Slip, Sliding Away…

Several houses in the Carmenes del Mar estate have been affected by landslides, with one family having to move out after part of the garden fell away on New Year’s Eve. Houses, streets, gardens, communal areas are all on the move. The areas affected are the Calaiza, Pueblo and Atrazanas phases.

But these landslips have been going on for years – ever since the complex was built, because the hillside is unstable. It’s also considered an eyesore to all but those that live there.
“Seeing these new houses with cracks up them and the streets looking like they’ve been hit by an earthquake is enough to make your hair stand on end,” said one English resident, whose own house has a variety of cracks in it.
The property owners in the six separate urbanizaciones that make up the complex, with a total of 400 dwellings, decided to take the matter to court several months back. They are demanding that the developer, Comarex, and insurance companies who built should pay for the repairs to the properties, streets and communal areas. It is calculated that the cost of stabilising the terrain is 80,000 euros.
On a political note, the IU’s Fermín Tejero has criticised the Mayor, pointing out that Comarex bought several of the chalets that had to be demolished because of these problems to ‘better its image and avoid a scandal.’ Apparently, Comarex has also placated some affected property owners by exchanging their house for another one in another part of Andalucía. However, many property owners did not want to move elsewhere and did not accept the price offered by the company to buy the house back off them.

The Mayor’s party, on the other hand, rejects all responsibility, as all the paperwork, building licences etc were issued during the time when the PP-PSOE and PILH were in power and he was in the opposition.

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