Repairs to the Transformer

Attached is the bill for the repairs to the Transformer, as mentioned in an earlier post.
As usual, just left click on the image to view it full size.

Not being an accountant, I do not claim to understand how the figures have been arrived at, however there seems no mention of I.V.A (VAT) and he has been paid with two cheques Al Portador (cash) in the amount of 2661.50 Euro each.

With regards to I.V.A, my understanding has always been that Mi Sol is not allowed to reclaim this tax, although we are obliged to pay it. I intend to speak to the Administrators next week to clarify the situation.

Photos

Here are some old photos from around 1979 / 1980, very kindly sent to me by Alf and Vicky Wheeler.

The Great Gardening Fiasco

You will recall from a previous Post that Pepe was asked to obtain a new Strimmer for the Gardener to use, we asked that a strong, good quality machine be obtained.

Pepe did indeed acquire the new strimmer, although why he had to go all the way to San Pedro to get it, when they are easily and cheaply available in Torrevieja, is a mystery.

I recently visited a DIY Superstore about 5 minutes drive from Mi Sol, and discovered that their cheapest petrol Strimmer was 119 Euro, their most expensive one was a heavy duty McCulloch with additional brush cutting blades costing 449 Euro. The one Pepe bought for Mi Sol would certainly seem to be in the lower half of that price range.

Pepe presented a bill for 600 Euro bank statement 22/2/07 cheque number 003410372. When I asked him what the bill was for he replied a new Strimmer, wheelbarrow and various gardening tools. Three days ago I had to lend the Gardener a pair of my own garden shears so he could carry out his work. It is entirely possible that Pepe was not on Mi Sol at the time, and Juan could not get into the store to get his own. Juan did not say that, only that he had no shears. A later inspection of the tool store revealed an old shovel, two light grass rakes (one minus handle) a pair of croppers, a hammer, an ocho (hoe), a wheelbarrow and very little else. Perhaps the new gardening tools are being kept somewhere else, they are certainly not in the Gardening store.

Predictably, after a few days use the strimmer broke down, it was given back to Pepe, in order for it to be repaired and has not been seen since.

Earlier this year, with the sanction of the Committee, Pepe sacked Juan the Gardener for not working properly. Pepe was unable to find a replacement Gardener so Juan was re-instated. Pepe asked Committee member Dereck Olive and myself to supervise Juan, which we readily agreed to do. A few days later I asked Juan to move some rubbish which was blocking the entrance to a circle, some time later, noticing it had not been moved I asked Juan the reason. He replied Pepe had told him the he (Pepe) was the boss and Juan only took orders from him.

It is well known that Juan needs supervising, but when supervised properly is capable of working hard. What seems to be happening is that Pepe is not on Mi Sol very much, for example it is now Tuesday evening Pepe has not been on Mi Sol since Sunday afternoon,

During these periods Juan is left to his own devices and does as he likes, when Pepe returns he complains that Juan has not done anything. I was witness to a conversation between the two of them last week, which could only be described as comical, each one blaming the other.

At the meeting last week Pepe told the Committee he was going to sack Juan, yet again, at the end of this month. Juan is not only the Gardener, but clears the rubbish and carries out general handyman tasks. In addition he also maintains the swimming pool in the summer months. All the legal Gardeners that Pepe have contacted only want to do Gardening, not clearing rubbish or other tasks. Therefore it would seem that to replace Juan we would have to employ two, possibly three people. This may not be a bad thing when the finances of the Park are stable enough to permit it. Whether we are in that position yet, is open to debate. I have obtained an estimate from a proper commercial pool maintenance company of around 400 Euro per month, subject to a site inspection.

There are several able and willing members of the Committee who are very keen to spend their time and effort in helping the Community, perhaps if Pepe were to delegate responsibility for the Gardening to one of these people, it would take some of the weight off the shoulders of Pepe and put and end to this silly situation.

Electricity Cut

Recently Mi Sol was woken by the noise of a JCB merrily digging a trench from the road outside the caravans to the outside of the property of Juan Muñez, see photos.

