Belkacem Bouchouala Azirar is the co-owner, along with his ex-wife, of the plot of rustic land in Manacor that is under investigation by the Balearic Government's housing ministry and the National Police for having eleven shanties.
He maintains that these shanties have squatters and that there were already squatters when he bought the plot. He insists that he has never received any rent. "No one has paid me anything."
He denies a claim made by one of the people living in these shanties that, while he hasn't paid rent, he has helped pay electricity and water bills. The electricity bills have amounted to 800 euros a month. Bouchuala says this is not true. "None of the people who live here have ever paid and nor do they pay for electricity or water. I went to the police to have these services cut off, and they informed me that I couldn't do this while these places were occupied. I haven't built any; everything has been built by squatters."
He has a copy of a document submitted to the Manacor Town Hall's social services department in December last year. This states he has a 50% share of the rural property and that he did not give permission for any of the people living there to be registered with the town hall. "What I want is for them to move elsewhere and leave the property vacant," the document adds.
It has emerged that the plot and the shanties have in fact been known to the authorities and been under their scrutiny for some years. In October 2020, the town hall's planning department reported the illegal nature of the shanties to the Council of Mallorca's Agency for the Defence of Territory (ADT), the body that is responsible for investigating and taking action against building infractions on rustic land.
In November 2021 the ADT issued a fine of €50,600 for having carried out the work without a licence. This fine also took account of the fact that it would not be possible to legalise the building work. The Council of Mallorca has this week acknowledged that a demolition order had also been issued by the ADT and that the owners had submitted a plan for demolition.
So, the town hall and the Council of Mallorca have been fully aware of the situation with regard to the land and the buildings for at least five years, during which time nothing appears to have happened. On Wednesday, government housing inspectors turned up.