Itrabo Before the Judge

If you want a case of people building what they like, where the hell they like, then you need only take the back road between Ítrabo and Jete; You climb past multi-storey houses, some looking more ornate than a wedding cake.

Never mind that the law only permits an apero (tool shed) of between 25 and 50 sq/m, depending on the municipality, when you have a town hall that does its best not to notice, then the result is what has happened in Ítrabo.

The Public Prosecutor was out for blood, recommending that the Mayor be barred from holding public office, together with two councillors, as well as the village’s only municipal policeman, but the judge – bless her – decided to shelve the case as Itrábo possesses no clear urban development regulations.

Seprona (Guardia Civil unit) had listed 22 illegal constructions, amongst them complete chalets with swimming pools, handing over their findings to the Public Prosecutor who rubbed his hands, thinking that it was a clear-cut case. Mayor, Antonio Carrascosa, Councillor for Urban Development, Antonio Francisco González, Municipal Secretay, María Purificación Castillo and the local Constable Plod, Claudio Novo, had been criminally negligent in their duties, he considered.

“There is not indication that they had not initiated even one administrative process against these blatantly illegal constructions,” he explained, adding, “They had not attempted to stop them in anyway.” He was especially critical of the local policeman who hadn’t filed any ‘denucias’ despite the fact that the past the said buildings every day – how much does the guy get paid, again, you might ask…

So there you have it: Blatantly illegal constructions in full view of the very people who get paid handsomely to prevent such things and then the judge gets hold of the case… The defence lawyer had pointed out that there are no municipal regulations concerning urban development – no matter that there are Andaluz ones that cover the whole region, including Ítrabo. The judge agrees and case shelved on the basis of: nullem crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege, which is the legal term in Latin meaning, no crime, no punishment without existing law. If ítrabo has no law (regulations), then you can have broken them – no crime committed.

Before you break down and weep, the court sentence is not final and the Public Prosecutor can appeal, if he hasn’t shot himself in frustration, that is.

(News: Itrabo, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

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