As is often the case these days, Pepe was not on the Park, so I had to wait until Saturday morning to ask him what was going on. He told me that his Brother in Law kept cutting the electrical cable supplying the street light outside his property, and in order to curb this activity, a new cable was being laid to supply a street light outside the property of Juan Muñez. This leaves a redundant street light and I was asked where it best to re-site it.

I was not aware this work was being carried out, neither have I seen a quotation for the work from Juan Muñez. Some of the Committee members I have spoken to were not aware of it either.
Therefore again, I am unable to tell you how much this work is costing Mi Sol.

Three points seem to arise from this:-

Why would a member of the opposing faction to Pepe keep cutting the power cable to the Street lights (allegedly)?

Why do the Committee never see three quotations for work such as this being carried out ? Three quotations are supposed to be supplied for any work being proposed.
I have only ever seen two quotations for work in the last six months, they were both from Juan Muñez. These were for the Wet Room and Garage. and the electrical updating.

Would laying electrical cables six inches or less beneath a road of hardcore (see photo showing the red plastic tube with the three cables inside it) be considered good practice or safe?

Whilst in the Office on Saturday, an Owner came in to ask if we had fitted new detectors to the Street Lights, because they kept going on and off when he walked under them. They do seem to have had a mind of their own recently, turning on and off without warning. Pepe explained that a sensor used to operate the Lights is not working properly.

Update.

On Monday morning an owner from circle "U" complained to me that Juan Muñez and his workers turned off the water supply to the circle without warning. It seems they have laid a new water pipe alongside the electrical cables in the shallow trench, also terminating in a box outside the property of Juan Muñez. Why this pipe has been laid is not known, as Pepe never mentioned anything about it when he told me about the new electrical cables being laid.

Juan Muñez also connected into this owners electrical supply, without his knowledge or permission, in order to use electrical equipment in the circle. When finished he left the live, unfused cable laying on the ground in the circle. The Owner in question has given me the cable, which I will show Pepe, if and when he comes back onto Mi Sol this week. Fortunately the owner spotted and removed the cable before the rain started on Monday evening. This is the second complaint to me about Juan Muñez and his men showing lack of consideration during the last week.

We as owners have been relieved of a huge amount of money by Juan Muñez over the last few years, surely we are entitled to expect the common courtesy of being informed in advance of when he is going to interrupt water and electricity supplies in order to carry out his activities.

Posted Thursday 29th March 2007

New Court Case

The Committee have been informed by the Administrator that a new Court case has been started by the Leader of the opposing faction and is due to be heard on the 23rd April 2007.

It seems the other side are taking Pepe to Court demanding that all the keys, documents and Bank accounts belonging to Mi Sol are handed over to them. What grounds they have for bringing this action is not known. I hope to find out by speaking with the Lawyers before the case is heard.

This is in keeping with their declared intention that as long as Pepe is President they will continue.
When one Court case finishes they will start another and just keep on doing it.

Committee Meeting

Yesterday Wednesday 21st March a meeting of the Committee was held in the Office.
I did not attend, therefore the notes here reflect the information given to me by a Committee member who was there. Eleven people attended including Pepe, the Administrator, and assistant to the Administrator who translated for the meeting.

Pepe was asked if he would stand down as President of Mi Sol now that the Court case of earlier this month had been heard. This is in keeping with his verbal assurance that he would, and also in line with the agreement made at the Committee meeting of August 2006 and by a vote in favour of that by a majority of Owners attending the AGM held on the Bar Terrace in September 2006.

One of those attending said that this was not true, that Pepe never agreed to stand down after this court hearing. The Administrator replied that in fact everything said was true and accurate. Pepe had agreed to abide by the Owners decision made at the AGM in September 2006

One member said that if Pepe complied with this, it would be "giving in " to the "Other side"
The reply to this was, that whilst it is true the main demand from the other side would be met, Pepe does a great deal of work for Mi Sol. It was pointed out that he had been in Office now for almost 10 years. It was felt that as he refuses to delegate any responsibility to anyone else, the task of being President is becoming too much for one person of his age to cope with fully. Often he has to be reminded of things that should be done.
It was not giving in to the "other side", merely a natural progression reflecting the views of the majority of owners at the AGM in September 2006.

