Len and Helen
Read the story of Len and Helen Prior whose home in Vera was demolished by the Junta de Andalucia on the 9th January 2008.
Len and Helen are two of the nicest people you could ever wish
to meet, and they shouldn't be ! They should be bitter and twisted,
read on and you will find out why.
OR
WATCH THEIR STORY ON YOUTUBE.COM
A
dream fulfilled Helen and Len came to Spain in 2002 on a 4 day
inspection tour with Medsea Estates. They were shown 6 plots of
land for sale in an area called La Loma, which is just outside
Vera. The land had been split into plots of 10,000 square metres
with outline building permissions. At that time there were probably
about 90 houses in the La Loma area. They found a builder, a house
design, a solicitor and a bank, paid deposits and went back to
the UK. In August 2002 they received a letter from their solicitor
to say that the builder had received all necessary licences from
Vera council and he advised them to sign the contract.
Work commenced on the house around October of 2002. It was completed
on 15th May 2003 and they moved to Spain as full time residents
later that month.
They had spent €375,000 constructing their dream home complete
with heated swimming pool and landscaped gardens. Their home was
beautiful and life was good. They named their house "Tranquilidad"
(Tranquility) in expectation of how they would spend their retirement
there.
Three years later
In May 2006 they received a phone call from their builder to say that they had to go to Vera Town Hall. They were handed a letter which the secretary translated. It informed them that they had 15 days to demolish the house or the Junta de Andalucia would do so and send them the invoice. They could not believe this and went straight to their solicitor. He said it was a mistake and try not to worry. However, they learnt within a few days that it was not a mistake. Their building licence had been revoked.
9th
January 2008 - Tranquility destroyed
In the early hours of the 9th of January the water and electricity
meters were removed. Later that morning, the Junta representatives
arrived, accompanied by police, bulldozers and lorries, and no
amount of persuasion would dissuade them from their task of demolishing
this couple's only home.
The only concession given to the Priors was a delay of a few hours
so they could remove their belongings from the house. A storage
company was called, family, friends, neighbours and kind unknown
strangers, (people they had never seen before and have not seen
since) began to arrive to help with the removal of anything that
wasn't nailed down or cemented in.
Even the fire “which was still alight at the time”
was removed and carried outside. Five containers were filled,
but there were still some belongings which could not be accommodated
and these had to be left in the garden overnight. To add insult
to injury, it rained and everything was ruined. The insurance
company refused to pay, saying the Priors ´had not taken
due care of the items´.
During
the demolition, Len Prior, who has a heart condition, collapsed
and had to be rushed to hospital. The doctors at the hospital
would not allow him to go back to the house because of the stress
it would put him under.
In the aftermath of the demolition a hotel had been booked by Vera town council, but (apparently) only for two nights as Helen was asked to leave on the third day.
On the 12th January a group of fairground people brought a caravan
for Helen and Len, and provided them with some basics, such as
pillows as the Priors had nothing. All their belongings were either
in storage or had been ruined by the rain.
Helen had to resort to brushing her hair with a washing up brush
she found in the garden until she could get to buy a new hairbrush.
There had been no time to think about what to keep out of storage
as the priority had been to get everything out of the house. (Some
kindly soul had thought to put some clothes aside, so Helen would
have something to wear, they must have had very good taste as
they only picked out some ´lovely frocks´, as Helen
put it).
Everybody cares - for a while at least
In the days that immediately followed the demolition, the Priors
were inundated by newspapers and television reporters anxious
to publicise their plight. (Spain's TVE, GMTV from the UK, The
Telegraph, and The Daily Mail). Their reports were syndicated
worldwide.
Len was quite unwell at this time and Helen coped as best
she could.
On
Sunday 19th January a meeting was held in Vera town square in
support of Len & Helen and it was well attended by over 1,000
people, both English and Spanish. A very moving speech was made
by Helen in which she asked that the Spanish president Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero look her in the eye and tell her why two pensioners
had been made homeless. She then broke down in tears.
On the 24th January, Helen lost her wedding ring, it was nowhere
to be found in the caravan. The press and media interest moved
on.
Promises made - promises broken
Around this time there was also a meeting with Felix Lopez,the mayor
of Vera. The mayor said he had a house for the Priors with
a garden for the dogs (they have 3), and he would arrange to get
the keys for them. This cruel promise never materialized.
They were, however, taken to see a flat. It was up four flights
of stairs and did not possess a garden. Len's heart condition
precluded this from being a viable option, as he was unable to
manage the stairs.
The aftermath
During the days and weeks that followed, Helen and Len continued
to live in the caravan and campaign for the restitution of their
home. During this time they started work on the garage to make
it habitable.
The Junta had refused to restore the water and electricity meters,
so Len and Helen had been forced to buy a generator and a water
tank. They are still without the meters. The Junta revoked their
First Licence of Occupation at the same time they revoked the
building licence for the house. Without this licence you are not
entitled to be connected to mains water and electricity.
For those of you who are wondering why the garage was not knocked
down at the same time as the house, the reason is as follows.
