The decree declaring the imminent ruin of the iders buildingsigned on June 7 by the mayor of Sustainable City of the City Council of Cross port, David Hernandez (ACP)figure in at least 800,000 euros the cost of demolishing this property, which will generate some 9,800 tons of rubble. The municipal technicians detail that demolishing the building and removing that large amount of waste could reach a cost of 1,254,537 eurosaccording to Cype Engineersthough they lower it to 798,396 eurosin a calculation prepared “with 2021 prices from the Fundación CIEC de Canarias Database”.
Rebuilding the Iders would cost around 6.5 million eurosaccording to this report, so that «the value of the limit of the duty of conservation is established at 3,258,188 euros», warn the technicians. This figure marks the limit of the works that “must be carried out at the expense of the owners when the administration orders them for tourist or cultural reasons, or to improve the quality or sustainability of the urban environment. And it is set at half the current construction value of a new-build property, equivalent to the original.”
The decree warns that the property is in the legal situation of urban ruin“since the calculated cost of the necessary repairs (4,515,848 euros) to restore stability, safety, tightness and structural consolidation to a clearly deteriorated building, exceeds the limit of the duty of conservation (3,258,188 euros)”.
Regarding the state of the Iders, the Sustainable City area establishes that “the property evicted by its owners for 30 years is inhabited or partially occupied by other people in an irregular manner, so the first thing that is perceived in the inspection are aspects of insecurity of use (security elements are missing and there are fire evidence), as well as obvious unhealthiness: rubbish, remains of rubble, dead animals, rats…».
They add that “as for the building itself, a fairly damaged structure remains, with fissures, cracks, buckling and deformations that can be seen with the naked eye, loss of the protective coating of structural elements such as floors, beams and pillars. In addition, it is constantly exposed to humidity, precipitation and the marine environment, as the roofs lack waterproofing and there is no exterior carpentry. The interior carpentry and safety elements, such as interior and exterior railings, toilets and finishes, have disappeared or are in poor condition. Even the provisional protection measures that were taken at some point (shoring and protection nets), are now a threat in themselves.».
From the notification, the owners are given a period of ten business days to close, clean and derat
The technicians point out that “the property has not complied with the duty of keeping the building in a good state of conservation at all times, but it has also not kept in the necessary conditions the additional or provisional works carried out after its eviction, such as shoring and protective meshes. So the property “does not meet the basic requirements of the building in terms of functionality, safety and habitability”.
very serious damage
The technicians who prepared the declaration of imminent ruin warn that “the building’s shoring system is seriously damaged, without any function, most of the struts showing signs of corrosion and breakage. The protection mesh, with the damage it presents, cannot prevent possible landslides that occur now and in the future”. They add that “the original structure of the building shows obvious damage to the floors, with reinforcement seen when the covering of these disappears, and therefore loss of protection of said structural elements”. Appreciable in a general way throughout the building, “but mainly in the slabs of the highest floors and in the roofs of the side terraces on the ground floor”. The pillars that could be observed “also present cracks and detachment of the covering layer, leaving the reinforcement visible”. The building “lacks interior and exterior carpentry, or original fencing of the exterior terraces or balconies, which is a problem for the safety of the current occupants of the upper floors of the building. The lack of exterior carpentry and waterproofing of the roof aggravates the situation of the structure, because rainwater enters the rooms of all the floors of the building, further affecting the assembly of the structural elements”. In addition, “it is observed that there have been several fires in rooms on the upper floors of the building, without knowing their intensity and what the fire, and the water used by the extinguishing teams, could have affected the load-bearing structure of the building”.
In its operative part, this decree orders the immediate eviction, “within 24 hours”, of the occupants of the property “given the serious danger that exists, as well as ordering the owners that, within a period of 10 business days from the day following the notification, proceed to apply the necessary measures so that the property and surroundings are not reoccupied (fencing and surveillance); eliminate protection meshes and shoring elements without conserving or maintaining, due to the risk of an imminent fall from the overhangs; carry out cleaning and rat extermination actions”.
“Given the immediate danger that this situation represents”the owners are urged to present the mandatory demolition technical project within two months, counting from the notification, and the property is ordered to proceed with its demolition “within a non-extendable period of one month to start the execution and six months to finish itfrom the day after the authorization of the demolition project» by the Porto City Council.
Owners are warned that “the unjustified breach of the indicated deadlines, enables the Municipality of Puerto de la Cruz to the forced execution through the subsidiary execution of the ordered actions, passing the costs on the owners of the property». They are granted a hearing procedure of ten days.
The threat of prosecution
Some owners of the Iders building are considering the possibility of appealing in court the declaration of imminent ruin of this building, evicted in 1991. In the protest this Tuesday, the National Police had to remove a banner in which the motto could be read “The Iders is not thrown away!”, so the roadmap that the Puerto Rican Government (PSOE-ACP) has marked also faces the threat of judicialization, which could suppose a new brake on the solutions defended by the City Council and that they must begin with the eviction of the last squatters, the cleaning and closure of the property and its subsequent demolition by the owners or, in a subsidiary manner, by the City Council of the tourist city. According to the decree declaring imminent ruin of the Sustainable City and Planning Area, a total of 117 owners of the Iders building have been identified, of which 94 are natural persons, 7 are communities of heirs and another 16 are limited companies or corporations. As the Community of Owners of the Iders has been dissolved by court order, the Consistory now faces a complex process of notifying the current owners of the property.
