join, the yearly fee is 9 Euros (yes, nine- we are non-profit and all our "workers" are full volunteers) and we require a photocopy of your identification (NIE, passport etc.) and two passport (small) photos.

Asociacion de Vecinos (Homeowners' and Residents Association) "Las Lomas de Arguineguin"

Welcome to this Blog

The purpose of this blog is to share information of interest to English-speaking Homeowners and Residents in the municipality of Mogán, Gran Canaria.

Much of what you will see here is not politically correct - in other words, it will contradict official versions of the same situation!

It may not be updated as frequently as one would like, but do check back now and again, you might learn something that is of interest to you, regarding the property you own or your rights as a resident in this lovely and grossly mismanaged municipality!

And please do contribute: anything you would like to share with us or with other readers will be published, as long as it is not insulting - to anyone.

Our email address is:

avlaslomas@gmail.com