Dear Costa Women
I thought I would write to give you more news about the cause you have been so generously supporting here on the Costa del Sol.
As you know, some of my friends and neighbours lost their homes and all their possessions in the dreadful August fires here in Mijas and the surrounding Malaga province. Costa women have raised funds to help two of the families affected by the fires to buy tools so that they can get back to work and begin to rebuild their lives.
However, the problems for the fire “victims” continue.
It is difficult to be sure of exact numbers but SUR.es estimated the number of homes damaged or destroyed as :- Marbella – 60; Mijas – 20; Ojen – 7; Coin – 1; Alhaurin – 11.
I personally know of 10 homes destroyed in my area of Mijas.
The main problem now is that they cannot get permission to repair or rebuild the homes that were damaged in the fires. They remain homeless.
These are rural homes that have been caught up in the legislative land-planning nightmare that affects the whole of Andalucia. Andalucia has in the region of 300,000 “illegal” rural homes. As the law stands it seems that most homes built in rural areas (with or without Town Hall licences) are illegal. With the 2/2012 decree there are the beginnings of a way forward to regularise these rural homes. In the meantime my friends homes were destroyed by the fires. No one will allow them to simply repair what is theirs – homes that they have ploughed their life savings into. In addition, homes that could have been repaired are suffering further damage from rain and the passage of time – additional damage that is the fault of administrative delay. No insurance company will cover this additional damage. In the meantime they are staying with friends or paying for rented accommodation that they cannot afford.
This intolerable situation could go on for years. They may not even qualify to be considered for the regularisation process because their homes were destroyed by the fires. This is just not acceptable! It is unjust! All they want to do is get back to where they were BEFORE the fire and submit themselves to the legalisation process (when it eventually starts rolling).
We have started a campaign group. We need to build the numbers of supporters by inviting people and other groups to join our campaign. In particular, we’d love to make contact with other people who lost their homes in either the fires or the floods in the Malaga province and people who feel they can help us in any way. We think we will only find a solution with political pressure so please sign up to our campaign at:-