It was pointed out that some of the members on the Committee had many times complained that the wishes of the Community as voted at Annual General Meetings was often ignored, but now when it suited them, were quite happy to support Pepe in doing the very same thing.

Pepe said that he was not going to stand down as President and indeed was going to stand for election again at the AGM in September 2007.

Bank Statement

Here is the latest statement from Banco Popular.

Damage

Recent strong winds have caused some damage on the park, with large tree branches and television aerials blown down. One owner awoke to find a large section of her roof covering in next doors garden.

The plastic "Privado" sign attached to the main gates has also been destroyed by persons unknown. The photo shows the remains of the sign on the floor. Recently someone tried to remove one of the electric motors from the main gates, but was disturbed and ran off.

There is a video camera recording system installed in the Entrance area, which has not worked for some considerable time. Attempts will be made to repair and extend it if possible.

No Water Supply

During the last week two circles were without water supplies for 24 hours, whilst a leak was being repaired. When I asked why it took 24 hours to restore supplies, the answer was "it needs to dry out" What exactly needed drying out I was unable to determine.

Some owners affected by this work complained that they had not been informed they would be without water, especially for 24 hours. Whilst requests to have the leak repaired are written in the Work Book, which is kept in the Office., it was not so urgent that owners could not be informed of when the work would commence.

One of the reasons the Committee decided to have two shower/toilet rooms built was in case such a situation as the one mentioned above occurred.

We have no idea how much Juan Muñez will be charging for this work.

Community Gardeners

A new group has been formed consisting at present of five members of the community, who are donating their time freely to improving the common areas of the park by planting flowers and shrubs. Photos are attached of part of their work at the entrance to Mi Sol. Some owners have donated plants, and some even bought plants to donate. Whilst only a small start, it is helping to rebuild some of the Community spirit sadly lacking over the last three years or so.
If you would like to join the group if only for an hour a week, please email me at

misolpark@gmail.com

Car and Trailer

Here is a photo of the Car and Trailer for use by the Gardener. In the background the showerblock converted to Garage and Tool store where they are kept when not in use.

Bank Statement

Here is the latest statement from Banco Popular

Meeting with Lawyers continued.

It was asked why a Spanish Lady Owner had been taken to court for debt to the Community a second time for the same amount. The Lawyers explained that the first hearing had been refused because the names of the Lady in question were written on the Court Summons in the "wrong order" This had now been rectified and the case won. The Lawyers said that they could only present the case with the information they had been given by the Community, if names had been given to them in the wrong order, or spelt incorrectly it was not their fault. This argument was accepted by those of us present, but we wondered why this had only been revealed to us after two years, why had we not been told about this before?

There are several Owners who have Court Judgements against them for debt to the Community who have not paid the amounts levied by the Courts. We asked what is the next step in these cases. The lawyers explained that if they refuse to pay the next step under Spanish Law will be to embargo their Bank Accounts, more drastic actions can be taken by the Courts in the event the former step is not effective. It is worth noting that whilst the legal process may be slow, once started it does not stop until the debt is recovered.

The question was then asked, what action was being taken against certain members of the Community who claimed to be the Governing body of the park, issuing documents with false identity numbers which is a criminal act. The lawyers explained that several people had approached them willing to testify against these people, but were too frightened to actually sign the papers required to start the criminal proceedings.

We explained that we were required by the Guardia Civil to supply the names, addresses and identification details of all persons living in rented property on the Park. One person who owns the apartments, and caravans opposite, has refused to give us details of her tenants as required by the Guardia Civil. This is particularly relevant given the recent problems with a Spanish youth living in one of her apartments, and more recently burglaries of properties witnessed by some owners, carried out by some recent tenants living in the Caravans.
We were advised to contact the Guardia Civil and let them deal with the Owner directly.

