The Almadracha neighborhood association, which groups together the owners of the houses in La Bufona that are subject to two demolition orders, has announced that it will "study what measures can be taken" against the developers of that urbanization and against public administrations. Almost two decades after the criminal case began over the construction of these houses, which ended last year with a final judgment, the residents issued a statement this Thursday to express their "surprise" at the latest news that has been published, that is, the order to execute that final judgment and give the developers six months to carry out the partial demolition of the homes.
Although the buyers of the houses did not appear in that criminal case, in which they did testify as witnesses, in their statement they criticize that they have been "the real condemned without being heard, violating the right that the Constitution gives to every person to be heard in a fair process with all the guarantees".
"The owners of the 14 homes express their astonishment and disappointment with the
criminal judgment issued within a procedure in which they have not participated as injured parties, despite the fact that part of their homes are at stake," they state in their statement. It should be remembered that in addition to that demolition order issued in the criminal proceedings, the houses are also subject to another demolition order issued years ago by the Agency for the Protection of the Urban and Natural Environment, which affects the works carried out in the back of the houses after they were delivered to them. These works were carried out on protected rural land and include swimming pools, pergolas and extensions of the property.
In this case, it was the owners of the houses themselves who appealed the demolition orders in the courts, in the administrative court, and most of the appeals have already been rejected with final judgments.
"The Apmun did not suspend or stop the works due to lack of resources"
In their statement, the neighborhood association states that the houses "were built with the permission of the Arrecife City Council and that the Agency for the Protection of the Urban and Natural Environment (Apmun) did not suspend or stop the works due to lack of resources" at the time. For this reason, they now announce that they will file a "claim with the two public administrations, given the clear responsibility of these for allowing the construction of the houses, also allowing people with absolute ignorance of what was happening to buy the houses that they now intend to partially demolish".
The association assures that these residents of Arrecife whom they represent "are third parties in good faith and have been considered as such by the judgments that are indicated". In addition, they state that "they will not rest until true justice is done with this urbanization", which they consider to be "abandoned by the Arrecife City Council, despite receiving the payment of their taxes". A tax payment, by the way, that they did not make for several years after acquiring the houses, as was highlighted during the trial, due to irregularities in their registration.
"Ruining the lives of 14 families by demolishing part of their homes"
From the Almadracha Association they have explained that they are amazed because the Murillo family, who reported the case -because they usurped land from their property to build the houses-, "after 17 years of media battles has only managed to condemn the builder and the developer of the houses to 4 months fine and ruin the lives of 14 families by demolishing part of their homes".
The residents recall that the houses "were built between 1995 and 2000, protected by a building permit granted by the Arrecife City Council, when Isabel Déniz and Manuela Armas were in charge". However, in addition to the fact that part of it was built on protected rural land, the judgment also considers it proven that subsequent works were carried out that were not covered by that license.
"They were granted a first occupancy license and a certificate of habitability, thus giving legal coverage to the houses built in their entirety," they defend from the association. "Few houses in Lanzarote have been built under an instrument such as a Partial Plan, however it seems easier to tear it down than those others, many works, built without any permission", they question.
"Convicted people leave with a more favorable sentence"
In the opinion of the neighborhood association, "it is regrettable to see how those who have been convicted leave the process with a more favorable sentence than those who did not have that opportunity through the court and who will see part of their houses demolished".
They have also argued that for a case of very similar characteristics that occurred in Sanxenxo, "the European Court of Human Rights has condemned Spain in a recent judgment of January 10, 2017 for not having given the Court a hearing to the owners of a house whose demolition had been ordered".
According to what they have stated from the association, that judgment "ends by concluding that the Spanish courts cannot forget the legitimate owners of these homes, since in order to do justice they need to take these innocent owners into account".
