The criminal complaint filed by the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Provincial Prosecutor’s Office by the construction of the El Camisón shopping center, in the municipality of Arona, directs the spotlight on those responsible for the promoter of the building, the company Melisofi Consulting SL. This is stated in the brief of the Public Ministry, which in the initial phase of the case requests the statement as investigated of the administrator of the company, Diego Sebastián Cano, and his attorney, Marco Pasio, for an alleged crime against the management of the territory.
The prosecutor Francisca Sánchez keeps the door open so that, once the criminal case processed by Arona’s Investigating Court progresses, the councilors and technicians who allowed the construction of the well-known What Artslife & Shopping. In the proceedings, the mayor Luis García and the head of Urban Discipline, the architect Damián Hernández, appear as denounced.
Given the technical complexity of the investigation, before starting with the interrogations, the Prosecutor’s Office wants the Court to order an expert test that clarifies the alleged illegalities committed in the construction of the shopping center. The building invades an area of public domain and protection easement, in addition to failing to comply with the General Planning Plan (PGO) and the rest of the municipal urban planning instruments, as revealed by various technical reports that work in the case.
Francisca Sánchez’s brief raises the need for the expert evidence to shed light on the breaches that have been detected in the construction, which was sealed in the summer of 2017 without, at least so far, the disturbed legal order having been reestablished. . The prosecutor considers that “from the extensive and abundant documentation” it is clear that the developer has carried out urban planning actions “exceeding the major work license” granted by the City Council. For the Public Ministry it is important to clarify, before the first subpoenas are produced, if the illegalities detected can be remedied or not.
The complaint recalls that the initial project, based on which the municipal license was granted, was modified and executed “in anticipation of the imminent approval of the Arona Modernization, Improvement and Increase in Competitiveness Plan”, known as PMM de Los Christians. The key is that the new ordinance instrument never came into force because, as the prosecutor recalls, “the Autonomous Government Council, in its session of January 28, 2018, had abandoned its processing given the judicial process that followed the Adeje PMM “, annulled by the courts.
What the Prosecutor’s Office is clear is that the executed building was built based on urban parameters that did not exist, since the PMM had not been approved, which forced the developer to adhere to the initial license and the guidelines of the current PGO . Some facts that were recognized by the company itself in a letter sent to the Provincial Demarcation of Coasts. Hence, the first complaints are requested for those responsible for Melisofi Consulting SL.
The administrator of the promoter, Diego Cano, admitted in the Tropic Dystopian program, from Televisión Canaria, that “I have been wrong in many things with this project, trusting the promises of political figures.” At the moment, the possible responsibility of the councilors and technicians depends on the result of the requested expert test.
Works without a license
The complaint presented by the Prosecutor’s Office, after six months of an investigation opened ex officio by the Public Ministry, makes a review of the events that have occurred since the plot was owned by an individual, who later transferred it to Melisofi Consulting SL, until today . The account recalls that, in addition to the alleged illegalities in the construction, there are also different proceedings against the developer for carrying out urbanization works without a license and invading the maritime-terrestrial public domain area. The company even went so far as to skip the various seals carried out by municipal authorities on several occasions without permission.
The City Council kept the building sealed for years without actually executing the different orders to restore legality issued by the former councilor for Urban Planning, Luis García. A passivity that detonated an internal political war between the mayor, José Julián Mena, and the mayor, which caused a cross between complaints and a gap that remains open today.
Despite the various accusations made by the former councilor for Urban Planning, who went to the Prosecutor’s Office after being dismissed in June 2020, the only issue that has led to a criminal case is the construction of the El Camisón shopping center. In recent months, the City Council has reactivated the various files opened against the developer, which has imposed two penalties for carrying out works without a license that reach 220,000 euros. It has also won the first battle of the dispute opened by Melisofi Consulting SL, after achieving that the Court rejected the precautionary measures requested by the company and maintained the seal of the building while the merits of the lawsuit were resolved.
The Artslife & Shopping It is located between the beaches of Las Vistas and El Camisón. Initially it was promoted by businessman Diego Cano as a scientific dissemination project, but from the beginning the promoters’ intention was to build a shopping and leisure center. The initial basic project included a total of 21 premises, a large room for events, called The Black Pearl, a jazz club and 59 parking spaces.
Currently, according to municipal records, the building has one more floor than what is allowed in the initial license, in addition to exceeding the authorized area by invading the different setbacks set by municipal urban regulations, among other detected breaches .