We were advised that this owner has lost the appeal against the Court judgement she received for debt to the Community and has now paid in the region of 13,000 Euro into the Court account at Banesto Bank. We expect to receive this money from the Court in about four weeks time.
This money is in respect of the apartments, the legality of claiming against her for the caravans is still being investigated by the Lawyers. The question regarding "rights of access " through Mi Sol to the caravans, and the parking of cars by her Tenants on the Mi Sol Roadway is also being investigated. Whilst many of her Tenants are decent law abiding citizens, some of them are less desirable and causing problems to Owners that we can well do without.

The lawyers were asked to send letters to various owners who are using Mi Sol land, that whilst they can continue to use the land they are reminded that it still is Community property and therefore must not attempt to claim it as their own.
The Lawyers explained that under Spanish Law we are not allowed to do that. We must either claim back the land from these owners or sell it to them. Any letters sent to them on the subject must be by Certificated mail. Photos and plans of the land in question will also need to be supplied to the Lawyers.

Alberto explained that he had attended a meeting with the Administrator representing the other faction. They demanded three things in order for them to stop their campaign.

1. Pepe must resign.
Over the past three years I have attempted to negotiate a settlement with them. Both their former and present leaders have always insisted that as long as Pepe remained president they would continue with their actions and Court cases. They have at least been consistent on this point. Alberto told us that Pepe did not wish to be President any longer but was staying on the advice given by the Lawyers. This point was discussed in the last post.

2. We accept any payments made to them by Owners were legitimate.

3. We write off all debts incurred by them.

With regard to the other two conditions, the point was forcefully made that there was no way we could even consider accepting such demands given the enormous financial and social damage this group have caused the Community.
I explained that the only possible way any negotiations could even begin, was for the other faction to produce true, legal and accurate accounts to us, showing who paid them and what the money was spent on. Despite several promises by their former and present leaders to show me such documents, this has never happened. They also agreed to this at a public meeting on the Bar terrace in October 2006. In any event the proposals and details of any possible agreement should be put to a General meeting for all owners to vote on.

Meeting with Lawyers

At the request of some Committee members, Pepe arranged a meeting with the Mi Sol Lawyers at their office in Torrevieja. Pepe indicated that he would not attend the meeting in order for us to be able to discuss freely anything we wanted. The meeting was held at 10.30 am this morning, in attendance were Rosario and Maria (the Lawyers), Alberto the Administrator, Shelagh Shaw, Pat Olive, Emilia Estrada who very kindly translated for us, and myself.

The meeting started by Pat and Shelagh asking several questions regarding legal matters concerning the Park. I will deal with these in another post, this post concerns the Court proceedings in Elche yesterday and matters surrounding that.

The case held yesterday concerns a General meeting of the owners in 2004, which both sides of the present dispute attended. It was agreed at that meeting to hold a vote for President between Pepe and Antonio Escudero, the winner to become President of Mi Sol Park. After three recounts, called for, and scrutinised by one of Antonios supporters, Pepe was declared the winner. The other side are now saying that this meeting was illegal. If they were to win this case, it would mean all subsequent meetings that have been called by Pepe since then would be illegal. Yesterday was for presenting the case by the Lawyers of both sides, the verdict will be given in February 2008.

We put it to the Lawyers this morning that originally I was going to stand for election as President at the AGM held in September 2006, but in light of the advice to the Community by them, I changed that to standing for Vice President, and if elected, Pepe would resign after the Court hearing yesterday, and I would take over until the AGM in September. This was agreed by unanimous vote at the Committee meeting prior to the AGM of September 2006, and voted for by a majority of Owners attending that AGM. Maria said this was not the case, however the Administrator Alberto told her she was wrong, and what we were saying was in fact true.

We then told the Lawyers that we felt they had mislead the Community by advising that Pepe should stay as President until the Court hearing yesterday, and that the date of February 2008 was not mentioned before. We asked them why they gave this advice to the Community, their answer was that it would make it easier for them!! When questioned further they admitted that there is no legal reason for Pepe to remain as President, any Court hearings could be attended by a new President, and Pepe would be called as a witness. They said that if Pepe refused to attend any of these Court hearings as a witness it would cause problems. It was pointed out to them, that anyone who had lived on Mi Sol for more than four years and elected President would be just as capable as Pepe of explaining the situation and defending the interests of the majority of the Community. It was also pointed out to them that this was not about any individual being President, but was about the best interests and wishes of the Community as a whole. At this they shrugged their shoulders and said it was for the Community to decide.

