Residents at the Camping Chullera II, campsite received a shock last month when they all received a letter from the site's management giving them until the 15th of November, 2006 to remove themselves and their property from the grounds, after which the campsite would be closed and the land cleared.

We understand that both Camping Chullera II, which is a permanent site open throughout the year and Camping Chullera III, a temporary site, open only during the summer months, have been sold to a developer.

Whilst Chullera II is a campsite, the site has long been popular with Spanish, Gibraltarians, British and other nationalities, and there are over a hundred plots which are rented by the year and are used by these people both as weekend and holiday retreats, along with a large number of residents who live there all year round.

We have spoken to many people affected by this scheduled closure, and all of them are absolutely stunned, not necessarily by the closing of the site as it is obvious it is prime beachside land, but by the short notice they have been given to find new accommodation for themselves and their belongings.

“Five and half weeks is just no time to find somewhere else to live” said one English couple who have lived at Chullera for the past 7 years. “They must have known for a long time that this was on the cards, so why couldn't they give us more warning”, said another resident who had been renting on Chullera II for 19 years, and who had dashed back from a holiday in France after having been given the news by a neighbour.

In fact, bad as it is, these are not the hardest hit of the site's residents that dubious honour must go to an elderly Belgian lady who has lived on Chullera II for 31 years.

As a result of this ultimatum by the management, a large number of the tenants, both Spanish and foreigners on the site, have taken legal advice and formed an action group - Associacion Inquilinos y Usuarios de Camping Chullera II, and had contributed 150 euros each into a ‘fighting fund' to cover legal costs, with the intention of applying to the courts to stop the eviction.

The legal situation is complicated due to the fact, that when all is said and done, it is a campsite, and as such none of the residents actually have Vivienda contracts, but the consensus of opinion is that, after having lived their for so long, and regularly paid their bills, they should be entitled to more consideration in this matter, and should at least have been given more time to find alternative accommodation.

At the time of going to press the action group were still waiting to hear the results of their petition to the court, but we will update you in the next edition.