Built too close to the sea

Built too close to the sea

For the first time since 1969, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment is quietly redrawing the coastline, including that of Ibiza and Formentera

Imagine the following situation: years ago, you built a house near the sea on Ibiza or Formentera - legally, of course, and with the necessary planning permission. And now, the Madrid authorities get in touch to inform you that "Your house is located on the coastline and therefore not legal any more!" You face either having your property torn down or forcibly repossessed at any given time. "That's impossible," you're probably thinking - but you're wrong. Because in 2004, the Ministry of the Environment in Madrid referred back to a law from 1988 known as the coastal law, or Ley de Costas.

The law was designed to protect coastal areas from rampant over-construction and at the same time make every inch of beach easily accessible to the general public. However, the first sections of the coast to which this law has been applied, which includes Formentera, have been inaccurately measured. Now, Madrid is threatening homeowners with eviction, transforming them into concessionaires in their own homes. Those owners are now grouping together to oppose the law.

Built back in 1982 after planning permission was granted: now, according to a law from 1988, the Real Playa restaurant on Migjorn beach is set to become state property. Maria Jose Mayans has been battling for years to save her family's livelihood

When you ask Nordhild Kohler whether she still feels like the owner of her house, Casa Sargantana, on Formentera's romantically unspoilt Migjorn beach, she pauses for a moment. Although the question appears to be a simple one, she finds it difficult to answer. "Yes, of course, but according to the law, I'm no longer the owner." And she's probably right.

In fact, this ex-pat from Wiesbaden should not have been feeling at home in her own four whitewashed walls since 1997. That was the year that the Spanish parliament approved the newly redrawn coastline for the smallest of the Balearic Islands. But because no one really realised what had happened when the motion was passed more than a decade ago, very few people filed any objections or opposed the change.

It seems that the homeowners affected now want to make up for lost time. Over the past months and year, an organised protest movement has developed in fits and starts. Its members are focusing on a law that was passed back in 1988: the coastal law known as Ley de Costas. For almost two decades, this controversial law lay forgotten in some dark corner of the Spanish Ministry of the Environment - until the Social Democrats won the general election in 2004 and banished the Conservatives to the opposition benches. The Minister of the Environment at the time, Cristina Narbona, was the one who resuscitated the Ley de Costas.

A stone dating back to 1968 that marks where the coastline ends. Most of these are 25 metres away from the sea and it was common practice for opportunistic construction companies to move the stones to a location that suited them better

Since then, topographers and geologists commissioned by the government in Madrid have been striding up and down the beaches, remeasuring the coastline. The law itself had actually set a limit of five years for the Spanish coastline to be measured afresh for the first time since 1969, meaning that the whole process should have been completed by 1993. However, it can take a long time to convert writing into action, as the Spanish authorities can confirm, particularly if the necessary political will needed to implement those words is lacking.

The Ministry of the Environment now estimates that coastal measurements will not be completed before 2011 - 23 years after the coastal law first came into force.

The waves roll gently over the sand and rocks of the beach. Seagulls glide through the air, propelled by the chill north wind. It's a winter image worthy of a picture postcard out here on the deserted Migjorn beach. But once again, appearances can be deceptive and behind the scenes, María Jose Mayans has been battling for years to save her family's livelihood.

The woman from Formentera, who acts as the spokeswoman for the "Salvar Formentera" citizens' action group, stands amidst the dunes and looks over at the "Real Playa" restaurant with a worried expression on her face. It's a two-storey building containing another seven apartments that her family rent out over the summer. "Theoretically, all of them belong to the Spanish state," she says with a note of bitterness in her voice.

The 1988 coastal law divided the beach area into two main sections: no one is allowed to own private property within the public coastal zone (dominio publico maritimo-terrestre). Homeowners whose property lies within these demarcations will have it forcibly repossessed. The second section is the area of coast where private property is allowed (zona de influencia en suelos no urbanos, dominio privado). This area can extend up to 500 metres inland. No forced repossessions are planned for these properties.

In practical terms, business has been going on as usual for several years. However, the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen to the family's livelihood in the long term casts a long shadow over the future. "At any given moment, the Spanish Ministry could send us a letter to tell us that our days here are numbered," says María Jose Mayans. A stretch of sand measuring around 20 metres separates the building from the sea. If the weather is bad, the waves can reach the terrace of the restaurant.

"Real Playa" is very close indeed to the water, and María Jose Mayans knows it. "But we were given all the planning permission we needed to build it back in 1982," she says. Back then, the coastline was calculated according to the measurements made in 1969. Even today, you can still see stone pyramids engraved with the letters ZMT for zona marítima terrestre all along the coast. Formentera was the first populated island in Spain to be allocated the new coastline.

To date, the Ministry of the Environment has measured just 57 percent of Ibiza's total shoreline, compared to a good 70 percent on Mallorca. According to the government in Madrid, if everything goes to plan, the entire coastline of the Balearic Islands will have been measured by the end of 2009. "Meaning that there will be a lot of home owners on Ibiza who are in for a nasty surprise," predicts Carmen del Amo.

