A new clash has arisen between Costas and the construction company Grupo Viqueira regarding the building of the luxury La Tejita hotel in El Médano, Granadilla de Abona municipality. The General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea, under the Ministry of Ecological Transition, notified Grupo Viqueira on Tuesday to “immediately halt” the hotel construction works “in the maritime-terrestrial public domain” as the required documentation to continue processing these works had not been submitted. The company responded yesterday with a statement asserting that this requirement is “null and void” because it “lacks any legal support and the works are covered by all necessary legal titles.”
In the communication dated last Tuesday, the Provincial Coastal Service stated that on the 12th it had indicated to the company that “the developer does not have a title supporting the works” and must halt them “during the processing of the file,” urging them to provide various documents to continue with the process. This national government department warned the construction company that if the requirement is ignored, an enforcement procedure will be initiated “to guarantee the integrity of the public domain.” This is reflected in the response from Jorge Miguel Ortega, head of the Provincial Coastal Service, to the inquiry made by the Save La Tejita Association.
The developer of the La Tejita Beach Club Resort hotel clarified yesterday that it is “moving forward with the works,” which it believes are supported by three judgments of the Superior Court of Justice of Canary Islands (TSJC). Grupo Viqueira requested the Provincial Coastal Service of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to nullify this new halt order “since it lacks legal support and the works are covered by all necessary legal titles and can be executed on the maritime-land boundary.”
The Galician construction company insists that “a firm and final judicial ruling is being violated, which constitutes a breach of Article 24 of the Constitution”. According to its representatives, “an administrative procedure is being artificially created, during which the construction works of the hotel are illegally intended to be halted, the outcome of which has already been decided by the judgments issued, firm judicial pronouncements accepted by the parties, also binding this Administration and which must be fulfilled and respected, in accordance with Article 118 of the Constitution”.
The developer requested the Coastal Service of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, to consider the allegations presented and declare the frontal requirement formulated null and void, as the ongoing works have all the urban and sectoral titles required for completion. If this request is not addressed “immediately,” it warns in a statement that it will demand “the personal responsibilities that correspond before the competent administrative and judicial authorities.”
This is the second construction halt order for the La Tejita hotel works issued by the Provincial Coastal Service “lacking legal support and competence for it.” An affirmation that the company relies on a 2021 ruling from the TSJC, which sided with them because “such precautionary measure required an express act and, furthermore, would not be within the competence of the Provincial Service, but of the General Directorate of Coasts”.
Grupo Viqueira recalled that the firm judgments from the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) –issued between June 28, 2021, and December 11, 2023– state that “the urban planning authorization and license comply with the current maritime-land boundary”. They refer to jurisprudence to affirm that “the boundary initiated subsequently cannot affect licenses already granted”. The Higher Canarian Court also stated in one of its judgments that “this is not about the execution of works without the required administrative authorizations, but that, due to the new demarcation, the ownership becomes a concessional title as compensatory value”.
On December 20, 2018, Costas initiated the review procedure of the maritime-land boundary of a 458-linear-meter section from the Costabella Urbanization to Punta del Bocinegro, in the La Tejita area. The new boundary was approved on February 12, 2021, and established the servitude area at 20 meters and not the 100 requested by the environmental groups. This boundary replaces the initial one from July 28, 1988, in force when on September 19, 2017, the Local Government Board of Granadilla de Abona granted the urban planning license for the basic project and when on December 21, 2018, it granted the construction license.
The works began on May 29, 2019, with earth movement on the Costabella urbanization plot. Works denounced by the environmentalist groups Save La Tejita and the Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN) to the Directorate General of Coastal and Marine Sustainability. Sixteen days later, the Provincial Coastal Service informed the developer to halt the work as it impacted the maritime-land servitude area. One of the most critical moments occurred from June 16 to 27, 2020, when two activists occupied two cranes used in the work to demand the cessation of the works, an action that led to the cessation of activities on June 22 by Costas’ order.
Citing the impact on the maritime-land area, the Ministry of Ecological Transition of the Canary Islands Government once again halted the construction on May 7, 2021. This continued until February 26 this year when Grupo Viqueira resumed work by annulling the order, declared final by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) in a ruling on July 17, 2023, made final on December 18 last year. The penultimate incident occurred last Thursday (the 18th) when a group of activists entered the construction zone, prompting the work to be halted.
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Integrated into the landscape
The developer argues that the project integrates into the landscape with fewer beds than authorized, explains that it will have a height along almost the entire front line and states that it will generate nearly 200 direct and over 300 indirect jobs. Grupo Viqueira acquired the urbanization where the hotel plot is located in 1994. Since then, it has built developments where currently reside over 1,000 families, there are over 30 small businesses, and 18,000 square meters of green and recreational areas.
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