Demolition starts on British couple's Almayate home

Bulldozers moved in on Monday to start the demolition of the home of a British couple in Almayate, Vélez-Málaga.

Despite the local and international media attention the case has received and the support of SOHA (Save Our Homes Axarquía) and a series of meetings with architects, the mayor and solicitors, the couple have lost their fight against the demolition order.

Gill and Bob Ward, a retired couple from Cornwall, bought the property that was part of an old farmhouse in 2004 and, as it was a ruin, as Gill told SUR in English in July, they sought planning permission from Vélez-Málaga town hall to rebuild it.

Some time into the project the original façade, which had to be retained to comply with the licence, collapsed, or so they were told by the architect, who assured them that it wouldnt be a problem. The architect subsequently resigned from the project. However, the work was completed and the Wards moved into the property.

A series of court appearances ensued, one of which led to Gill being advised by her solicitor to plead guilty to a criminal offence of "knowingly building illegally without the correct licence", she explained.

Having heard nothing for two years after presenting a new permit to the court, the couple assumed that all was well and continued to live in the property until they received a letter from Vélez-Málaga town hall on 5 July this year advising them that the house would be demolished on 17 July. This time the house was saved by a court order temporarily denying the demolition workers access to the property.

However, it later transpired that the house did not only fail to comply with the building licence but that it was also on "non-urbanisable" land and a further letter was sent from the court saying that if the house wasnt pulled down then the town hall and mayor would face legal action.

The couple were unable to go for AFO and if they had come to us much earlier we may have been able to do more to help, Phillip Smalley, President of SOHA told SUR in English on Tuesday.

AFO refers to "asimilado fuera de ordenación" - a semi legal status given to some houses built on land not designated for construction.

Smalley added that another house on the same land, belonging to a Spanish citizen, was also pulled down earlier this month.

Gill and Bob are currently staying in a friends flat in Torre del Mar and looking for somewhere affordable to live. We dont have a house in England. Our life is here in Spain, the couple told SUR in English in July.

The couples daughter-in-law, Emma Baker, who lives in Torrox and who has been acting as their spokesperson told SUR this week, Were going to get in touch with the British Consulate in Spain to see what kind of help they can offer us and if the Spanish justice system hasnt listened to us we will approach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.