The second oral hearing of the La Bufona case, in which the promoters of an urbanization built in Arrecife on protected land that was not their property are being judged, will start this Monday, May 5 in Arrecife.
The Provincial Court of Las Palmas annulled the first oral trial, which was held in 2015. Now, the buyers of the 14 homes that were illegally expanded on protected rural land will be present as subsidiary civil liable parties. Among them are the mayor of Arrecife, Astrid Pérez, and the former coordinating prosecutor of Lanzarote, Miguel Pallarés.
After an instruction of more than 16 years, the first sentence was annulled for not including these owners in the procedure. In that ruling, the promoters of the homes Federico Echevarría and Antonio Caro had been convicted of crimes against land planning.
The delay in the procedure then led to a reduction of the sentence for the two defendants to six months in prison less one day, as well as the partial demolition of the 14 homes. When executing the ruling, the owners presented a motion of nullity, as they had not been present in the case, so the Court considered the repetition of the trial.
The area of the houses is on the outskirts of the capital of Lanzarote, in a space known as La Bufona and built on the rural land of ecological protection of El Jable.
Part of the occupied land, north of El Chabusquillo street, is owned by the Murillo family. This family assures that "this urban and rural land has not been sold to anyone", which means that "the company Brisa Inversiones SL cannot sell this land because it is not its owner, neither in the purchase deed, nor in the Land Registry", defends Gonzalo Murillo.
