Staff Reporter
RESIDENTS of four apartment complexes on Spain’s Costa del Sol face losing their swimming pools, gardens and car parks as part of an ongoing legal dispute that has been brewing for decades.
The properties in question are located in El Gamonal, in Arroyo de la Miel, in the municipality of Benalmadena, and constitute a total of 1,750 flats with as many families living there.
According to the daily Sur, the buildings were originally constructed by the Sofico group, which was founded back in the 1960s during the regime of dictator Francisco Franco, and was dedicated to building, selling and renting flats in the area.
At the time, tourism was on the rise in isolated Spain, and construction in the area was also rampant.
Read more: British community president ‘gives himself €16,500 pay rise’
Among the buildings constructed by Sofico are the four at the centre of this legal dispute: Agata, Hercules, Iris and Aguila.
Sofico went bust in the 1970s, according to Sur, something that caused a major scandal during the dying years of the Franco regime.
So it was to the great surprise of the residents of the four blocks that they received notifications from the company’s heirs in 2015, informing them that Sofico was claiming ownership of the plots of land where the pools, gardens and car parks were located.
One of the issues faced by the residents is that documentation was not properly drawn up when some of them made their purchases, making it difficult to prove ownership.
The ensuing legal battle between the two sides has so far seen Sofico victorious, obliging the residents to pay for the land or lose access to it.
The company has won its case in a local court, then in the provincial tribunal.
Now the litigation is headed to the Supreme Court, where the affected residents are hopeful that they may get lucky.
Should their legal bid fail, they will be looking at losing two hectares of land, which is currently valued at €12 million.
To add insult to injury, for years the residents have been paying for the pool lifeguards, gardeners, water bills and taxes, among other communal costs, for decades.
“If we don’t get something in the Supreme Court we have no other choice, we will have to pay Sofico to recover the land, which is what they want, to make a profit,” flat owner and lawyer Bernardo Gomez Corraliza told Sur. “This is unacceptable, we are going to fight this until the end.”
