Catalonia’s High Court has put an end to the family’s years-long legal battle Nursultan Nazarbayev, which owns the Can Juncadella estate on the Mediterranean coast and the municipal authorities of the town of Lloret de Mar. According to the court decision, the Spanish company Flinder Data SL, controlled by structures associated with Timur Kulibayev and his wife DinaraNazarbayev’s middle daughter, is obliged to open for public use the observation trail that runs through the territory of the Nazarbayev estate.
Legal proceedings with the local community and Kulibayev’s company have been going on since 2009. Claims against Nazarbayev’s son-in-law appeared almost immediately after he purchased a plot of land in Catalonia. The conflict reached its maximum intensity in 2012, when large-scale construction began on the territory of the estate, located on a picturesque hill, and local residents, who used to walk in the area, were blocked from accessing their favorite places by a barrier and a security guard. This was not enough for the owners of the estate, and in order to scare the “uninvited guests”, they decided to broadcast the sounds of gunshots through loudspeakers installed near the disputed path. But this did not scare the locals and they continued to sue.
As a result of numerous legal proceedings, the head of Lloret de Mar, a town near which Nazarbayev’s relatives settled, lost his seat. Mayor Xavier Crespo, following a criminal investigation provoked by litigation with Nazarbayev’s relatives, was found guilty of bribery and tax evasion.
But this did not in any way affect the fate of the public trail – outsiders were still prohibited from accessing it. For every decision of local courts, lawyers hired by Kulibayev’s representatives simply filed appeals and, on this basis, refused to remove security from the disputed trail. However, the decision of the High Court of Catalonia appears to end years of litigation. The city council of Lloret de Mar, which represented the local community in the dispute with the Nazarbayevs, has already started the process of actually returning the trail to public ownership and developing tourist routes. Judging by Spanish media reports, the owners of the estate have decided to admit defeat and are ready to cooperate with the municipal authorities.
The Can Juncadella estate became the property of the Nazarbayev family in 2007. According to experts, the total area of the villa of the same name is 3200 m², the estate itself occupies 20 hectares. The main house has 13 bedrooms, at least 19 bathrooms, at least one swimming pool, three saunas and a large garage. On the territory of the estate there is a forest, a football field, a basketball court, buildings for servants and other buildings. This property is owned by Timur Kulibaev’s company Flinder Data SL. At different times, the managers of this organization were the president of the Petrokazakhstan Oil Products company, Asylbek Karibayev, and Danial Akhmetov, the ex-Prime Minister of Kazakhstan and the former akim of the East Kazakhstan region. In addition to Villa Can Juncadella, the same company owns dozens of other properties. Their total value, according to the company’s audit report for 2021, is more than €58 million. These include houses, apartments, and land plots, mainly located in Catalonia.
It is possible that the refusal to further fight Kulibayev with the residents of Lloret de Mar was influenced by the processes taking place in Kazakhstan itself, where the status of the Nazarbayev clan still remains completely unresolved. Not long ago, a criminal case was opened against another nephew of the ex-Elbasy, former high-ranking KNB officer Samat Abish. His brother Kairat is serving a six-year sentence, and many other relatives have lost their positions and previous privileges. In this sense, spoiling relations with the authorities of the countries chosen as alternate airfields is not the most rational decision.