Court Case

Yesterday, Tuesday 13th March 2007 a court hearing was held in Elche. Only Lawyers from both sides were allowed to attend. Later this morning Pepe and members of the Committee are attending a meeting at the offices of the Lawyer for Mi Sol, where we are to be informed of the Judgement.

After this meeting, I will post here the information we are given, with copies of the relevant documents, if possible.

At the AGM of September 2006, the majority of Owners attending voted that Pepe should resign as President after this Court hearing, whatever the outcome of the case.

Electricity Problem

Yet again Mi Sol is having problems with the electricity supply. At around 2 am this morning phase two of the three phase system broke down. This left around a third of the park without electricity supplies for about 18 hours. All of the park was without supply for around 5 hours whilst temporary repairs were carried out. This involved "wiring out" part of the system in order to restore supplies for tonight. I do not know the exact function of the damaged part, possibly some sort of regulator, in any event it has burnt out. Pepe informed me that the transformer will also have to be removed tomorrow and taken away for repair as that is damaged also, a spare will be installed in the meantime.
This will of course incur more loss of supply tomorrow, but hopefully only for a couple of hours.
There have been intermittent problems with phase two for some time, and recently the street lights have been switching on and off for no apparent reason. Whether the street light problem is related to the present incident, I do not know, we will find out when the system has been restored to normal.

Bank Statement

Here is the latest Statement from Banco Popular

Residencia

Under a Spanish Royal decree 240/2007 approved on the 16th February 2007 by the Spanish Council of Ministers, European citizens living in Spain will no longer be issued with Residence cards after the 28th March 2007. The new decree requires ALL EU citizens living in Spain for more than THREE MONTHS to register in person at the Foreigners Office (opposite the Town Hall in Torrevieja) or at designated Police stations. A certificate will be issued containing Name, address, Nationality, Identity number and date of registration. Those who already have Residencia cards, will have to register when their card expires and will be issued with a certificate as mentioned.
One of the advantages of the new system is that Certificate holders will be entitled to permanent residency, unlike now, where you have to re-apply every five years. Further improved rights will also be available to Certificate holders, although I do not know what these are at the moment.
The new Decree 240/2007 has to be submitted to the EU Justice Commission under the EU directive 2004/38.EC. to make sure it complies with the relevant legislation.
Action by the EU is still apparently being taken against Spain, because these new rules should have been in effect about 11 months ago.

Remember you should carry identification with you at ALL times in Spain.
I have no information at the moment what the penalties will be for not complying with the new law, but it is certain there will be some.

Social Security Ongoing Problem

At the last Committee meeting 3rd March 2007 it was explained that Mi Sol is still being charged Social Security payments for the Cleaner who was Employed, not by Pepe, but by another person calling himself President of Mi Sol. Even though, as explained in a previous post, the lady in question has been drawing her State Pension for some months it seems that until the person who employed her sends the required paperwork to the Social Security offices explaining she is no longer employed, we will continue to receive demands for payment of her monthly contributions.

The other person calling himself President stepped down as leader of his faction in October 2006, and it is understood he is no longer an owner on Mi Sol Park. His replacement now insists in calling himself President . The person who employed this cleaner, is the only one who can sign the the papers needed to stop these demands for Social Security payments, at least this is what the Committee have been told.

On Monday of this week, some members of the Committee and Melanie from the Administrators APYME approached this "New President" to ask if he would assist us in resolving this problem. He flatly refused to help us in contacting his predecessor or in any other way regarding this matter. He further alleged that our Administrators APMYE did not keep to arrangements made for meeting with the Administrator of his group. This is not true, APYME have made several attempts to meet with their Administrator. We have yet to see a single document from their side of any relevance.

