Three years after the approval of the Planas del Rey Partial Urban Development Plan, a new phase began. On 21 September 1968, Francisco Lebasque, the developer behind the project, formally asked Pratdip Town Council to accept the transfer of the roads, utility networks and several public services.
This initiative followed a request made by the property owners a few weeks earlier. However, it also came at a particular time: in the autumn of 1968, Francisco Lebasque was facing substantial debts and the seizure of several of his assets.
The available documents do not allow us to conclude that these financial difficulties prompted his proposal. Nevertheless, the close timing of the events provides important context for understanding this first attempt to transfer the infrastructure.
A request made by the property owners
Francisco Lebasque’s letter refers to a request made by the property owners of Planas del Rey. At a general meeting held on 8 August 1968, they voted in favour of transferring several of the development’s infrastructure networks and services to the Town Council.
The developer states that he shares this view and considers the transfer advisable in order to improve the administration of Planas del Rey and the provision of its services.
On 21 September 1968, he therefore sent the mayor of Pratdip a formal request to begin the procedure.
The infrastructure and services concerned
Francisco Lebasque’s proposal covered a large proportion of the facilities and services required for the development to function:
- the roads within the development;
- the water supply network;
- the sewerage network;
- street lighting;
- waste collection;
- caretaking and security services;
- other services falling within the municipality’s remit.
The proposal was therefore not limited to the transfer of land or shared areas. It also concerned the day-to-day management of several services that had previously been provided privately within the development.
A proposal that still required further documentation
Francisco Lebasque stated that he would provide any additional documentation requested by the Town Council, including a list of the owners of plots and homes within the development.
He also intended to submit a list of amounts owed by certain owners for maintenance and services provided in previous years. The Town Council could then pursue and collect these outstanding sums before reaching a final settlement with the developer.
Regarding the drinking water supply, Francisco Lebasque proposed that the Town Council be allowed to use the flow of water feeding the main reservoir, which formed part of the network being transferred, until Planas del Rey could be connected to Pratdip’s municipal water network.
The letter therefore expresses a clear intention to begin the transfer. However, it did not in itself constitute a completed transfer or formal acceptance of the infrastructure by the Town Council. Technical documentation, a detailed inventory, a municipal decision and the legal formalisation of the transaction were still required.
A development still in progress
The Partial Plan had been approved on 24 May 1965. At that time, the provincial authority required the corresponding development project to be submitted within three months.
The records currently available do not allow us to reconstruct precisely what happened between this approval and the proposed transfer in September 1968. In particular, they do not reveal which works were completed, which remained outstanding or when the project began to encounter difficulties.
Francisco Lebasque’s letter nevertheless confirms that several networks and services were already operating. However, it provides no inventory of their condition and does not establish whether all the infrastructure included in the 1965 plans had been completed in accordance with the approved project.
Serious financial difficulties in the autumn of 1968
A decree published in the Spanish Official State Gazette on 30 November 1971 details several judicial and administrative proceedings initiated against Francisco Lebasque from the autumn of 1968 onwards.
According to this official document, legal proceedings were brought against him on 28 October 1968 in connection with a principal debt of 1,067,733 pesetas, in addition to legal costs and expenses.
Several of his properties were seized on 31 October. At the same time, the tax authorities initiated enforcement proceedings over a debt of 2,537,812.80 pesetas owed to the Spanish Treasury.
The assets mentioned in the decree included several villas, premises intended for use as a supermarket, a restaurant-bar building and other land associated with Planas del Rey. The document also refers to suspension-of-payments proceedings registered in 1968.
Read the decree published in the Spanish Official State Gazette on 30 November 1971
Revealing timing, but not conclusive evidence
The proposed transfer preceded the legal and tax proceedings mentioned in the decree by only a few weeks. We therefore cannot claim that these proceedings directly prompted the developer’s initiative.
However, it is reasonable to believe that Francisco Lebasque’s financial difficulties did not appear suddenly at the end of October. They may have limited his ability to continue the works and to finance the long-term maintenance of the infrastructure and services of Planas del Rey.
This situation may help to explain why, three years after the approval of the Partial Plan, the developer sought to transfer to the municipality infrastructure and financial responsibilities that had until then remained under his control.
Nevertheless, this remains a hypothesis based on the timing of the events. Without accounting records or further correspondence, Francisco Lebasque’s financial motives for proposing the transfer cannot be established with certainty.
The beginning of a process that would not be completed immediately
The request of 21 September 1968 marked the formal beginning of a transfer process, but not its completion.
On 18 October, Pratdip Town Council would agree in principle to take over the public services of Planas del Rey. It would subsequently seek guidance from the provincial authorities.
On 28 December 1968, the authorities would reply that the transfer was legally possible, but that it first required an inventory of the assets and infrastructure, technical studies and an assessment of the financial consequences for the municipality.
Francisco Lebasque’s proposal should therefore be understood as the first stage in a process that remained incomplete and already raised several of the issues that would shape the history of Planas del Rey for decades.
English translation of Francisco Lebasque’s letter
To the Mayor of Pratdip,
Francisco Lebasque Belloncle, of legal age, married, a property owner and resident of Planas del Rey in the municipality of Pratdip, respectfully states the following:
In my capacity as developer of the Planas del Rey development, situated within the municipality of Pratdip, in accordance with the request made by the property owners and because I personally share their view that this initiative is advisable, with the aim of improving the administration and provision of services within the development, I intend to transfer the general road network and public services to Pratdip Town Council.
To enable this operation to be carried out in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, I ask the Mayor to accept the proposed transfer.
The transfer covers:
- the roads within the development;
- the water supply networks;
- the sewerage networks;
- street lighting;
- waste collection;
- caretaking and security services;
- and all other services falling within the municipality’s remit.
For this purpose, I will provide any additional documentation that the Town Council considers necessary, together with a list of the owners of villas and plots within the development.
I will also provide a list of the amounts owed by those owners for the maintenance and provision of the services concerned in previous financial years, so that these sums may be pursued and collected as appropriate, followed by a settlement with the developer transferring the services and road network.
Regarding the supply of drinking water, the Town Council may use the flow currently feeding the main reservoir included in the network being transferred until the development’s network is connected to the municipal network of Pratdip.
I trust that this request will receive a favourable response.
Planas del Rey, municipality of Pratdip, 21 September 1968.
Jim – La Tribune de Planas
