The trial for the illegal license of Costa Roja was finally going to be held this Monday, but the hearing had to be suspended due to the absence of one of the defendants, the former secretary of Yaiza, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes. Both he and his lawyer have claimed that they were in Gran Canaria and that they have not been able to travel to Lanzarote due to the storm.
Although the Criminal Court Number 3 of Arrecife has analyzed possible options to maintain the hearing, it has finally chosen to cancel it and set a new date for February 7 of next year 2023.
Along with Bartolomé Fuentes, the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, and the former head of the Technical Office, Antonio Lorenzo, are also accused in the case. The latter two had attended the Courts, along with several witnesses who were summoned for the session, such as the former presidents of the Cabildo, Inés Rojas and Mario Pérez.
The events occurred more than 16 years ago, when Reyes granted a license to the businessman Luis Lleó to build more than 1,000 homes, 228 commercial premises and 2,559 parking spaces at the entrance of Playa Blanca.
The City Council did not even request mandatory reports from the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands and hid that license, which was finally revealed by La Voz in February 2007. From then on there were numerous warnings from the Island Corporation, but the three defendants continued with the execution file, which also ended up being approved.
Finally, after the Cabildo went to court, it managed to adopt precautionary measures, which prevented the execution of this macro-project.
Undue delays in the investigation
In its indictment, the Prosecutor's Office underlines the
