Spanish film star Antonio Banderas and his wife Melanie Griffith have been ordered by planning chiefs to hand over part of their beachfront property on the Costa del Sol as part of a draconian campaign against "illegally"' built properties.
According to reports in Spain, the 48-year-old actor and his American wife, the Hollywood star Melanie Griffith, 51, have been told part of the gardens at their $A12 million mansion near Marbella is to be made public land.
Over 14,000 square feet of land belonging to the couple will be seized to allow public access to the beach. The confiscated strip lies adjacent to the 15 metre swimming pool at the villa, named La Gaviota, which the Hollywood pair have used as their summer home for more than a decade.
The order to hand over part of the garden is the latest move in an ongoing battle between the Hollywood stars and Marbella's town council.
He was last year ordered to demolish part of the six-bedroom property because it was built with a licence issued to the previous owner that should not have been granted. The actor appealed that ruling and a decision is pending.
Thousand of homeowners, including many Britons, risk losing their property in the region after finding themselves the victim of corrupt town hall officials who issued planning permission to builders after illegally reclassifying land.
The Hollywood couple bought their home from a previous owner and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by anyone who has lived in the house.
Spanish authorities have vowed to revoke building licences issued on green belt land in an attempt to rectify overbuilding across 500 miles of Spain's coastline.
Banderas made his name with roles in several films by the leading Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, before becoming a Hollywood regular and appearing as the masked crusader in Zorro.
LONDON THE TELEGRAPH GROUP
