The Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, informed Europa Press this Thursday that Spain has already initiated the procedure to recover the 4.09 million euros from community funds that were granted for the construction of the [Hotel Princesa Yaiza (Lanzarote), whose building permit was annulled in June 2008 by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.->http://legalidadurbanistica.org/hotel-princesa-yaiza]
The Member States are primarily responsible for guaranteeing the "effective and regular" use of the funds distributed by the European Union, and it was the Ministry of Economy and Finance that notified the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) of this matter and who has informed the Commission that the procedure "with a view to recovering" the illegal aid is "in the process of being launched", Hübner explained.
In a written parliamentary question addressed to the Community Executive, the MEP for the Green group David Hammerstein denounced that the Hotel Princesa Yaiza --open to the public in Costa Papagayo de Playa Blanca (Lanzarote)-- received European aid despite failing to comply with the conditions for its building permit.
The license allowed for the construction of a three-story building and not five, [as can be seen in the legalidadurbanística.org document of the Cabildo de Lanzarote.->http://legalidadurbanistica.org/files/PB_representacion_grafica_infraccion.pdf] The budget for the construction of the hotel was 16.4 million euros, of which 4.09 million came from European regional funds, which represents 20% of the total.
The Yaiza City Council had already warned of the infraction regarding the number of floors in a technical report issued on June 1, 1998, and authorized the license that same day "conditioned to the correction of the deficiencies indicated in the municipal technical report", according to Hammerstein in his question.
These conditions of reducing the heights "were never met" and the permit was annulled by the Canary Supreme Court of Justice in June 2008, so the hotel "fails to comply with different urban planning and tourism regulations of the island of Lanzarote", he adds.
For its part, the European Commission notes that the ruling was notified to it in September 2008 and that it "annuls the construction and execution licenses for the construction project" of the Hotel Princesa Yaiza in Lanzarote.
According to the decision of the Canary court, the technical report attached to the granting of the license already highlighted the non-compliance with the municipal land use plans regarding height and minimum dimensions of the interior patios. The ruling also confirms the absence of a mandatory legal report in the license granting process.
In addition, Hübner indicates that the general directorate of Community Funds of the Ministry of Finance "has informed" Brussels that the procedure to recover public funds "is in the process of being launched". The formalities linked to said procedure will include holding a hearing in order to allow the beneficiary company to present arguments", specifies the commissioner
