Construction

Council getting serious about illegal building demolition

Demolition orders are not always as serious as this. | Sergio G. Cañizares

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma05/08/2016 00:00

The Council of Majorca has ordered more demolitions because of illegal building in the past six months than there had been for the previous three years. These demolition orders are one measure adopted to deal with illegal building. In addition, fines are being imposed if orders are ignored. Checks are being made through aerial photography, and some 47,000 euros have been demanded so far.

Most of the infractions relate to extensions and to the creation of terraces and pools, but one has been sent to the public prosecutor to deal with as it is for a house that has been built in a protected area.

Mercedes Garrido, the councillor for land, says that people should understand that the Council is taking these infractions very seriously and that it will increase personnel in order to reduce the backlog of proceedings for over one thousand outstanding cases.

A further measure that the Council's urban planning agency is taking is to order the immediate cessation of work when an infringement is detected. Since January there have been 56 such interventions, something that had never been done by the agency previously.

The agency is, however, hampered in this regard because only six municipalities in Majorca are associated with it. Seven more will be added in the next few months, but this will still leave a great number that are outside the system. The Council has decided to distribute the agency's surplus to town halls in order to encourage them to join it.