This determined woman from Alicante is the spokeswoman for the citizens' action group "Plataforma Nacional de Afectados de la Ley de Costas", known as PNALC for short. She can't understand why the coastal law is receiving so little attention from politicians on Ibiza and Mallorca compared to Formentera. "You just have to take a look at some shorelines to see how close the buildings are to the sea," says Carmen del Amo. "The coastal authorities are going to draw a red line through a lot of buildings and swimming pools."

The colour used for the new coastline on the plan drawn up by the Ministry of the Environment really is red. In Formentera's case, it forms a thin strip that goes all the way around the island. At some points, it is just a stone's throw away from the sea, whereas in others, it can be up to 300 metres inland. As is the case with Nordhild Kohler's home.

The 64 year-old is one of the unlucky ones whose terrace of houses is completely encircled by the ominous red line. If it were a doll's house, all she would have to do would be to lift it up and move it a few metres to the left or right to shift it out of the range of the new coastline. Unfortunately, Nordhild Kohler and her husband didn't buy a dolls house back in 1980, but a holiday residence that "has now become our second home."

And this is something that they are willing to fight for. "Our house is located 150 metres from the sea on a craggy stretch of shore," says Nordhild Kohler. It's true that for the Kohlers' veranda to be transformed into a paddling pool would take a tsunami of epic proportions - because the Ministry of the Environment is using archaic methods to re-draw the coastline: the coastal law literally states that the red line must be drawn at the highest point reached by waves during a storm. "That's totally absurd," Nordhild Kohler believes. "The craggy shore outside our home forms a natural barrier." Without pausing for breath, she asks why the red line was not, as in her case, drawn behind the level of some people's front doors, but in front of them. "I have a feeling that where the red line was drawn had more to do with influence and amicable relations than anything else."

Yet the aims of the Ley de Costas are basically noble ones: on the one hand, it is designed to ensure that the coast is protected and maintained. On the other hand, it is supposed to ensure that the general public has unlimited access to the beach. However, the coastal law has led to uproar because of the apparently random way in which the coastline has been measured and the fact that the law is being applied retrospectively. "This is an attack on property buyers' protection through law," believes Carmen del Amo. "It can't be the case that residential property that was bought legally according to the laws of the time can suddenly be transferred to the state."

What the President of Formentera's Island Council, Jaume Ferrer (Gent per Formentera, GxF), has to say about the new coastline demarcation

"We need a protected zone, but no repossessions"

IbizaNOW:
You've met for discussions with representatives of the Ministry of the Environment and homeowners threatened with repossession on several occasions to date. What stage have the negotiations reached?
Jaume Ferrer:
Indeed, we've been discussing the issue for years. Measuring the coastline, especially on a small island like Formentera, is a very complicated and confusing business. Unfortunately, we haven't made any breakthroughs to date. There are probably going to be many more meetings in future.

IbizaNOW:
Do you see any chance of both sides coming to an agreement and avoiding repossessions?
Jaume Ferrer:
I'm trying to stay optimistic; however, neither I nor the Island Council has a solution to this problem. We all know that politicians from all of the parties, regardless of whether they're based in Madrid or Palma, have been promising us a solution for years now. But we're also aware that very little has changed in the interim.

The "new" coastline winds its way unevenly along the beach, a thin line that runs along the shore. No buildings can be constructed within this zone - and any that are will be classified as illegal - despite the fact that they were built legally after obtaining planning permission... The purple line shows a second protected area: however, here buildings are allowed. The thick red lines on the map are roads that have nothing to do with the coastline demarcation

Click on the image for a 1000pixel wide image

IbizaNOW:
Can you understand why the coastline in some places is located 300 metres inland whilst in others it is just 30 metres away from the sea?
Jaume Ferrer:
That's a question you'll have to ask the coastal authorities or the Ministry of the Environment in Madrid. I think that a consistent coastline would be much easier to explain to people.

IbizaNOW:
Assuming that the Ministry of the Environment refuses to make further changes to the coastline, what would that mean for Formentera?
Jaume Ferrer:
The livelihoods of hotel and restaurant owners would be at risk. Although we're not talking about large enterprises here, everything that Formentera stands for is at stake. To apply the coastline this strictly to the island would have a serious impact on its economy.

IbizaNOW:
The Island Council of Formentera has doubtless already submitted a proposal to Madrid indicating what can be done to limit the damage to the island.
Jaume Ferrer:
We are indeed looking into some kind of compromise. Our idea is to set up a protected area between the new coastline and the one that dates back to 1969. You have to take into account that the old coastline was located about 25 metres away from the sea, whereas some sections of the new one extend up to several hundred metres inland. In future, no buildings would be constructed within this zone. In return, homeowners would be allowed to keep their houses and businesses, and continue to make full use of them. I am totally against repossessing properties.