The trial for the illegal license of Costa Roja will be held this Tuesday, February 7, 17 years after the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, granted that permit to build more than 1,000 homes, 228 commercial premises and 2,559 parking spaces at the entrance of Playa Blanca. The trial was going to be held last September, but the hearing had to be suspended due to the absence of one of the accused, the former secretary of Yaiza Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes.
Along with Bartolomé Fuentes, the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, and the former head of the Technical Office, Antonio Lorenzo, are accused in the case.
The events occurred more than 17 years ago, when Reyes granted a license to 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 macroproject.
Undue delays in the investigation
In its indictment, the Prosecutor's Office underlines the “extraordinary and undue delays” that occurred during the investigation of this case -in the Court that was then in charge of Rafael Lis-, and applies them as a mitigating factor to reduce the penalty. Thus, it only requests a sentence of three years and three months of disqualification for each one -which currently would not have practical effects-, as well as a fine of 3,960 euros.
For its part, the private prosecution, exercised by Carlos Espino, raises the request to one year and three months in prison and seven years of disqualification, considering that it was not a single crime, but a continuous crime. And it is that to the building license was added months later the execution project, despite the warnings they had already received then.
The businessman who received that license, Luis Lleó, was also investigated in the case, although his indictment ended up being filed, as no “sufficient evidence” of the payment of a bribe was found. However, Lleó was convicted of bribery in the Unión case, which began with an attempted bribe linked to this same plot.
A file for a macroproject resolved in three months
In its qualification brief, the prosecution recalls that it was on August 31, 2006 when Luis Lleó, on behalf of the entity Residencial Costa Roja SL, submitted the license application. Only 13 days later, the secretary, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, “with full knowledge of the illegality of the construction project”, issued a legal report to “give the appearance of legality to the file”, “limiting himself to generically listing legal precepts and requirements that should have been met” and without “making express reference to the project that was being reported or whether such legal requirements concurred in it”.
Two months later, the other defendant, Antonio Lorenzo, issued his report as head of the Technical Office. And according to the prosecution, he did so with the same objective of giving “the appearance of legality”. In his report, he points out that he limited himself “to elaborating on alleged reasons why the project could fit, deliberately and crudely ignoring to pronounce on the manifest illegality of the same”. Both Lorenzo and Bartolomé Fuentes have already been convicted in other cases for a similar 'modus operandi', which consisted of issuing empty reports, on which Reyes later based himself to grant the licenses.
Finally, 20 days after having that report, the mayor granted the permit, completing in three months and five days the file to authorize the construction of a project that would have multiplied the population of Playa Blanca, since it implied more beds than inhabitants Tinajo had at that time.
Afterwards, despite the warnings from the Cabildo, they also continued with the execution project, completing the file in a single day. On June 8, 2007, Antonio Lorenzo issued a technical report, Vicente Bartolomé a legal report and Reyes granted the execution permit.