I have lost £1.5 million after the Spanish authorities blocked the reopening of my hotel. They have lied all the time and it is bankrupting us… it is because we are expats.

An Irish expat claims he has lost £1.5million after Spanish authorities blocked the reopening of his renovated countryside hotel.

Michael Walsh, 40, bought the iconic Malaga business to run with his wife and three children after moving to the southern city four years ago.

He hoped to reopen the charming Finca La Mota in Alhaurin El Grande at the end of May.

But just a week before they were due to reopen, he was told it “did not have a hotel licence”, despite having been run as a hotel for thirty years.

“They’ve been lying all this time, it’s absolutely outrageous. They’ve stopped me from opening my business and it’s ruining us,” he said.

“It was just one excuse after another. I knew it would take years to fight in court,” he added, claiming that local bureaucracy had avoided officially refusing and targeted him “because we are expats”.

They had planned to reopen the country retreat, set amid mountainous parks, in May

But he was told it ‘did not have a hotel licence’ despite having been run as a hotel for thirty years.

The former owner of a Cork hotel told the Olive Press: ‘They’ve been lying all along, it’s absolutely outrageous.

“They stopped me from opening my business and now we are bankrupt.”

He claims he has ‘lost the entire summer season’ and has had to pay back more than €300,000 (around £250,000) in cancelled bookings, including 16 weddings, worth a total of €150,000 (£125,000).

He claims the renovation work alone cost €650,000 (£550,000) and he had to pay 25 workers out of his own pocket for a week.

The successful country hotel and restaurant was previously run by American and Dutch owners.

“I don’t understand what went wrong,” the previous owner said this week. “It’s always been a popular hotel with local politicians coming to eat. We’ve never had a problem.

“It really doesn’t make any sense.”

Walsh claims the hotel licence was first granted 32 years ago by the official Andalusian tourist register in Seville.

However, officials at Alhaurin Town Hall claim the permit is no longer “valid” due to a later regulation requiring hotel premises to be at least 25,000m2 in size.

According to Walsh, they ignored an obvious caveat, which was that the law would be nullified if a permit had already been issued before the law was enacted.

When Walsh told authorities about this, they claimed there had also been “noise complaints” and warned him they would issue him a “hefty fine” if he tried to open the business.

While he and his lawyer are fighting the council, he says he is losing at least €5,000 (£4,200) every week trying to keep the property.

The country hotel and restaurant was formerly run by American and Dutch owners

Walsh claims the hotel license was first granted 32 years ago by the Seville Tourist Registry

He said he ‘lost the entire summer season’ and has to pay back more than €300,000 in cancelled bookings

“They don’t want to give us an official refusal and I don’t understand why the city hall doesn’t want 25 extra jobs here. It’s because we are expats,” he asked.

He has met with officials seven times so far and is “determined” to fight, even receiving support from a European Council lawyer who has approached the Spanish tourism minister.

‘I love Spain, I have never regretted moving here. Everyone is so welcoming, friendly and we are fully integrated into the community, but this is so unfair,’ he added.

Alhaurin Town Hall did not respond to numerous phone calls and emails.

Neither the local police nor the Guardia Civil wanted to comment on the alleged noise complaints.