On May 7, 2009, lawyer Miguel Colom, counsel for the EUCC Les Planes del Rei, sent Christian Peuman, president of the EUCC, a legal note outlining the situation of the urbanisation Planas del Rey (Planes del Rei), the responsibilities of the parties, and the strategy to adopt in relation to the Municipality of Pratdip and the challenges raised by some property owners.
1) Nature of the document
- Type: internal legal note / dossier, drafted by the EUCC’s legal counsel.
- Author: lawyer Miguel Colom (counsel for the EUCC).
- Recipient: Christian Peuman, president of the EUCC.
- Purpose: legal assessment, operational and defensive recommendations.
- Scope: framework for the actions of the Management Council and justification of forthcoming decisions.
2) Context and reminders
- Institutional tensions: ongoing disputes with the Municipality of Pratdip over the effective assumption of the urbanisation and enforcement of court rulings.
- Recurring litigation: previous rulings and judgments reminding that the existence of an EUCC does not exempt the municipality from guaranteeing minimum public services.
- Internal climate: challenges by some property owners to the legitimacy of the fees and the governance of the entity.
3) Content — key points of the note
- Reminder of legal bases: synthesis of rulings and regulations applicable to Planas del Rey (Planes del Rei) and to the EUCC.
- Competences of the EUCC: management and maintenance, representation, and collection of fees necessary for ongoing operations.
- Relations with the municipality: highlighting municipal shortcomings despite court rulings; need to document every action.
- Recommended strategy: strengthen the EUCC’s legitimacy, secure the decisions of the Management Council, anticipate and respond to challenges.
- Financial dimension: continuation of fee collection to ensure minimum services and prevent interruption of essential operations.
4) Issues and risks
- Preserve service continuity in the urbanisation in the absence of sufficient municipal intervention.
- Limit legal exposure of the EUCC and its leaders (traceability of legal opinions and decisions).
- Avoid a disorderly dissolution without a replacement solution (municipal reception, another entity) that would jeopardise routine maintenance.
- Regulate fee collection in order to reduce the risk of individual challenges.
5) Critical reading / Observations
- Defensive stance: the note primarily seeks to protect the existence and role of the EUCC in a context of hostility (municipal and private).
- Little openness to a political agreement: the emphasis is placed on legal safeguarding rather than negotiation with the municipality.
- Probative function: the dossier formalises legal opinions to legitimise the choices of the Management Council and the president.
- Known trajectory: these positions foreshadow the continuation of blockages until later decisions that would eventually lead to the dissolution of the EUCC (2016).
6) Suggested next steps
- Archive and record all municipality–EUCC communications (requests, responses, formal notices) based on the lawyer’s recommendations.
- Secure the decisions of the Management Council (convocations, minutes, legal bases) to reduce the risk of nullification.
- Inform property owners through concise notes explaining the legal framework for fees and the minimum obligations to be funded.
- Map ongoing litigation (subjects, stages, risks) and cross-reference with the jurisprudential reminders mentioned in the note.
Conclusion
The note by lawyer Miguel Colom provides a framework of legal defence for the EUCC Les Planes del Rei in 2009: it justifies the continuation of the entity’s functions, the collection of fees, and the documentation of municipal shortcomings. While this strategy limits the EUCC’s immediate exposure, it is part of a long-standing conflictual dynamic with the Municipality of Pratdip, without resolving the structural issue: the reception and effective assumption of Planas del Rey (Planes del Rei) by the municipality.
