Empuriabrava Online Blog and News

Here is a letter that my friend Veena of Different2 has sent to all of their clients:

Dear Client,

There have been a lot of discussions about the canals in Empuriabrava. Some of the information issued by the Local Authorities and the Port Captain’s office (Capitania) has not been exactly clear, and certainly not sufficiently detailed.

The Town Hall in Castelló d’Empuries has now issued a report in several languages explaining the laws and regulations and how they affect mooring owners.  The report can be downloaded via the following link.

http://www.castello.cat/upload/File/MarinaEmpuriabrava/ing.pdf
An opposition group has been formed, called the Owners Association of Empuriabrava (APE – “Asociación de Propietarios de Empuriabrava”), to deal in a legal and informative way with the issues relating to this matter.

In addition to this, there is another, much more URGENT matter at hand which is the marking of the demarcation (severance) line that the Spanish Government is attempting to make.

The Coastal Authorities of the Government are working their way around the country clarifying boundaries and what is public domain, what is private.  The turn of Empuriabrava has arrived.  As per Spanish law, all sea water is public property, and also all that is encroached by sea water also becomes public property.   From this “imaginary” line that they are in the process of identifying and attempting to enforce, a distance of 6m is to be marked which they are proposing to make as public domain, hence affecting all properties to a larger/smaller degree that are situated on the canals.

There are a series of meetings next week, namely on 29^th and 30^th September and 1^st and 2^nd October, for property owners, the date designated according to areas.  Many of you will not have received official citation to these meetings, (which in itself is a point for dispute), but the Association APE can inform you of the dates for each area.

www.ap-empuriabrava.com

This website is in various languages including English, and is extremely informative, well worth reading.

As this matter is of such importance and will affect all canal side owners in one way or another, it is VITAL that you be informed of your rights and what is expected of you.  The Association are offering their members (50,00 € to join, maybe one of the best investments you will make), models of representation, of how to file complaints and allegations, and the procedure to follow.  There is also a model that you can fill in and return to them if you are unable to attend these meetings next week and would like them to represent you.

While our Company policy is to remain unbiased and above all non-political, we urge you to join this Association in order to best defend your rights and together create a UNITED FRONT against any administrative decision that may affect those rights.

For those of you who are here next week, it is very important to attend the meetings (whether you have received formal notification or not).  If you are unable to attend, please refer to the website and request assistance from the Association.

Should you wish to contact us for further details, please do not hesitate in doing so.

Yours sincerely,

Veena Birtwistle

Different2

Member of the Oreilly Birtwistle Group

Now listen guys, this is very serious. Time is running out and if you have a property on the canals then you really need to do something about it. As Veena said in the above letter, you need to join the association to help protect your rights.

How important is this? Well did you know that last night there was a demonstration in Castelló? There was a protest march from the Cathedral to the Town Hall of around 500 concerned residents. It was even filmed by Spanish TV. I’m going to be putting photos of the march up on Flickr soon. Here’s the Flickr photos.
So what’s happening here? Property owners in Empuriabrava are being hit on two fronts: Mooring Fees and Demarcation Lines. I have a fridge magnet that says “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”  Man the barricades!