Left in Limbo

‘Sharp’ and ‘shoddy’ practices land dozens of foreign villa buyers millions out of pocket

LAWYERS have been joined by mortgage brokers and agents to slam a giant construction firm that has left up to 100 foreign buyers ‘likely tens of millions’ of euros out of pocket. So far countless contractors and hundreds of workers have pulled off building sites after Otero stopped fulfilling its payments on January 25. The company, which started in Malaga in 2017, claims to have developments all around Spain, including Malaga, Valencia and the Balearics.

The Olive Press knows of dozens of victims who have called in lawyers demanding to know what has happened to their luxury villa investments.

One law firm, Martinez-Echevarria, confirmed it was representing ‘around 20 clients’ who had bought properties costing

EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

between €500,000 and €2 million on the Costa del Sol.

“The majority are foreign, English, Dutch and Belgians, etc, but what links them is they have all paid a lot of money,” lawyer Fermin Siguenza told the Olive Press.

“We don’t know how much we will be able to recover or even if the clients are protected.”

Mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola revealed he was currently helping four clients, who have lost out.

“They are royally screwed, especially as the unpaid contractors are taking everything moveable, including windows, and even kitchens.”

He continued: “I didn’t like

JUST PATHAAN-TASTIC!

A BOLLYWOOD blockbuster that was filmed largely in Mallorca is now out in Spanish cinemas. Pathaan, which stars two icons of Indian cinema - Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone - was di rected by Siddharth Anand. Filming began in 2020, but was disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be the return to the big screen of Bollywood’s highest paid actor after more than three years of absence, as a result.

The first major Hindi film production in Mallorca recorded scenes at the Beach Club Gran Folies, located in Cala Llamp, Sa Calobra, Canyamel and on Passeig d’es Born in Palma. Months after filming Pathaan on the island, Bollywood returned to record a film directed by Luv Ranjan and starring one of Hindi celluloid’s fashionable couples - Ranbir and Shraddha Kapoor.

Palma Pictures also participated in the filming.

the way Otero operated and I tried to tell agents not to work with them due to their sharp practices.”

The Olive Press has spoken to workers from at least three companies removing their materials from one site (above), called Oceanic, in Malaga. One employee claimed that ‘well over a million euros’ is owed to firms at this site alone. His firm Fartech is owed ‘at least’ €150,000 for security equipment for the 24 homes, 20 of which have already been sold at up to €1.8 million each. “But there are loads more suppliers who have lost more,” said the Argentinian builder. “Some are owed €500,000, others up to a million.”

The Olive Press has learnt Otero first failed to pay its suppliers the previous month in December, just a month after boasting how it had won no less than eight awards at the Newbuild Awards Costa del Sol. “We rocked,” a press release screamed above a picture of boss Ruben Otero (above right) holding a gong for ‘Best Property Developer’. This week, however, an em-

REAL Mallorca fans shamefully subjected Real Madrid football player Vinicius Jr to racist abuse for the second time in a year during their 1-0 victory on Sunday.

TV cameras captured a fan racially abusing the Brazilian, prompting La Liga officials to file a formal complaint with a court in Mallorca.

Footage from the stands has been handed to the court and Real Mallorca, and the league is pressing the court to investigate and hand out the harshest sentences possible for those convicted.

The Mallorcan club has con demned what it called ‘an isolated case’ - although the young attacker received the exact same abuse in the corresponding fixture last season in Feb ruary.