The European Parliament has recommended suspending EU aid to Spain until its government stops promoting its aggressive urbanisation of rural areas.
The MEPs have warned that the Parliament can put a brake on cohesion funds paid by the European Commission through its budgetary powers and will put €35.1bn earmarked for Spain in 2007-13 on ice until it mends its ways.
The Parliament adopted a report prepared by Danish Green MEP Margrete Auken which says Spain must "suspend and review all new urbanisation plans which do not take into consideration the criteria of environmental sustainability and social responsibility and which do not guarantee respect for the rightful ownership of legitimately acquired property in compliance with the Spanish constitution".
MEPs have been concerned for some time about the way urbanisation agents are selected in Spain and the often excessive powers given to planners and developers by certain local authorities to secure urbanisation.
There was also a warning about Spain's lack of super-municipal or regional planning powers - a possible concern in England where the Government is abolishing regional assemblies and transferring their planning powers to quangos and where the Conservatives want to abolish all regional planning.
The Commission, meanwhile, at the request of the Parliament's Committee on Petitions, has launched an investigation into more than 250 urbanisation projects which have been opposed by water authorities and which petitioners say contravene the Water Framework Directive.
