Spanish Government drive to clear up coasts
After decades of neglect, the Spanish Government are invoking a law which aims to clean up the overdeveloped coastline


The Spanish Government, enforcing a law from 1988, are cracking down on what constitutes coastal public domain -- the strip of land that stretches back from the water's edge -- and are beginning negotiations with property owners to remove developments encroaching on this land. Some owners are being given 60 year concessions to live in the properties affected but others are threatened with demolition. 'We're taking the law seriously,' says the Environment Ministry's coastal department director, Jose Fernandez. 'Previous governments didn't think it was important, while we have made it a priority.' The government is finishing the process of drawing the line that designates what is state-owned and cannot contain private property along Spain's 6,200 miles of coast. It plans to spend some $8 billion to fix up the coast. Some of the money will go to homeowners who, under the 1988 law, cannot sell to another private party but can sell to the state. Statistics suggest that 40 percent of the coast is built on and nearly 70 percent of Spanish beaches are surrounded by buildings. (article published by the Associated Press) Search properties for sale
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
17 outstanding homes for sale across Britain, from under £250k to £6.5 million, as seen in Country Life
Something for every budget in this week's round up of homes across the country that have come to market via Country Life.
-
'We started thinking: if we were going to design a bike for Aston Martin, what would it look like? And then we simply couldn’t stop': Aston's new bike has everything you could ever dream of — except a price tag
The new Aston Martin .1R bicycle, a collaboration with manufacturer J.Laverack, leaves Paul Henderson stirred rather than shaken.