Fincas and Country property - Málaga Property

News - July 2007

The political landscape changes and how that can affect us all!

It is not just the UK that is experiencing a change in the political landscape with the “enthroning” of the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Across the whole of Spain, local elections took place at the end of May and many new local governments have been formed during the course of June.

Whilst the Party Political situation in Madrid remains stable, the local situation is a little less clear. The PSOE (left wing party) who leads the country still remains strongly represented across the whole of Andalucia however there are a number of town halls which have fallen out of control of the PSOE.

In many instances there are new parties, which have been formed to challenge the existing (and some may say, comfortable) parties of the Partido Popular and PSOE. Many of these new parties have been formed with the intention of raising the profile of more modern, greener issues and in many instances to overcome much of the bad press that has been prevalent within Spain and the rest of Europe regarding the high levels of corruption in Spanish town halls.

So, this is all very interesting if you are the slightest bit interested in politics. But what does this mean for the rest of us?

Well, the fact is that many town halls will be reviewing the promises and actual decisions of the previous regime and in some instances these may be delayed or overturned completely. The decision of a previous mayor to allow the development of a hotel or a golf project may now be revoked and therefore the construction of these facilities may be blocked temporarily or permanently.

On the other hand, development projects or road schemes, which were blocked by the previous regime, may now be given the go-ahead by the new mayor and his advisors in conjunction with their new coalition partners.

The Junta de Andalucia provides planning guidance across the whole of Andalucia and the planning parameters sent to Villanueva de la Concepción will be identical to those sent to Málaga. The difference between each town hall is the way in which they interpret the instructions they receive from the Junta.

When you are considering buying a new property in Andalucia, it is vital to understand the planning guidelines that will affect the property that you are looking to purchase. These planning guidelines will vary depending upon the location of the property and which town hall governs that area.

If you are buying a property through an estate agent it is vital that they guide you through this minefield. You should be able to ask your agent exactly what is permitted should you wish to change anything about the property. Many buyers may wish to add a swimming pool to their property and whilst this is easy in some areas, there are other town halls, which may determine that a pool within the countryside is incongruous with the surroundings.

The agent that you can trust is an agent that has an understanding of the workings of the local town hall.