In a week when two UK tabloids suggested earth-movers would be moving in on Praia da Luz big-time in a new search for Madeleine McCann, another erroneous report has sowed seeds of panic among beach and waterfront property owners up and down the country.
The Daily Mail carried a scare story headlined: “Hundreds of British expats in Portugal may lose their homes due to 19th century ‘land-grab’ law where government can seize land if built on state property”.
The story came a week after major changes were announced to the law, more or less doing away with all homeowners’ concerns.
As reported in the Resident’s May 2 edition, the controversial Law nº54/2005 of November 15 – which did indeed threaten the ownership of waterfront properties unless homeowners could prove the land had been in private hands for at least 150 years – has since been turned on its head.
Deadlines that had seen householders throwing their hands up in despair over the presentation of documents have been scrapped altogether, while elsewhere major changes have been approved – in some cases doing away with the demands of the law altogether.
Yet in classic “don’t-let-the-facts-get-in-the-way-of-a-good-story” style, the Mail has failed to take this on board and it has even hinted at a mass exodus of British property owners from Portugal as house prices tumble across southern Europe.
Anyone who has any queries about the radically reformed waterfront property law can find answers via the Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA): [email protected] or from campaign group [email protected]
By NATASHA DONN [email protected]