When the house had been built the Priors applied for planning
permission to put a pitched roof on the garage, to put a surround
round the pool and to join the garage to the house by adding a
utility room and an area for Len to keep all his tools. The licence
for this work was not revoked and the authorities could not demolish
the garage without damaging the - legal - pitched roof ! The swimming
pool and the extension were saved from demolition for the same
reason.
This came in very handy during the summer as they were able to
use the pool shower. In winter, however, it is a very different
matter as they have to shower outside in one of the tin huts they
bought, to accomodate a shower and toilet.
AULAN formed
On the 3rd May, a meeting was held in a hotel in Mojacar to launch
the AULAN (Abusos
Urbanisticos Levante Almanzora No.) A video from ´Holiday
Homes from Hell´ was shown of the actual demolition taking
place. It was painful to watch and there wasn't a dry eye in the
house. Helen stood up and gave a speech without benefit of notes
and everyone reached for their tissues again. She received a well
deserved standing ovation.
Justice delayed is justice denied
On the 27th May, the Priors received a phone call from La Voz de
Almeria (newspaper) to say there was a meeting taking place between
the Junta de Andalucia and the mayor of Vera about compensation
and a resolution to the situation. Nothing ever came of it.
On the 29th May they received a call from a lawyer to say that
El Ideal (newspaper)was reporting that a resolution had been arrived
at and compensation would be paid that day. Needless to say this
didn't materialize either. This may explain why many Spanish,
and indeed some English people erroneously believe the Priors
have been compensated.
To date, they have not received a penny in compensation.
On the 30th May, the lawyer called again to say that now the papers
were reporting that Vera town council was not going to pay. Under
Spanish law, Vera town council had 6 months to decide whether
to pay the Priors compensation. During these 6 months they were
in limbo.
On the 12th June the couple's lawyer told them Vera town council
would inform them of their decision the following Monday. Monday
came and they were told it would be Tuesday, Tuesday came and
still no decision. They were speaking to their solicitor every
day but there was no word from the town hall.
Finally on 24th June, the paperwork was received from Vera town
hall which stated they were not going to pay.
Around this time the town hall came and measured up around the
Priors house and determined that it could not cause an urban nucleus,
which had been the alleged reason for the demolition. They went
away happy as this would mean they were absolved of any responsibility
for the demolition. As far as they were concerned the house was
legal and the licences granted by the town hall should not have
been revoked by the Junta.
At this point barristers started a case for compensation against
Vera town hall citing that they had known about the problem for
5 years and done nothing. They had not informed the Priors or
their solicitors.
On the 27th June, the Priors sent a letter with copies of the
videos showing the demolition by registered post to the President
of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
On the 14th July their petition (Recurso de Amparo), submitted
prior to the demolition, was accepted in the constitutional court
in Madrid. This was quite momentous as only 5% of petitions
submitted are accepted. The petition had 3 parts:
a) To stop the demolition.
b) To declare the whole
action (which resulted in the demolition order) order null
and void because the Priors were not represented in the proceedings.
c) A Querella (charge) against the judge.
On the 22nd October, 6 judges in Madrid dismissed the first part
(a) of the Priors
claim on the basis that the request was to obtain the nullity
of a judgement that had already been fulfilled.
Legal proceedings in Spain are notoriously slow. It could be many
years before Helen and Len are compensated for their loss.
Len's health had been seriously affected as a result of their
troubles, and by the end of October Helen found he was sleeping
much of the time.
Spectres at the feast
On 23rd October, the Priors attended the AEPA seminar. The AEPA
is an association of businessmen and entrepreneurs in Albox and
holds such a seminar every year. Last year the main topic was
the illegal housing situation, and it was again this year. It
was attended by Luis Caparros and Jose Ortiz, delegates from the
Junta de Andalucia. The Priors were standing outside the entrance
with placards carrying pictures of their house prior to its being
demolished. A gentleman in a suit asked them to leave three times
or the police would arrest them. They only left when he told them
that they were not helping the cause of Albox and Cantoria residents
who had illegal houses by being there.
Support from the British Government?
On the 3rd December, almost a year after their home was demolished,
the Priors met with Quentine Reville from the British embassy
in Madrid. She told them that they were constantly speaking with
the Spanish government about the damage being done as a result
of the demolition and the illegal housing situation.
What do we think...what do YOU think about this?
On the 9th January 2010, it will be two years since the Priors
watched in horror as their home was razed to the ground. They
were innocent pawns in a political disagreement and a clear case
of maladministration, which had absolutely nothing to do with
them.
At the time of writing (8th December 2008) the demolition has
already cost them somewhere in the region of 25,000 euros, in
legal bills, storage costs and the purchase of the basic bare
necessities needed to survive life in a garage, if you can call
it living. And, contrary to popular belief, they have not received
ONE PENNY from any interviews given.
Helen and Len are pensioners, they have worked hard all their
life and looked forward to their retirement. From living in a
beautiful house which they absolutely loved, they are reduced
to existing in a garage with an attached utility room, their toilet
and shower 'facilities' ( we use the word loosely) are outside
in a tin shed.
They do not deserve this. This is so very wrong. Playing
with innocent people's lives cannot and will not be forgiven.
FULL RESTITUTION IS REQUIRED AND IT IS REQUIRED NOW.
