The Deputy President of the Tenerife Cabildo, Lope Afonso (PP), assured this Wednesday that the corporation strictly complies with current law, after environmental groups and citizens warned of a possible “prevarication by omission” by the Government of the Canary Islands and the island institution for not stopping the construction of the luxury tourist complex Cuna del Alma in Adeje.
“Since the beginning of this mandate, we have adhered to the strict compliance with current law, which implies respecting the regulated administrative procedures that have governed any authorisation, whether for Cuna del Alma or for any other project,” Afonso stated during the press conference following the island government council.
According to Afonso, who was accompanied by the President of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, they have no knowledge “of any possible prevarication or any irregularity”, and that, if it were the case, they would act “immediately” within the framework of the island’s competencies. If prevarication were to occur within the competencies of another administration or a private individual and the Cabildo were informed, “we would also communicate it, as is our obligation,” he noted.
It is important to point out here that a devastating report prepared by technicians from the Tenerife Cabildo highlighted the irregularities committed during the works of this development and confirmed the irreversible destruction of at least one aboriginal site. Given that these are very serious infringements affecting the archaeological heritage of the area, the case was handed over to the General Directorate of Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands, which opened a sanctioning file that resulted in a fine of over 200,000 euros for the construction company.
Citizen groups and those affected by the tourism project submitted a letter to the Cabildo on Wednesday, alerting them to the “numerous serious irregularities” detected in the construction of these 420 luxury villas and requesting an urgent technical inspection by an independent team. Furthermore, they have requested that a sanctioning file be opened against the Town Hall and the company Segunda Casa Adeje S.L.
In the document consulted by this newspaper, the groups list possible irregularities in the project and warn the Cabildo that if it does not respond to their requests, it may incur “administrative prevarication by omission”. In addition, they threaten to extend the criminal complaint filed on 24 July before the Arona Instruction Court and to report to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the European Commission for a supposed violation of the European directive on heritage impact assessment.
