The Calafell City Council has initiated the procedures to expropriate the Montpaó settlement, a complex of medieval origin located within the Calafell Parc area that preserves five farmhouses in poor condition and which the council wants to reserve for facilities.
The operation stems from a situation that has been open for decades. Part of the area is already municipal due to transfers linked to the development of Calafell Parc in the 1960s, but the local government maintains that it is not clear that the developer acquired all the land it was supposed to transfer before completing that process.
The City Council Opens Expropriation on Three Properties and Reviews 1960s Transfers
Montpaó is documented from the 11th century under the name Montispavonis. The complex was inhabited until the 1950s and, since then, most of the buildings have ended up in ruins.
Today, only five farmhouses remain standing, all in poor condition. The Calafell City Council has classified the complex as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest and has initiated the procedure to acquire the entire area.
Ramon Ferré, mayor of Calafell, specifies that the complex covers three properties. Part of it already belongs to the municipality through transfers made during the development of Calafell Parc.
"It is not clear that the developer of the urbanization bought everything it was supposed to transfer. We are initiating an administrative procedure to determine this and end up expropriating" - Ramon Ferré, mayor of Calafell, Calafell City Council
The procedure now requires locating the former owners or their heirs. This step could prolong the file, as the affected parties would have the possibility to appeal the notification, and the council also considers that some original owners may have died without descendants.
Calafell Will Have to Change Urban Planning Classification Before Reserving Montpaó for Facilities
The expropriation does not complete the process. The city council needs to modify the urban planning classification of the area to formally designate it for facilities.
In parallel, the council will promote urban planning with detailed plans of the conservation status of the five farmhouses that can still be recovered. This work should serve to evaluate the real possibilities of each building.
For now, the local government has not set a specific use for Montpaó. The municipal priority is to preserve the complex and ensure that the area is reserved for facilities.
The last inhabited nucleus of Montpaó was maintained with neighbors until the 1950s, and currently the complex only preserves five recoverable farmhouses among the three properties on which the Calafell City Council acts.