Uproar over councillor comment British residents were ‘illegal settlers’

THE mayors of several Almeria towns have demanded an apology from Josefina Cruz Villalón, Councillor for Public Works and Housing in the Junta de Andalucia, who refered to British residents as “illegal”.

The socialist mayors of Albanchez, Albox, Arboleas and Oria, expressed their “complete, joint rejection” of Junta de Andalucia’s councillor in the words when she referred to British residents whose homes are under the spotlight for being built on protected or non-urban land as a “group of people who are not from this country and have settled here illegally”.

AUAN (Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No) has also requested political responsibilities from the councillor.

The president, vice-president and spokesperson for the group, Maura Hillen, Brian Reade and Patricia Sampson, also held a meeting with the Almeria Delegate for Public Works and Housing, Jose Manuel Ortiz Bono to obtain more information on the proposed decree which will legalize homes in non-urban areas.

However, Hillen said that there has been no thought given to the human factor of this problem, or the suffering of people living without basic services who can’t wait much longer.

AUAN accuses the Junta de Andalucia of the situation which has arisen in the Almanzora region, which could have been avoided with a stricter application of the law.