The developer Papagayo Arena, owner of the illegal Sandos Papagayo hotel in Playa Blanca, has requested the Directorate of Coast and Sea to annul the new demarcation proposed in the Partial Plan of Las Coloradas, which implies that the protection easement goes from 20 to 100 meters wide and that if approved would affect practically the entire hotel.
The controversial Papagayo Arena is one of the 22 hotels that had their licenses declared null in Lanzarote and one of the three that have not yet been able to legalize their situation. Specifically, its license was declared null by the Justice in 2007 by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands for serious urban infractions. Then, in 2016 it was declared criminal by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, which sentenced the then mayor of Yaiza José Francisco Reyes to six years in prison and disqualification and decreed the seizure of all his assets.
However, the establishment remains open to the public and accommodating tourists despite not having any authorization to do so. In addition, it has a demolition order issued by the Yaiza City Council, during the mayoralty of Gladys Acuña in March 2016. The southern council itself already concluded in 2016 that this establishment, located in a privileged location next to the Natural Monument of Los Ajaches, was unlegalizable. This tourist accommodation occupies a public access road to Las Coloradas beach and "de facto" privatizes it, in addition to exceeding the permitted height.
The previous Government Group, led by Dolores Corujo, tried to seal the establishment and carry out its demolition, but the TSJC dismissed its demolition and urged the Yaiza City Council to "continue with its legalization."
From 20 to 100 meters of protection easement
In the documentation that La Voz has been able to access, and that was advanced by the digital Canarias Ahora, the owners of the Sandos Papagayo defend that there is "nothing at all to protect" in the area and that "the scope of planning is already consolidated by the building in all its extension."
The State Coastal Demarcation in the Canary Islands maintains that the protection easement is 20 meters wide for urban land prior to the Coasts Law. In order for the 20 meters to be valid, it states that in addition it must have complied with "the stages plan." Meanwhile, "otherwise," it increases to the delimitation up to 100 meters.
The partial plan of Las Coloradas, on which the Sandos Papagayo is based, was approved after the Coasts Law, but before its entry into force. However, it has not been possible to confirm that its "stages plan" had been fulfilled because "the certificate of completion of work has not appeared."
Meanwhile, the owners of the illegal hotel insist that the urbanization works of the Partial Plan of Las Coloradas "were executed according to" the stages plan, although "some units could remain to be executed."
To which they add that "almost all of the works" were executed before the nine years marked by the plan, but deny that the "possible delay, in three or four years" may suppose the current delimitation, which extends it to 100 meters. The Sandos Papagayos states that this land is "consolidated by the building in almost 90%."
For its part, the Yaiza City Council stated in the allegations that the urbanization works of Las Coloradas "were executed within the deadlines provided for in the aforementioned document."
The Coastal Demarcation adds that in 2003 the urbanization works had to "be reconstructed," but the hotel developer attributes it to the fact that "simply a series of damages occurred" that were repaired.
To defend that the stages plan was fulfilled and cling to those 20 meters of easement, the entity relies on the licenses of completion of work and the first occupation, granted by the Yaiza City Council between December 2003 and February 2004, which have already been declared null by the Justice and which led the mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes to prison. "For obtaining both licenses, the execution of the urbanization works is a necessary budget," he stressed in the letter sent to the Demarcation.
Another of the arguments reflected by the developer is that the new easement line would mean "a loss of urban development recognized in the urban planning instrument" and this would be "clearly compensable."
In addition, it adds that Costas "intends, 22 years later, to delimit the easement line with a width of 100 meters, against its own acts and in clear violation of the principles of legal certainty and legitimate trust."
To conclude, the property states that it has not "received any notification" about the Costas demarcation project and warns that "the absence of notification" may cause the "nullity" of the procedure.
