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
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Can't you hear me S.O.S? Our treasured native dog breeds are at risk of extinctionDo you know your Kerry blue terrier from your Lancashire heeler? A simple lack of publicity is often to blame for some of the UK's native dog breeds flying dangerously low under-the-radar.
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'There are architects and architects, but only one ARCHITECT': Sir Edwin Lutyens and the wartime Chancellor who helped launch his stellar careerClive Aslet explores the relationship between Sir Edwin Lutyens and perhaps his most important private client, the politician and financier Reginald McKenna.
