FAQ

The information in this FAQ has been compiled by a small group of volunteers primarily for the benefit of La Asociación de Gata Residencial members. If you can contribute to this FAQ please use the contact form below or contact us via the secretariat email . Whilst we cannot undertake to answer individual questions, if you have a question that is of general concern, please let us know. Please note that we cannot answer questions on behalf of the council of Gata de Gorgos.

There is a lot of information on this website. If you cannot find what you are looking for using the menus, try using the Search Box at the bottom of the page. You can also search the message forum, which can be useful for recommendations for tradespeople for example

It is important to use the correct address, especially since the numbering system is confusing. Also when our regular post person goes on holiday the replacement is not familiar with the names and addresses.

For the independent houses the first line of the address is simply the street name followed by the house number. e.g. C/ dels Tarongers 76.

However for the houses on a community, the postal address is the location of the community post box, followed by the house number. For the community M12A for example, the community post boxes are at c/ dels Pins 21, so the address of house number 47 is

c/ dels Pins 21, puerta 47

Urb Gata Residencial

03740 Gata de Gorgos

Alicante, Spain

Note however that if the number 47 is missed off, the postbox for the house is not known. Also if the 21 is missed off, the address would be for independent house no 47 on c/ dels Pins. Consequently you might like to write the first line of the address in this case as M12A c/ dels Pins 21, puerta 47. You can find your Manzana number by referring to the site plan

The above refers only to the postal address of a house. For deliveries you would want to give the street name of the entrance door, the Manzana number and the house number. In the above example this would be C/ del Ametlers M12A no 47.

The Ayuntamiento of Gata de Gorgos is responsible for the acceptance (adoption) of Gata Residencial. The developer first requested formal adoption in 2003. In 2008 the Ayuntamiento signed an agreement, giving them sufficient financial resources and the sole responsibility to complete the adoption. The Ayuntamiento provides all municipal services to the residents. All of the houses have approved utility connections (electricity, gas, water) Although the site has been “implicitly accepted”, some maintenance work cannot be carried out in areas subject to a prolonged legal dispute between the Ayuntamiento and Grupo Bertolin over construction work carried out on the site.

It is illegal to make any change to a building or property that does not conform to the building regulations. If such changes are made, the council can at any time, impose a fine and insist that the works are demolished. They will certainly not grant a licence of 2nd occupation (habitation certificate) if there are unapproved works. The Alfar and Arrabel houses are built to the maximum building surface area for the plot size. Any additional solid roof will therefore increase the “surface area” above the allowable limit. According to the new urbanistic law, It is not possible for an illegal construction to be legalised after a period of time.

Copy of email from Toni Signes Sent: Wed, 20 Jan 2021 at 20:20 Subject: Reply from Vice Mayor Toni on the recent email about fines. Dear Louise After our phone conversation I would like to make clear some doubts about building rules and fines on some houses. To your question about if I have sent the town hall architects to check all the houses to fine everybody, the answer is NO. If it's not clear enough I'll say it again. I haven't sent anybody to check anything. Neither myself or anyone of my colleagues in the town hall. But I will explain a couple of things in case somebody has some doubts about it. In Gata we have building rules that have to be kept by all the people that live in the town, and of course, as a part of the town, also in Gata Residencial. The architects of the town hall visit properties when: - somebody ask for a building permission - somebody wants a occupation license - other situations, so many of which that this email would be too long So town hall architects go around the town many times because it is their work, as simple as that. In some situations they find things that are not keeping the rules we have, and they do their job. First they inform, and then they open a file. And this file has to be closed. Sometimes things can be solved asking for permission when the person that is building something hasn't asked for it before. Some things can be solved making some changes in what is being done. Sometimes things can't be changed or we can't give permission (for different reasons) and that person has to be fined and told to take it out. If anybody thinks that fining people is a nice thing to do, they are wrong. It´s not nice. But sometimes is the only thing we can do. When you told me people are worried about being fined I have to say that nobody has to be worried about that, unless they have done something that is not permitted by the building rules. To avoid that situation, I recommend to everybody that before starting a renovation or building something, that it is good idea to come to the town hall and explain what they want to do is permitted or not. With that, we can avoid many problems. Are some people that are being fined, unfortunately I have to say yes. Are there are a lot, I have to say no. About the amount of the fines, that depends on the thing that is being done. Different in every case. About if there are going to be more fines, I would like to say no, but probably yes. How can we avoid that? Well, I have said that before. Asking what can we do, and the things we spoke about at the meeting. As a resume of all, I would like to say: - We haven't sent the architects to check and fine everybody - That if somebody is fined is because they have done something that wasn't allowed - There are ways to do things to avoid the fines - We don't do anything to get money. We don't need to do that - Everybody needs to respect the building rules Sent from Mail for Windows 10

