Electrical supply re-connection

Have you asked the neighbours  'nicely' why they are refusing access?  They may not understand that it's just a connection and presumably a one-off access.

Hi Jan,  thanks for replying;     our Spanish neighbours are fully aware of what's involved.  We are talking about having to dig 1 metre in front of their gate, where all the electricity meters are positioned.  We thought this area was part of the public lane, but it turns out that it's private.  We have asked them nicely, invited them round for drinks and even offered them 'compensation' but the only reason they give is that they "don't want the connection". They now consider the matter closed and will not discuss it.  The only reason we can come up with for their refusal is that our house is the end of the main electricity cable and perhaps when it was connected previously their supply was weakened.  

Do you think that Gata town hall would listen to our problem?  We're wondering if they would have the power to override the neighbours decision.  They issue local permits after all.  We had to get a permit from them for the internal re-wiring and building renovation.  We had to fight hard to get a habitation certificate from the vendors before we purchased, as we thought this would enable us to get the water and electricity re-connected - but this seems to be a worthless piece of paper.

It may not do any harm to consult with the Town Hall about this but also contact your solicitor who you used for the house buying and see what they can do to help you. They may be able to mediate between the neighbours and Iberdrola???

Hello:

It is strange for me that you can not reconnect the electric and I dont know why you need to make any new hole. If the house had electric before (that you can check with Iberdrola) Iberdrola should be aviable to reconnect it just installing the new counter.

Would be different if the house never had electricity, but even then Iberdrola has to connect your house (if it is legal) and even a private area could be used for Iberdrola for that.

Sometimes a land is between another privates lands, by law the land in between has to have access ussing someone else roads.

I guess that the another man is that you sell your house so cheap, dont let him. Speak with the townhall soon.

Regards and good luck

Thanks for your thoughts Jan and IOS 4111,

Our solicitors have been trying to sort this out for 16 months.  They have spoken to the neighbours many times and are in contact with Iberdrola Engineers.

Iberdrola are partly responsible for this mess because they have insisted on the old cable being replaced with a new one, hence the necessity of digging the trench under the lane.

They don't seem to be able to find an alternative solution to reconnecting us, overhead from another pylon for instance.

Iberdrola couldn't care less about our plight!

We'll go to the town hall and see what they say.

Perhaps the newspapers will be interested to hear about this, there's another thought!

Hi Jan,

I'm sorry to hear of your problem .

I think in the U.K. if your property had an existing supply then access to its route from the Electricity Supply company would be assured. I am unsure as to why they need to renew your supply cable ,but,  if safe to do so, maybe they could reconnect it for you at a reduced maximum rating until matters can be resolved.

I can't say if this be the case in Spain ,but its worth noting that Iberdrola are art of a larger conglomerate which includes the U.K supplier Scottish Power, so there is a chance their operational policies may be similar. 

I think a good Solicitor should be able to sort the issue, maybe get a second opinion.  Good Luck and please keep us informed.

LeckyLes.

Please could I ask if you have a technician to apply for your connection.

Yes, we have now found an electrical company who are connecting us from a pylon further away. This requires digging a trench beneath the Jalon Road and we are waiting for a permit from the Alicante Deputacion. If we had known how complicated and lengthy reconnecting electricity would be we wouldn't have bought the property.

Who is your company please