An artificial beach cannot be built in Costa Teguise. The National Court joins the General Directorate of Coasts and rejects the creation of this project in a protected area of Lanzarote. The environmental impact, the lack of public interest and the broad social rejection were the conditions to reject the initiative promoted by Tourin Europeo SA. The resolution is not final and is subject to appeal within 30 days from January 27.
Tourin Europeo SA requested in 2017 the concession to exploit 2,615 square meters of public maritime-terrestrial domain in the coastal town of Costa Teguise. First, the General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea closed the project. Among other reasons, the initiative was proposed in a protected area, under the label of Site of Community Interest (SCI) and included within the Protection zones of the Natura 2000 Network.
However, the promoter decided to appeal to the National Court. Tourin Europeo SA filed an administrative appeal against the resolution, without obtaining a better result. Among the requests of the tourism company were: bringing sand from a deposit in the Sahara, building two breakwaters to stabilize the discharge of aggregates or creating a floating walkway for "the recreational use of bathers."
The Canary Islands Coastal Demarcation listed the reasons why the creation of an artificial beach in the area was not viable. Among them was the need to present an ordinary environmental impact assessment, required by law and decisive in projects exhibited on protected areas. At the same time, the Canary Islands Demarcation insisted that the promoter had not studied a zero alternative, that is, the option of not carrying out the project.
The broad rejection in the population of Lanzarote to create "new beaches in Teguise", added to the "sufficient beach offers" and the legal "impossibility" to extract sand from Western Sahara, were reasons presented by the coastal protection agency in the Archipelago.
Environmental effects
The discharge of aggregates on the coast has effects on intertidal spaces, the spaces where Canary Island pools are created and different species coexist.
The creation of the artificial beach promoted in Costa Teguise affects the Natura 2000 Network, in particular the marine area of eastern and southern Lanzarote-Fuerteventura. Among the most affected species is the loggerhead turtle (caretta caretta), which is in danger of extinction and is of special interest for the preservation of Canary Island ecosystems. When harboring species such as the loggerhead turtle, listed as priorities, the projects must be related to public health, have positive environmental purposes or be of public interest. Coasts estimated then that none of the three points are part of the reasons why this artificial beach was promoted.
The Coastal Demarcation insisted that the construction of the beach is linked to that of a future hotel project, but that "it is an insufficient reason" to comply with the regulations for protected areas on the coast. Similarly, it emphasizes that the area where it is intended to be carried out "preserves its natural characteristics in good condition" and that this situation must prevail over "anthropogenic degradation." For its part, the promoter contradicted the argument and indicated that "the area no longer preserves its natural values" and that it has been affected by the construction of a promenade and the existence of other hotels.
In addition, in the environmental assessment required by Coasts, it questioned the presence of animals such as the loggerhead turtle or the bottlenose dolphin (tursiops truncatus), "because they are species of oceanic habits." It also indicated that the sandbanks had been replaced by sea urchins and whitewashed areas, a kind of marine desert. The space not only highlights the loggerhead turtle or the bottlenose dolphin.
The National Court endorses that the actions in the Natura 2000 Network space identified more species such as the common dolphin, the striped dolphin, the spotted dolphin, the rough-toothed dolphin, the killer whale or the tropical whale, present in the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime. In addition to the North Atlantic right whale and the humpback whale, classified as vulnerable in the Spanish Catalog of Threatened Species.
The company Tourin Europeo SA defended that the area no longer harbored the values for which the space was declared a site of community interest. So it estimated that the environmental consequences of the works would be of a minor nature. After the requirements demanded by Coasts, the project was corrected by the company.
Meanwhile, the National Court estimated that regardless of the expert report delivered by Tourin, the project is in an area within the SCI, so it must comply with the regulations reserved for this type of space. In the same line, the National Court estimates that the company's claim with the project "is not indicative of the existence of a general interest in the concession." For the Court, the construction of the beach is not a response to a citizen need, but an attempt to increase the value of the hotel. At this point it agrees with the Directorate of Sustainability and Coasts and indicates that the project alters the environment, produces adverse environmental effects and does not take into account the effects on marine habitats. Therefore, it decided to consider that the ruling of Coasts was within the law, that the company has not suffered real or material defenselessness, but that a resolution contrary to its interests but in accordance with the law has been issued.
