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My holiday is too short ... to spend time on reading all the small print !
4 A DOZEN expats have had a stunning victory against Cajasol bank and a defunct property promoter. An Estepona court has ordered Manilva Costa SA and Cajasol - now known as Caixabank - to return €600,000, plus interest, to 11 British expats who bought properties in the Jardines de
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VICTORY!
Manilva development. The Britons, represented by Lawbird Legal Services, had paid advances to Manilva Costa - which had developed the complex. But the properties were not completed before the promot-
State of fear Locals slam police after around 50 expat homes are burgled in one short spree A MASSIVE spate of burglaries has left a group of expats afraid to leave their homes. An incredible 50 properties have been broken into in the last two months in Chiclana, with thieves stealing everything from cash to laptops and jewellery. So bad has been the crime spree that some expats have sent valuables back to family in the UK, while residents have slammed the police for doing too little to stop it. Briton Sharon Willis said:
EXCLUSIVE By Tom Powell “The Guardia Civil is certainly not doing enough, in most cases they do not even take fingerprints. “There was always the occasional burglary but it has suddenly got incredibly frequent, every time I go out it is somebody else.” Another victim, English expat Tracey K.N, actually caught a burglar red handed on re-
Protest over land swap sleaze
A PETITION has been launched after it emerged that the Mayor of Marbella’s husband is set to profit substantially from a land exchange deal between Marbella and Benahavis. So far 1,139 residents have signed the online petition, set up by campaign group ‘Marbella en positivo’. They are angry that 170,000 square metres of Marbella’s land is to be gifted to Benahavis, under an agreement made between Mayor Angeles Munoz and the PP Mayor of Benahavis Jose Antonio Mena. The land – classed as non-urban in Marbella – is expected to be easily urbanised under Benahavis’ new Plan Parcial. Up to 50 luxury villas could then be built on the land, known as Vega del Jaque. The exchange would be particularly beneficial for wellknown property promoter Lars Broberg – the husband of Munoz. Companies belonging to him and his brother Jim own more than 120,000 square metres of land in the affected zone. The Plan Parcial is still pending final approval from the Junta. To sign the petition, go to www.change. org and search ‘Marbella a Benahavis’. GAIN: Munoz and husband Lars
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er filed a huge bankruptcy case in 2011 in Sevilla. Luis Gonzalez Ordonez, of Lawbird, said: “This result is of vital importance for future investors, whose confidence in the Spanish legal system – too often called into question – should be reinforced.”
and Rory, now aged 15 and 11, four times. His problems began after agreeing to help launch a friend Miguel Angel Gomez’s import/export business in Madrid in 1997 thanks to his skills in computing. “I had nothing to do with the running of the companies, just helped set them up and then gave him my power of attorney to run them,” he said. But in 1998, growing suspicious of Gomez, he lost faith in the businesses and closed them both down. It wasn’t until an entire decade later that he found himself one of 42 people accused in a complex tax fraud. While given bail, he was unable to return to the UK, having to sign into court every day
until the trial began in 2011. He was eventually found guilty of playing a small role in the scam - albeit ‘by default’, as the judge ruled - and handed a six-month suspended sentence. But because the case went to appeal he has still not been given his passport back. He is now asking for help from the expat community on the Costa del Sol, in the hope they can help to repatriate him to live near his sons. He has set up a crowdfunding site on Gofundme.com and estimates he needs up to €9,000 to survive this year, pay his rent andwezj fight to get his passport back with court costs. “Failing that I fear I will end up homeless and living on the streets like dozens of other unfortunate expats,” he said.
SNAPPED: A burglar in Pago del Humo turning to her property after a short 20-minute errand. “I was so lucky that I came back when I did and stopped them taking everything,” said Tracey, who lives with her two daughters and husband in the hamlet of Pago del Humo. “I was running on adrenaline and was so angry to see the thief running out of my bedroom.” She continued: “There is definitely an air of fear among the expats here, we had already moved everything of sentimental value to England after hearing so many others had been burgled.”
Warning
She reported two rings and a bracelet stolen to the Guardia Civil but was unable to provide a full identification, having only seen the Spanishspeaking man from behind. Chiclana Foreign Residents Association (ChiFRA) has spoken to police and now issued a warning letter to all members. President David Fisher bemoaned the lack of police presence, particularly in the Pago del Humo area. “I have lived here for 12 years and never known anything like this,” Fisher, 68, told the Olive Press. “People are scared to leave their homes after hearing so many tales. “One couple left for three hours and had everything taken, including their safe. “We suspect somebody who knows people around here is keeping watch for empty houses.”
Double standards OXFAM has singled out Spain as Europe’s most unequal country second only to Latvia, with 1% of the population in possession of more wealth than the country’s poorest 70%. It will be a huge blow to the government, already caught up in a raft of corruption scandals. The report adds that Spain has the ‘least effective’ tax system to deal with the problem, and found that ‘current policies reinforce this concentration of wealth in few hands’.