Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has rejected accusations from the opposition Partido Popular (PP) that Ambassador Raul Morodo is dragging his feet. 

• The Ambassador, Rodriguez Zapatero states, has been holding permanent meetings with the Venezuelan National Lands Institute (INTI). 

While Spain cannot intervene in Venezuelan legislation, it has instructed the Ambassador to defend Spanish citizens in cases of an arbitrary nature and land invasions. 

The problem resolves around land-owners not being able to develop normal activities on parts of their farms that are productive. 

Some ex-pats are negotiating and accepting compensation for idle lands. 

The Prime Minister has told the Spanish Parliament that his government will be inflexible and firm with the Venezuelan government to obtain a solution that satisfies and is acceptable to Spanish citizens in Venezuela. 

Venezuelan Ambassador in Spain, General Arevalo Mendez Romero has confirmed that his government is talking to those affected and seeking a solution in Yaracuy State from where the complaint originated. 

The government is willing to pay compensation for assets on the idle lands. 

The Ambassador insists that said lands are State property and the number of ex-pats are 10 not 400. Three Spanish and 6 Spanish-Venezuelan (Galician and Canary islanders) resident in Yaracuy complained about squatters in October 2005. 

"3 families perhaps because of advanced age have decided to live in Caracas ... I think 2 of the occupants decided to return to Canary Islands , 2 refuse to leave and another 2 or 3 are asking the government to give them the same amount of land they are handing over in another part of the State or elsewhere."