The National Court has affirmed that the land designated for the La Tejita hotel construction is indeed developable and lies outside the public lands managed by Costas.
The decision dismissed an appeal from the Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN) which sought to extend the state-owned strip to 100 meters wide instead of the currently established 20 meters, a proposal that has now been rejected.
The association requested a reconsideration of this section, nearly half a kilometre between vertices 147 and 155, arguing that the existing demarcation was based on the approval of the Costabella-El Médano Partial Plan in 1971. Although this took place before the Coastal Law came into effect, they contended that the urban planning obligations for executing the development within the set deadlines had not been met.
The expectation was that the project would be completed by 1981, yet at that time, construction had not even commenced. In 2018, Granadilla City Council granted permission to build a five-star hotel, whereas Costas subsequently reviewed the boundary, initially proposing a width of 100 meters, which would render the hotel unfeasible.
Therefore, the state agency requested the Canary Islands Government to halt the works as the revised proposal would result in a decrease in privately owned land.
However, Costas then supported maintaining the 20 meters, given that the land has always been designated as an urban reserve since the 1960s and this classification was acknowledged when the law was approved.
The State Attorney has cautioned that prohibiting the implementation of the various plans at this point would necessitate compensation for the construction firm, the Galician company Grupo Viqueria. It is important to note that the previous Canarian Government reached an agreement with the construction company during the last legislative term to purchase the land and prevent the urbanisation of this beach, which is the last untouched area in the south of Tenerife. Nevertheless, the current CC and PP Government declined to formalise the agreement.
The National Court emphasises that prior to 1988, there were already plans anticipated for a tourist development in this area, which was 90% completed.
As a result, the Costabella El Médano Partial Plan was partly executed, a fact that was confirmed during the demarcation in 2002. This means that the protection easement must remain at twenty meters, as the lands have been classified as developable for decades.
(There will be an extension)
