The properties in question have stood for the last 30 years on protected, non-building land on the Carretera de La Zubia and thus are affected by the Plan Especial de La Vega.

Judge Eva María Canut partially accepted the claimants’ demands (declare the contract null and void). She considered that the claimants had carried out their part of the contract; i.e., had handed over the stipulated fees and had supplied all the documents requested of them so that the quantity surveyor could obtain a licencia urbanistica.

Each and every one of the requests handed in by the Q.S. at the City Hall had expired through fault of the accused. (he can appeal the sentence therefore technically he remains only ‘accused’).

Furthermore the Q.S. failed to informed his clients that his requests had been rejected, thus denying clients the opportunity to appeal against the City Hall’s decisions.

The judge noted that he had submitted certain documents to the court but that not one of them demonstrated that he had kept his clients informed of the situation.

The judge only partially accepted the claimants demands as they had also asked for compensation in the form of daño moral to a total of 9,000 euros, (1,500 for each of the clients involved) which she rejected considering that there was no grounds for this, saying that the property owners knew that they had built in a prohibited area and that it was possible that their requests before the City Hall would be rejected.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)