The never ending story. The plenary session of the Almería municipality of Carboneras today rejected the amendment that sought to annul the construction license for Algarrobico, the controversial hotel owned by the Azata del Sol company whose works were paralyzed when it collided head-on with the environmental laws that govern the natural park. of Cabo de Gata-Níjar and the Coastal Law. If it had been approved, its demolition would be closer after the urban planning permit it obtained in 2003 was declared void and one more step would have been taken towards its demolition.
The proposal of the mayor, Felipe Cayuela (PP), who governs in a minority, included the rectification demanded by the Board to the agreement that declassified the Algarrobico land as developable in urban planning last April under the mandate of the PSOE. The amendment has received the unfavorable votes of the five councilors of the PSOE and the abstention of the Ciudadanos councilors and the non-attached councilor, formerly of the socialist group and the only one who has not intervened in the intense debate, so the amendment, which It implies the implicit recognition that the area has enjoyed special protection since 1994, it has not moved forward.
For its part, Greenpeace has requested the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) to continue with the execution of the ruling that requires ex officio review of the municipal license.
The spokesperson for the Andalusian Government and Minister of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of the Government of Andalusia, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has regretted the “lost opportunity” in the plenary session of the Carboneras City Council to “speed up” the demolition of the hotel in the “compliance with the sentences” on it, a construction “declared illegal” and that “is damaging a treasure like the Cabo de Gata-Níjar natural park” so “it should never have been built.”
“From the Board we have been demanding for years that the sentences that the socialists refuse to execute be carried out,” added the spokesperson for the Andalusian Government, who stressed that the previous mayor acted “without following the Board’s guidelines” and only ” when the TSJA warned him that non-compliance could lead to a personal coercive fine and the commission of a criminal offense for judicial disobedience.”
With this, the Andalusian head of Sustainability has also regretted that the PSOE councilors “persevere” in this “error” and once again “stop the demolition”, a sense in which he believes that they will be the ones who will have to explain “to all the neighbors , to the environmental associations and to all Andalusians for their stance against the environment”.
“Only when the PGOU is modified following what the sentences say can the license be declared null and void and its demolition proceed,” recalled Fernández-Pacheco, who insisted that the Ministry of Sustainability is “prepared to help, managing the waste and regenerating the damaged area to return it to its natural state”, although for this it is necessary that “the PSOE stops creating obstacles and preventing the demolition of a concrete mass that should have disappeared years ago”, as he has appreciated.
The Minister of Development, Territorial Articulation and Housing, Rocío Díaz, has also spoken on this matter, stating that her department will study the actions that proceed in response to the plenary agreement this Thursday.
The counselor has regretted the “reluctant” behavior to pay “full compliance” with judicial decisions, “which represents a new obstacle to the recovery and restitution of the coastal space on which the hotel stands, returning its unique original characteristics”.
Díaz has been aware of the “need to give a clear and forceful response” to this environmental and urban problem generated in Algarrobico, which is why he has stated that his department will assert its position before the courts “requesting the correction of the agreement.” April plenary session”. To do this, as he recalled, he appeared at the incident of execution of the sentence and challenged the municipal agreement before the contentious jurisdiction.
For its part, Greenpeace points out that there is an “absence of will” on the part of the city council to “comply with the ruling” of the Supreme Court of 2023, and criticizes that, among the agenda items of the plenary session, the opening of the file of ex officio review of the aforementioned municipal license. In addition, he warns that, to begin the file that must conclude with the cancellation of the license because the hotel is built on non-developable land of special protection, “a full agreement is not required.”
The rejected proposal deletes from the previous text by which the ST-1 or Algarrobico urban development sector was annulled the references related to “annulling and eliminating the current urban planning classification” and the expression “due to effects supervening on the current planning of direct application by the sectoral legislation.” of the Natural Resources Management Plan and the Master Plan for the Use and Management of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, which specifies the limits of the aforementioned Natural Park.” The new wording is “limited” to “formally” including in the PGOU of Carboneras “the classification of land as non-developable land of special protection with grade C1 or Natural Areas of General Interest, ratified by TSJA Sentence 2000/2016, confirmed by the TS by ruling 634/2018 of April 19, 2018”.
The Supreme Court determined in the 2023 ruling whose execution Greenpeace urges that in order for the Algarrobico lands to be “returned to their original state, which should have remained unchanged,” it is necessary to first review the construction license to, thus, “guarantee the interest economic, social and legal of the parties involved”. If the city council declares the municipal permit that was granted in 2003 null and void, the next natural step is the initiation of a demolition file on the Azata building.
