The Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands Government paralyzes, in a precautionary way, the works of the tourist project Cuna del Alma, in Puertito de Adeje. The cause is the presence of specimens of the sad viborine plant (Echium triste), for which the works pose an “imminent threat of environmental damage to protected wild flora”, as denounced by the Salvar la Tejita Association, a group that knows the resolution of the regional Executive, as well as the promoter, the City Council of Adeje and the Cabildo.
These administrations, governed by the PSOE, are the competent authorities on the Island to authorize the execution of the project through the granting of the mandatory licenses. The sources consulted in these institutions expose his “great discomfort” and are very critical of his party partner, the regional councilor José Antonio Valbuena. The stoppage of the work occurs half a year after it started and after four months of the firm suspension of the works that affected only 2% of the project.
The measure comes after half a year in works with the approval of the City Council and the Cabildo
The regional Biodiversity Service and the Natural Environment Protection Agency confirmed the presence of the sad viper plant (Echium triste) on the project grounds. It is included in the Canary Islands Catalog of Protected Species with special protection, a category reserved for wild species due to their scientific, ecological, cultural value or because of their uniqueness or rarity. “There is a formal acknowledgment of the promoter company itself about the presence of this plant and the interference of the works with it,” says the Canarian Executive in its official statement.
Ecological Transition denies the promoter the transplant of the plant because the causes of exceptionality established for it do not concur. Moreover, the Ministry states that they located viborina specimens in Los Goros, an area in which no works are carried out, as well as a new nucleus of hundreds of seedlings that emerged with the rains of September and October, which configures a habitat with “the necessary conditions for the optimal development of new specimens.
Bearing in mind that “it is impossible to carry out an exhaustive analysis of all the land affected by the project (500,000 square metres) with routine visits”, the Canarian Government opts for the stoppage “until a much more detailed action protocol can be carried out, thus guaranteeing that the aforementioned population is not affected.
The promoter is obliged to apply the measures determined by the General Directorate for the Fight against Climate Change to preserve the threatened flora, after preparing various studies.
The promoter will allege and study to claim the rights acquired by having the mandatory licenses
Second home.
Yesterday, the promoter received the official notification of the precautionary stoppage of the work, announcing that it will present allegations and “study the possible legal actions to be taken in defense of the rights acquired during these years, by having all the necessary urban and environmental licenses on the part of all the competent administrations.
In an official statement, Segunda Casa Adeje SL explains that on August 30 “it was reported” of the location of the sad viborina, a plant not included in the environmental report approved by the Government of Canary Islands as part of the 2018 Environmental Impact Statement, “Not having”. He emphasizes the company that “it had not been detected before starting the urbanization works” and explains that, after its location, “immediately” it raised “a formal request for its correct treatment.” He assures that he suspended the work “in those areas where their presence has been detected, pending receipt of the corresponding permit requested from the Government of the Canary Islands.”
Adeje Town Hall.
In another statement, the local government of Adejero reports that when the “technical team” studies the documentation sent by the Ministry of Ecological Transition “the relevant actions will be carried out in the field of municipal powers.” This administration reiterates that “it is and will be respectful of any resolution that, in accordance with the law and within the scope of its powers, is carried out by any other administration, always in defense of public interests and with respect for private interests based on legality. , each administration having to assume the consequences derived from its own decisions». The Adeje government emphasizes its “maximum interest in the protection and preservation of the natural environment and heritage, as it has done so far.”
The City Council warns that each administration must be consistent with its decisions
The work.
The formal act of laying the first stone of the Cuna del Alma project, in El Puertito de Adeje, took place on May 5. The planned investment is 350 million euros to create a unique complex of 420 accommodation units. On May 30, the Cabildo paralyzed, in a precautionary manner (firmly on June 28), 2% of the works. On July 22, a group of activists started a camp demanding that the work be stopped and, on the 28th of the same month, several chained themselves to the bulldozers. On August 31, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands opens a sanctioning file against the promoter of Cuna del Alma, for affecting the works carried out on engravings and destroying archaeological remains, and proposes a penalty of 600,000 euros. Ecological Transition is now studying to find out if this project required an environmental impact study at the beginning.
