The Criminal Division of the Superior Court of Justice based in Granada, has dismissed the appeal brought by British members of AUAN

The Criminal Division of the Superior Court of Justice based in Granada, has dismissed the appeal brought by British members of AUAN against the courts decision to archive the criminal complaint against the Minister of Public Works and Planning of the Junta de Andalucia, Sra. Josefina Cruz.
On March 9, 2011, in Parliament, the Minister referred to "the intrusion of people ... who are not of this country, who have settled here illegally”, to " the lack of respect for the culture of the territory, for the culture of the landscape and the culture of planning” and that "there are residents who have settled in good faith or not in good faith, and are now demanding the we solve a problem that they are responsible for having created".
According to the complainants, the Minister went on to ratify her remarks to the press, stating to the British newspaper ‘Costa Almeria News' that "My comments mean exactly what they say. Foreigners who have built illegal houses in Andalusia have shown no respect for us. I find it incredible that one seeks to defend people who have committed illegal acts."
The lawsuit was filed last month and in that same month the Supreme Court ordered the archiving of the complaint stating that the facts of the case did not constitute a crime. A few days later the complainants presented an appeal before the same courts.
This court has again ordered the archiving of the case, confirming its earlier decision. The Supreme Court considers that Sra. Cruz did not denigrate a group of people for being British, which would be a crime. Instead she criticised people who knowingly bought illegal houses and it was not relevant in a criminal sense that the words could be interpreted by public opinion as discrediting the British community in the area.
The court has given no leave to appeal against this decision. Maura Hillen of AUAN states, "We have to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court, and though the words are not regarded as criminally reprehensible, we consider them to be at least politically reprehensible, and have no doubt that this will be taken into account in the polls.
On the other hand, we cannot let the occasion pass without saying that if one considers the fact that this group of British people are in reality the victims of a lack of respect for the culture of the territory and a lack of respect for urban planning and are the victims of insensitive and at best careless public administration, one should not ask more people to come here to ‘settle'.
The government authorities need to decide if they are going to treat their customers well or treat them badly “. She added “A business who treated its clients this way would be on the way to bankruptcy