Revised || Major changes to Portugal’s controversial waterfront property law came into effect on Tuesday (July 1). The most notable has been the scrapping of stringent deadlines to prove that waterfront properties have been under private ownership for over 150 years. In other words, unless owners are now approached by the government over the law, they can breathe welcome sighs of relief.
Joana Aroso, a lawyer with JPAB & Associados, put the news into a nutshell.
“As there is no longer a deadline, property owners are not technically obliged to prove their property has been in private hands for 150 years unless the government or some other authority contacts them requiring proof,” she told the Resident.
She says there are two options now open to waterfront property owners – either they take on a “cautious approach” and try to obtain proof regardless, or they can simply wait to see if proof is ever sought – bearing in mind the whole process has to be concluded by 2016.
Either way, “a big weight has been lifted from householders’ shoulders”, she agreed.
The original version of the law – which dated back to 1864 – called for owners of properties in waterfront locations to prove in court that their land had been in private hands for at least 150 years by January 1 this year. If they couldn’t, they faced seeing it being gobbled up by the State.
Understandably, opposition came fast and furious. The government first agreed to extend the controversial deadline to July 1 this year – and now it has agreed to a total revision of the unpopular legislation.
Socialist MP still “unimpressed” with the changes
A vociferous critic of the law, Socialist MP Miguel Freitas has told the Resident that he is unimpressed with this new version of the law as it fails to tackle “important matters”.
“Which are the areas at risk of coastal erosion mentioned in the law? Which are the areas considered ‘zonas urbanas consolidadas’ and ‘domínio public hídrico’? These are essential questions that need an answer from the Portuguese Environmental Agency,” he told us.
Freitas stressed that if the government did not complete the marking out of public domain hydric land and the other ‘proof-free’ areas before 2016, his party would be on the case in no uncertain terms.
“If things continue at this rate, it will take another 150 years to mark these areas,” he contended.
Thumbs up from property owners
Nonetheless, Manuela Netto Rocha, a property owner in Ericeira who successfully led one of the biggest outcries against the law, calls this new version “much better” than the last.
Talking to the Resident, she said, referring to the scrapping of the deadlines: “We no longer have that sword pointed at our chest, and there are some areas that are no longer subject to proof.”
Main changes to waterfront law:
• Deadlines have been scrapped. Householders will no longer face deadlines while trying to prove that their property has been in private hands for over 150 years.
• Proof unnecessary in exceptional cases. Property owners will not be subject to proof if their property is located in an area not considered by the government as “Domínio Público Hídrico” (public domain), nor if located in a ‘zona urbana consolidada’ (an area where there is neither risk of coastal erosion nor the breaching of sea waters and which has been urbanised since 1951). Also, if documents from the 1864-68 time period have been rendered illegible or been destroyed in fires or other similar situations, then the properties are presumed by the government to be private.
• Riverside properties left out of law. Riverside properties will not be subject to this law, unless they are located in areas under the jurisdiction of maritime or port authorities. Houses located near ‘albufeiras’ (artificial lakes) will also not require proof, as they are “man-made”.
• Deadline for water authority to complete marking of public domain areas. The national water authority has until 2016 to complete the marking of areas considered of public domain. The criteria used to complete these markings will be decided by a member of the government responsible for the environment.
By MICHAEL BRUXO
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