Alex Trelinski
PROPERTY buying in parts of Spain will become easier for British purchasers after the scrapping of an old Francoist law.
Non-EU home buyers in areas like the Costa Blanca and Murcia have been frustrated with delays over the need to get ‘military authorisation’.
News of the change was sent in a notification from the Defence Ministry to the General Council of Notaries.
It said that it ‘did not want to hinder the revitalisation of the economy after the pandemic’.
The law goes back to the 1970’s which required official permission to buy property in areas deemed as being of ‘strategic interest’ for the defence of Spain.
No deed or registration could be granted before authorisation came from the Defence Ministry.
On the Costa Blanca, for example, that meant prime British home buying areas like Torrevieja, the Orihuela Costa, and Pilar de la Horadada were in the military zone.
The obligation to get clearance was tagged onto the new Spanish Constitution created after the death of dictator General Franco’s death in 1975.
The Defence Ministry said the old rules ‘did not respond to the dynamics of permanent change of the new society’.
Murcia promoters association president, Jose Ramon Blazquez, said: “The old requirement had been a real break on non-EU buyers, especially those from Britain.”
On the southern Costa Blanca, regional promoters association, Provia, claimed that around 800 sales annually involving British buyers faced delays of up to eight months.
The log-jam involved obtaining original documents that should have been filled in up to 40 years ago.
Promoters said Chinese and Russian buyers were put off from purchasing homes needing ‘military clearance’ and spent their money in parts of Spain that did not need authorisation.
Image Credit: Cordon Press
READ MORE: WHY BREXIT AND GENERAL FRANCO ARE DELAYING UK HOUSE BUYS ON THE COSTA BLANCA
