The National Court has issued a ruling denying the Los Silos City Council’s plea in Tenerife to allow the temporary opening of the harbour pools until the dispute with the General Directorate of Coasts over the concession expiration is resolved.
The local administration is at odds with the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s decision not to extend the use of 6,500 square metres of public land, a move that would regularise the facilities.
While the main legal battle is ongoing, the City Council is seeking provisional permission for residents to use the pools, a request that has been turned down by the National Court.
Citing the potential deterioration due to disuse, the City Council is concerned that the infrastructure might become unusable, leading to irreparable damage after having invested public funds that would now go unutilised.
The City Council argued, “With the current neglect, there have been instances of vandalism, as reported by the Local Police, and the easily accessible gardens pose a risk of falls from great heights, especially for children.”
Although the Local Authority had received a favourable response from the General Directorate of Coasts and no objections from the Canary Islands Government, the National Court ruled against it, highlighting the importance of public interest and the aim to provide services to the residents, as done “for the past fifty years”.
Since the concession ended six years ago and the facilities reverted back to the central government, no demolition or restoration work has been undertaken.
Although the State Attorney objects to even a temporary reopening of the pools, dismissing the potential “irreparable” effects and suggesting that any damages to the building could be rectified.
The central government maintains that in coastal matters, public interest, focused on environmental conservation, authorization selection, and halting irreversible environmental damage, must prevail over local interests.
The Court finds it contradictory that the City Council mentions investments in the facilities while also lamenting their state of neglect, prioritising the interests of the Coasts over local entities in reclaiming the maritime-terrestrial public domain.
The pools were handed over to the City Council in 1968 for a fifty-year period that expired in 2018, after which they were returned to the central government, leading to their closure and plans for demolition.
Despite the Canarian Executive’s recommendation to wait for coastal powers to be transferred to the Canary Islands, the governing group chose the legal route, fearing the difficulty of overturning a final ruling once made.
