GREENPEACE has threatened to take legal action and stage major protests if the Spanish government pushes through plans to relax coastal planning regulations.
The environmental group is angry following comments by Spain’s Environment Minister Miguel Arias Canete promising to make the Coastal Law ‘more compatible with economic growth’.
The proposals would make it easier for waterfront developments to be approved, leaving the coastline exposed to potential environmental damage.
The Coastal Law defines an area within 100 metres of the beach as public land, meaning that thousands of foreigners with property within the zone no longer have ownership, despite buying in good faith before the law was introduced in 1988.
This has led Britain and other European countries to put pressure on the new PP government to modify the law.
Many expats were granted a 30-year concession, but with many of those set to expire in 2018, the government is being forced to take action.
