A Court of First Instance in Arrecife has ordered Barceló Hotels to pay the Seville-based company Alterna more than 400,000 euros for **breaching the contract signed for the maintenance of one of its hotels on the island** after deciding "unilaterally" to pay less than agreed upon with the arrival of the pandemic. The ruling, which EFE has had access to, partially upholds the lawsuit filed by Alterna, under the legal direction of RSM, considering that it has not been proven, as the hotel company claims, that there was "an express or tacit agreement to novate - modify - the billing" stipulated in the contract - signed by the parties in April 2015 and extended in 2022 - during the pandemic. Alterna argued in its lawsuit that the contract signed by both parties **established a fixed monthly price (28,531.13 euros), independent of hotel occupancy** for the maintenance services provided at all times, although since the arrival of the pandemic - 2020 - and for 26 months, "Barceló paid much lower amounts." The Seville-based company acknowledges that it "issued invoices for these reduced amounts to avoid tax disadvantages," however, "it always protested this unilateral reduction and never accepted it," hence the claim. The Court specifies that "a **novation is not presumed; it must be clearly and verifiably established**" and that "the act of issuing invoices for the amounts imposed by Barceló does not imply that the novation has been proven, nor that the issuance of these invoices was due to that agreement, as it is true that the issuance of invoices for reduced amounts was due to an accounting and fiscal necessity," but it specifies that "this was neutralized by Alterna's constant claims regarding the total amount of the invoices." After analyzing the communications between the entities, it is concluded that in parallel to the issuance of invoices with lower amounts, **Alterna sent emails and burofaxes expressing its disagreement with the reduction** and claiming the full amount," therefore, "the novation is not clearly and verifiably established," hence it upholds the lawsuit and orders Barceló Hotels to pay the 407,000 euros claimed by the company plus default interest. Alterna, a company specializing in consulting and external services, has told EFE that Barceló's lower billing **caused them significant economic problems that led them to file for bankruptcy proceedings and subsequent liquidation.** To maintain jobs and an uninterrupted client relationship of over 7 years providing maintenance services and housekeeping departments in hotels in the southern region and the Canary Islands, the consultancy requested millions in loans through the ICO COVID 19 line to maintain activity and viability so that once the pandemic was overcome, they could continue operating in the market, fulfilling all their commitments, although Barceló Hotels "unilaterally rescinded the signed contracts." Currently, the consultancy has two other trials pending in Andalusia and the Canary Islands against the hotel group for claims of amounts due to contractual breaches.
