The General Directorate of Coast and Sea published on July 8 the final demarcation of Coasts in Playa Blanca, determining that the protection zone of the Las Coloradas Partial Plan, among others, occupies a width of 100 meters, so most of the Papagayo Arenas hotel is within the new protection easement.
The resolution of the body orders the Demarcation of Coasts of the Canary Islands to initiate the pertinent actions to "rectify the contradictory registry legal situations with the approved demarcation."
As will be recalled, the General Plan of Yaiza, approved in 2014, was partially annulled in May 2018 and subsequently, in September 2022, entirely by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands for lacking the mandatory report from Coasts.
According to the report made by Coasts, on June 2, 2021, with respect to the Supplementary General Planning Plan of Yaiza, "residential construction is an expressly prohibited use in the protection easement zone, and a transitional regime may be established in those cases where it is applicable".
However, the same report warns that "there are buildings in protection easement with a construction date much later than 1988, so the legality of its construction must be accredited, recalling that in the event of a violation of the Coasts regulations, article 197 of the RGC (General Regulations of Coasts), establishes the obligation to restore things and restore them to their previous state".
This warning is forcefully applicable to the case of the Papagayo Arena hotel, since all licenses that the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, granted for the construction of this hotel have been declared illegal and annulled by the Courts, which have also warned that the hotel invades a public road, so it completely lacks legal coverage to access the transitional regime. Therefore, its owners would be obliged, as indicated in the aforementioned article 197 of the RGC, to the "restitution of things and restoration to their previous state", which adds a new reason that makes its legalization completely unfeasible.
Complaint to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor
The Papagayo Arenas Hotel has been open to the public and in operation for more than fifteen years without the necessary authorizations for it. This situation led the civic association 'El sol sale para todos' to file a complaint before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor against the Government of the Canary Islands and the Yaiza City Council for their inaction. The Prosecutor's Office of Arrecife, to whom Anti-Corruption referred the complaint, has until October 6 to decide whether it appreciates facts constituting a crime.
The civic association 'El sol sale para todos' decided to file the complaint with the Prosecutor's Office when it learned through a digital newspaper that the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands had upheld in December of last year an appeal by the owner of the Papagayo Arena in which it revoked the ruling of the Contentious-Administrative Court number 5 of Las Palmas. This Court had ordered the restoration of "urban and territorial legality" and opened the door to the total or partial demolition of the hotel.
However, the TSJC ruling urges to continue the procedure of legalization of the works of one of the largest hotels on the island, against the criterion held by the previous Government Group of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, which defended the uselessness of concluding that legalization procedure, given the illegal nature of the works for failing to comply with tourist and urban regulations.
According to the Courts, the Sandos Papagayo Beach Resort, formerly known as Papagayo Arenas, fails to comply with municipal planning and occupies a public road of access to the beach, which the hotel has made its own and has integrated into its construction and facilities. Thus, it has taken away from the population the right to access that beach by public land, as part of the state public domain collected by the Spanish Constitution.