British ex-pat, 67, is forced to DESTROY his £130,000 Spanish home two months after his wife died from cancer – and could even face six months in prison – after mayor illegally gave planning permission
- Gurney Davey, 67, demolished his Spain home he lived in since 2004 on Friday
- Demolition comes after being told his house was illegal and a long legal battle
- It transpired that a former Spanish mayor had given illegal planning permission
- Mr Davey, from Suffolk in the UK, was told he would have to demolish his house just months after his wife, Diana, died from bowel cancer at the age of 71
- He says he is relieved to an extent that the long fight with Spanish authorities is over, and will continue to live on the land that he owns with his five dogs
A British ex-pat has been forced to knock down his £130,000 Spanish home two months after his wife died from cancer.
But the situation for 67-year-old Gurney Davey, from Suffolk, could get worse because he is facing six months in prison after a mayor illegally gave him planning permission for the house.
‘I was distraught at first, my blood pressure was sky high and then I lost my wife,’ Mr Davey said this week as he was demolishing his home near Tolox, Malaga.
Gurney Davey, 67, has been forced to knock down his £130,000 Spanish home two months after his wife died from cancer
Despite Friday’s demolition also costing him €1,600, he added that it had actually come as ‘some sort of relief’ having fought the legal battle since 2004, over the house he built in 2003.
It was then that legal firm, Manzanares, informed him he would be getting a licence for an ‘almacen’ (or storeroom), which would allow him to build the house.
‘We thought we had done everything right. We got legal advice and went through a lawyer in order to get permission to build the home,’ Davey explained.
But he was later told that his house was one of around 350 that were illegally given planning permission by the former mayor, Juan Vera, who was eventually handed a prison sentence of his own.
Mr Davey was told his house had to be demolished for himself to avoid a six-month prison sentence, with the news coming just after his wife, Diana, died from bowel cancer at the age of 71.
‘Diana fought breast cancer for six years before bowel cancer – I am sure the stress brought it on.’
‘But thankfully it is now over,’ he explained. ‘It has been going on for so long now, I’ve finally come to terms with what needs to be done.
‘Having it demolished was actually a relief,’ he added.
As he still owns the land, he can still live on it – just not in a house.
Despite Friday’s demolition also costing him €1,600, he added that it had actually come as ‘some sort of relief’ having fought the legal battle since 2004, over the house be built in 2003. Pictured: Mr Davey’s home in Spain before it was demolished on Friday
Mr Davey was told that his house was one of around 350 that were illegally given planning permission by the former mayor, Juan Vera, who was eventually handed a prison sentence. Pictured: Mr Davey’s home in Spain after it was demolished on Friday
Now, the father-of-three is planning a minimalist life staying in a converted van, so that his five dogs still have the space to roam.
‘This land is my home, it is my life and these dogs are all I have left.’
Whether or not he still faces a prison sentence, is yet to be confirmed.
The ex-pat only found out about the potential six-month sentence when a court document was delivered to a neighbour’s house.
‘I went straight to Tolox town hall with it. They told me I shouldn’t have received it yet,’ he recalled. ‘They said they were going to be sending the notification to me once they had stamped it.’
He had never been told about the court case that followed on from a Guardia Civil denuncia for an ‘illegal build’, but Davey’s two-bed home should never have been built according to the Malaga court.
Now, the father-of-three is planning a minimalist life staying in a converted van, so that his five dogs (pictured) still have the space to roam
In 2016, and then again in 2017, Davey was ordered to knock down his house, but, in common with a neighbour, he waited for more details.
While his Spanish neighbour, Irene Millan, 29, did eventually hear from the court again, she was given six months to ‘legalise’ her property – an option Davey was never given.
However, his neighbour’s apparent good luck turned into a poisoned chalice.
Having spent €20,000 with the town hall to legalise the dwelling, the court finally refused to accept the new paperwork provided by the council.
Instead, demolition was ordered – which went ahead last week.
To add insult to injury Irene’s 54-year-old father, Manuel Millan, whose name was on the deeds, was also sentenced to six months jail and handed a fine of €6 a day for a year.
Whether or not he still faces a prison sentence, is yet to be confirmed. The ex-pat only found out about the potential six-month sentence when a court document was delivered to a neighbour’s house
As he still owns the land, he can still live on it – just not in a house. Pictured: Mr Davey, a former builder, uses a JCB digger to demolish his own home
The couple, originally from Suffolk in the UK, spent £130,000 building their property.
‘It came as a package – a plot with a new home on it.’
Davey admits he and his wife were perhaps naive to follow the advice of their lawyer.
The lawyer, from legal firm Manzanares, told them that planning permission would be applied for as an almacen – or ‘warehouse’.
Mr Davey (pictured) was told his house had to be demolished for himself to avoid a six-month prison sentence, with the news coming just after his wife, Diana, died from bowel cancer at the age of 71
This way it would come under the remit of Tolox town hall, which would give permission and later they could ‘legalise’ the property.
The language of one legal letter suggests this would be a mere formality, but the property never got legalised.
In fact, the Tolox mayor of the time, Juan Vera, has since been jailed and fined for his part in a scheme.
In most cases the mayor used the very same ‘lax’ procedure of applying to build an ‘almacen’ to try to keep the prying eyes of the Junta authorities away.
‘We thought that was the way things worked in Spain,’ said Davey, a retired builder. ‘We went to see a lawyer and got advice. It turns out that was not the smart thing to do.
‘Why would we deliberately try to build illegally? It makes no sense that we would sell up everything in the UK and risk it all.’
Mr Davey had earlier said that he was forced to ask the town hall for permission to knock his own property down.
‘I will do it myself. I will borrow a JCB from someone and flatten my home of the past 17 years. I will not let the town hall do it and charge me more money.’
It is not the first time British expats have had their homes demolished in Andalucia, with the Priors, in Almeria, the most famous victims.
They still live in the garage of their house today, over 10 years since the house was knocked down in Vera.
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