At a meeting held on Mi Sol Bar Terrace on the 25th October 2006 at which owners of both sides attended, it was agreed that the Lawyers, Administrators and Committees of both sides meet in order to show each other all financial documents and any other relevant information. After this meeting they were to report back to all owners. Over four months later this meeting still has not taken place. I have personally shown their "President" copies of our statements from Banco Popular, yet despite promises, we have not seen a SINGLE financial document from him or his Administrator. On the other hand all documents from the management of Mi Sol by Pepe and the Committee are freely available for ANY owner to view as proven by the Bank Statements, etc posted on this Web Log.

IF THE OTHER SIDE WERE TO PRODUCE ANY MEANINGFUL DOCUMENTS, I WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO POST THEM HERE AS WELL. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WEB LOG IS TO GIVE ALL OWNERS TRUE AND ACCURATE INFORMATION WHEREVER IT COMES FROM.

Roads

Quotations have been obtained for making up all the remaining dirt roads on the park to Tarmac.
One is for 6 Euro per square metre, and the other is for 8 Euro per square metre. Based on these figures it is estimated the total cost will be in the region of 100,000 Euro. In order to minimise the possibility of flooding owners properties, the existing roads will be dug out, new hardcore laid with the tarmac on top to finish at or below the present level.

Various options are being considered on ways to raise the money for this project, and a separate savings bank account will be set up for this purpose. It is hoped a firm set of proposals will be available to put before all owners at the AGM in September.

Trailer Again

It has been agreed to purchase a trailer from Pepe at a cost of 850 Euro, the number plate has been obtained. This is a good sized trailer, purpose built, much stronger than the commercially built trailers I had inspected previously. All that remains now is to persuade the gardener to take the rubbish off site.

Vandalism

In a recent post I mentioned two Spanish youths who were causing damage and generally behaving in an antisocial manner. Only one of the youths actually lives on Mi Sol, and I had not seen him for about a week. It turns out he had been away on holiday in Madrid. Since his return the two of them have been up to their old tricks of causing damage and upset to residents, including cutting holes in the perimeter fence with bolt croppers.
A petition was apparently started in the office demanding action against these youths, however it seems the petition has mysteriously vanished. It was reported at the Committee meeting on Saturday 3rd March 2007 that the Guardia Civil have twice visited the parents of the youth living on Mi Sol. So hopefully this will put an end to their bad behaviour, we will see.

Bank statement

Here is the latest Statement from Banco Popular.

Trees

Two owners have recently asked if trees outside their properties could be removed.
One of the owners attended the Committee meeting on Saturday 3rd March 2007.
He explained that the roots of a tree outside his property were causing damage to his house and asked if the Committee would have it removed. The Administrator explained that under rules issued by the Torrevieja Town Hall, it is not permitted to destroy ANY tree. Palm trees and Olive trees in particular must be dug up and transplanted elsewhere. He was not able at that time to tell us what penalties would be imposed for breaking these rules.

Whilst they expressed sympathy with the owners plight, in light of this information the Committee were obliged to tell the owner that they were unable to sanction the destruction of this tree.
He was also advised that if he took it upon himself to destroy the tree, he would almost certainly be denounced by a particular owner renowned for this kind of action. This is clearly not a satisfactory state of affairs and could have serious implications for many other owners whose property is in close proximity to large trees. The Committee did agree to employ proper authorised contractors to prune the trees on the park. When the contractors are on site, I will ask them what can be done about the trees whose roots are causing problems.

I understand that many years ago, owners clubbed together to buy and plant these trees. It would seem that they did not take advice about this and planted trees which were unsuitable.
These trees grow extremely quickly and are now starting to cause problems with their roots.
A solution needs to be found if further damage is to be avoided.

Trailer Update

At yesterdays Committee meeting, I raised the subject of a trailer for the Gardeners car. After explaining the economics as described in a previous post here on the subject, Pepe and the Committee accepted the proposal that a new trailer should be purchased rather than continue to hire skips for the garden rubbish.

Swimming Pool

Recently an owner sent an email to me asking when the swimming pool would be open.
I replied that normally the pool is open from late May until the last Saturday of September, but that unless some serious issues surrounding the running of the pool were resolved, it may not open at all this year.

