I was forced to tear down my dream home in Spain just weeks after my wife died of cancer – then had to live in a van | The Sun

A BRIT was forced to move into a van after he was ordered to tear down his dream home in Spain.

Just weeks after the death of his wife who was battling cancer, Gurney Davey received the devastating news that he had to knock down the home he lived in for 17 years.

Davey was told by the council that his home in Tolox, in Andalusia was involved in a corruption scandal and had to be demolished – otherwise, he would face prison time.

He was forced to knock down the home he built for £130,000 – putting and end to a legal saga that began in 2004.

The demolition that cost him a whopping £1,300 (€1600) was a major blow to the grieving husband who was forced to move into a van.

He told Olive Press at the time: "I was distraught at first, my blood pressure was sky high and then I lost my wife."

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"We thought we had done everything right. We got legal advice and went through a lawyer in order to get permission to build the home.

"Diana fought breast cancer for six years before bowel cancer – I am
sure the stress brought it on."

Legal firm Manzanareshadtold the couple they had a licence for an "almacen" – a storeroom – which allowed them to build their dream bungalow.

But he was later told that it was one of 350 homes illegally given planning permission by the town's former corrupt mayor, Juan Vera, who ended up in prison.

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Davey, originally from Suffolk, said: "Why would we deliberately try to build illegally?

"It makes no sense that we would sell up everything in the UK and risk it all."

The Brit was told he had six months to demolish it – or face a prison sentence.

Eventually, he took matters into his own hands and borrowed a JCB to demolish his two-bed home.

"I will not let the town hall do it," he said at the time.

He was left with "no idea" where he would live – but insisted he would stay on the land he had owned for 17 years.

The Sun understands he now lives in a converted van which he keeps on the property and shares with his five dogs.

"Thankfully it is now over," he said.

“It has been going on for so long now, I’ve finally come to terms with what needs to be done.

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"Having it demolished was actually a relief.

"This land is my home. It is my life and these dogs are all I have
left."

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