All owners have an obligation to pay the council tax (I.B.I.). This is not optional. The Town Hall of Gata de Gorgos is providing all the services to Gata Residencial that they would provide if the site had been adopted. The amount of this tax is not unreasonable, especially when you consider that for a village of approx. 5000 inhabitants it includes the following: Daily rubbish collection, street lights, a medical centre available 24h per day 365 days of the year, a junior school, a secondary school, a swimming pool, two police stations, library, pensioners club and much more, in addition to the administrative services of the Town Hall.

Not in the opinion of this article.

which states that
“Before July 2008, it was not necessary to obtain a Certificate of Habitation to complete a sale.
.. in July 2008, a new law came into force for all the Spanish territory.
.. this law did not say anything regarding RESALES. So, as consequence, to complete a sale of a resale, it was not necessary to provide this document”

Nevertheless, any householder still requiring a certificate should speak to the Council on an individual basis to find out what they need to pay or the documentation needed. Note that building licences are necessary for all work that has been carried out. Any householder still requiring a certificate should speak to the Council on an individual basis to find out what they need to pay or the documentation needed

The well has being acquired by the council who intend to operate it to supplement the other wells they use for potable water. With the current drought conditions it is unreasonable to operate a separate well for domestic riego water.

Use the bins nearby for household waste and the recycling bins for glass, plastic and paper. Large Items must be taken to the ecoparque. Leaving large items beside the bins is the same as fly-tipping because the council lorries are only designed to empty the bins. A guide to recycling can be found here. Guide to recycling in Spain. DO NOT leave rubbish next to the bins as the regular collection is only to empty the containers. Larger items can be collected by prior arrangement with the council. Larger items and garden waste can be deposited at the Ecoparque We live in a very dry forest area. When disposing of ashes from the fire damp them down. They can easily ignite several hours after a fire has apparently been extinguished.

A. Some useful advice here

Yes. Explanation here

Official guide about residency laws. (in English. Other languages available.)

Motorists driving too fast on the urbanisation. Why is there not a speed limit sign? There is no need for any signs. The speed limit on all urban roads like ours is 30 Km/hr. The Police do the best they can to enforce these limits. Unless indicated otherwise, the speed limits in Spain are: 50 km/h on urban roads with two lanes per direction 30 km/h on urban roads with one lane per direction 20 km/h on urban roads shared with pedestrians Reference

According to this Bloomberg survey, Spain is the healthiest place in the world to live.

Participate in our events.
Even if you are only here for a few weeks each year you can still get involved. If you can help with the organisation or starting new activities or events , so much the better. Remember that we are all volunteers so any help is always welcome.

If you are not happy with the way we do things talk to a member of the committee.

DO NOT send long emails detailing how you think things could be done better. However well-intentioned, emailed suggestions challenge the patience of the people who are actually working on your behalf. Remember that “This is Spain, things get done differently here”. If you can contribute something please get involved. In general the skills that are the most valuable to us are language skills, specifically Valenciano or Castillano in conjunction with English.