At the committee meeting held in the office this morning Pepe said that some owners had requested the pool be opened at Easter. There seemed no particular objection to this except on the grounds of the increased cost of maintaining the pool for an extra two months without any additional income to pay for it.

However it was pointed out that several owners are unhappy at having to pay Community fees, some of which are used to pay for the upkeep of the pool, when people from all over Torrevieja, often by the car load, come onto Mi Sol to use the pool for free.

Until about three years ago when certain members of the Community started issuing false tickets, the system used to be that, a Lifeguard was employed, and that pool entry tickets were issued by the office to those owners who had paid their Community fees. This seemed to work quite well.

I pointed out this morning that my understanding was Mi Sol is legally obliged to employ a qualified Lifeguard during the hours when the pool is officially open. This is a requirement because of the VOLUME of water in the pool not on the square metres. Mi Sol pool is very deep compared to most Community pools. There were those that did not agree with me, and said that the posting of "disclaimer" notices around the pool was sufficient. They are correct in so far as to the use of the pool outside the officially posted opening hours. There were reports in the local papers last year regarding accidents that occurred in Community pools where no qualified Lifeguard was in attendance. This resulted in very serious fines levied against "the whole Community". In other words every owner was liable to pay their share of the fine.

It was finally agreed that the pool will open on the 1st May provided we can employ a qualified Lifeguard, and pool entry tickets can be printed in time. The question of whether we have any insurance covering the pool was not raised this morning, but I will be asking Pepe in the next few days whether we do in fact have adequate insurance in force.

The need to employ a Lifeguard could be overcome by reducing the volume of water in the pool.
Studies are being undertaken on how best to achieve this, either by filling in part of the pool to reduce the depth of water, or separate the main pool into two individual pools. It would be very cost effective to eliminate the need for a Lifeguard, as they are expensive to employ .... if you can find one available !!

First Mi Sol Newsletter March 1974

Here is the first ever (as far as I know) Mi Sol newsletter dated March 1974.

Fame at Last

Here is an article from the Costa Blanca News that will interest many of you I am sure.

¿ Selling ?

There are several owners trying to sell their properties/plots at the moment. Many of these owners have court judgements against them for debt to the Community.

After discussing this with the Administrators, the advice to these owners would be to consult a solicitor to obtain the latest legal position on trying to sell a property with a debt on it. Owners wishing to sell are also advised to obtain the Escrituras for their plots if they do not already have them, as I understand the Administrators will not register new owners without copies of these documents.

A notice has been posted outside the Office advising any prospective purchasers to visit the Office to learn all the details regarding a specific property they may be interested in.

Recently one owner attempted to sell his caravan and plot by auction on Ebay.
However the auction listing grossly misrepresented the property he was selling. For example it was advertised prominently as being of 150 square metres, when in fact it is only 100 square metres. Neither did he mention the 1300 Euro debt on the plot, yet he expected any successful bidder to pay a deposit without seeing or learning anything of the real situation. There were other statements in the auction listing, which at best, could be described as being economical with the truth.
A copy of the auction listing was presented to the Committee, who felt that whilst this sort of advertising was deplorable it is not their place to interfere if someone was stupid enough to buy this property from an internet site unseen. It was suggested the Committee write to Ebay regarding the false claims made in the auction listing, no definitive answer to this discussion seemed to emerge. However I do know that quite a few owners are members of Ebay. one or more of them could well make a complaint to Ebay in their own right as members.

For those of you not familiar with the Internet Auction site Ebay, it uses a very good system of self regulation known as "feedback". When two parties complete a transaction they are able to leave "feedback" comments about each other regarding the quality of goods, speed of payment etc. Over time Ebay members build up their personal "feedback" rating, this is openly available for any Ebay member to study and gives a fair indication of whether a particular member can be trusted to deal with. Ebay takes a very dim view of any fraudulent or misleading auction listings, and if it does receive a complaint about this particular auction there is little doubt the member will be banned from Ebay. This would be very serious for the owner in question as he runs a business selling items on Ebay. Once banned in this way it is very difficult, if not impossible to become a member of Ebay again.

If you would like to know more about how to use Ebay, how it works, or become a member send an email to :-

misolpark@gmail.com