The complainants regarding the Guaza industrial warehouse, located in Arona (southern Tenerife), have expanded their allegations concerning alleged illicit activities by the Cicar company, as noted in a resolution issued last September by the Natural Environment Protection Agency (communicated to the local council on the 26th). This expansion follows comments made by the Councillor for Urban Planning, Luis García (Más por Arona), during last Friday’s plenary session, in which he allegedly denied his authority to inspect construction and enforce urban regulations, amidst the delegation of such responsibilities that the mayor, Fátima Lemes (PP), granted him at the commencement of her term.
The complainants submitted an updated version of their allegations last Tuesday, asserting that the construction has been conducted “without appropriate permissions since at least 2021,” and thus, “the cessation and sealing of the works is warranted.” This extension corresponds to remarks made by García in the aforementioned session, where he faces accusations of an alleged crime of prevarication for his “negligence” in dealing with this situation by failing to halt the proceedings, aligning with the perspective of the municipal PSOE group. In that plenary meeting, during the question period and subsequent to his statement in July before court number 4 of Arona, the mayor maintained, from the standpoint of the complainants, an “unmistakable posture of inaction that contradicts the mandatory duty to exercise the powers of restoration (article 324 of the Canary Islands Land Law), which has led them to believe that he is intent on permitting the continuation of the construction.”
Nevertheless, as García articulated during the plenary session that “the onus to seal the concerning work lies with the technical and legal services,” they have broadened their complaint to include the senior officials, interpreting their actions as demonstrating “absolute inaction regarding the ruling of September 2, 2024, thereby facilitating the ongoing construction.” Furthermore, they claim awareness that the previous Urban Planning Councillor, the socialist Leopoldo Díaz Oda, had issued a “directive on March 20, 2023, to mandate the suspension and sealing of the construction,” yet “it was never executed,” for which they also hold these officials accountable, “or, if applicable, some member of the local Police for failing to enforce the directive, given that the construction has persisted and still continues today.”
Consequently, they seek to have these individuals declared as under investigation and reiterate their request for testimonies from other technicians and officials, as well as for the council to provide a copy of the ruling from September 2 by the responsible councillor along with the entire administrative file concerning this warehouse.
Explanation from the councillor
Although the Arona administration has yet to furnish its perspective to this outlet concerning these works, Luis García’s responses during the plenary session to the PSOE thoroughly delineate the arguments that he and the current governing coalition (PP-CC-Más por Arona) hold regarding this file. In addition to mounting a robust defence of local officials in general, particularly those within the Urban Planning sector, along with the municipal secretary, the former PSOE councillor (who was instrumental in the collapse of the previous administration and the schism within local socialists) read a prepared statement “due to the intense scrutiny.” García expressed his perplexity regarding “what the PSOE desires, if they are so attentive to every illegal construction in this municipality; they expect me to oversee each and every one, but I am but one person, something which no councillor has previously done nor the former mayor (José Julián Mena) in his position as Urban Planning mayor.”
He contends that “the PSOE is now prescribing a remedy that they themselves were unwilling to utilise before.” Additionally, he perceives that the “obsession” directed at him is nearing “hysteria, although no matter how often they try to mislead by reiterating falsehoods and maligning me disgracefully, they will not succeed in making their claims and ongoing accusations reality.”
Indeed. Their sole aim as the opposition appears to be to criticise any matter I raise, regardless of its nature, (…) yet they overlook certain aspects of specific files. He emphasised that it is contradictory to be reproached “for both taking action and for not doing so, for inaction” regarding particular documents. “This is nonsensical; I cannot comprehend it, and up until now, the court seems to struggle with it as well.” Furthermore, he denounced the absence of evidence of any irregularities in relation to this case from Mena’s tenure as councillor for the area, noting that “three councillors and a mayor have come and gone, yet the allegations are solely directed at me.”
He also referenced his ruling from September 2, “which was precisely the same as those endorsed by Mena,” wherein he urges that an inspection be conducted promptly by the area’s technicians to ascertain whether these “supposed works” have proper documentation. If they do, he requests that the relevant reports be drafted and that the technical and legal measures deemed necessary be implemented. Moreover, he pointed out that “neither in court nor in any council body of the City Council,” has he claimed that no work will be undertaken. “What I have stated is that I do not hold the authority to initiate or decide to halt or seal any work with or without documentation, and I affirm that today, regardless of how often you (PSOE councillors) shake your heads (in denial). (…) What you wish to achieve with your subtly veiled accusations (he termed the issue a “pseudo-question”) is the expectation that I am cognisant of absolutely everything within this municipality, which is simply unfeasible, in addition to the fact that I am not the appropriate authority as a councillor.”
For García, Mena “conceals himself behind others,” reminding him in the assembly that his present role was that of the former socialist mayor “for nearly a year, until responsibility was transferred to Leopoldo Díaz”, along with the fact that this case originated with him as councillor for Urban Planning, “without undertaking anything of what they now criticise me for.” “It is disgraceful, indecent, immoral, and revolting,” he continued, “to attend committees and plenary sessions and witness how my responsibilities are justified, even through cowardly complaints,” in “personal harassment by a member of the PSOE. If your mission is to report all administrative cases, I urge you to first examine your own conduct, for some complaints you level against me may need to be directed towards some of your colleagues.”
