Photos: Sergio Betancort
Diego de la Cerda, a resident who lives in a house on the Arrecife Ring Road, has filed a lawsuit in the Arrecife Courts, requesting the suspension of a construction project, as he fears being left without access to this road. "They have everything ready and as soon as I get distracted, they'll pour the concrete and close off my access to the Ring Road," he says.
This man lives in a house very close to the gas station located on the Ring Road, a few meters from the access to the LZ-2, in the Costa Teguise-Arrecife direction. To access his house, he must enter through this service station, take the acceleration lane, and there, he has some dashed lines to enter his house. To exit, he also has to take this lane and yield to merge onto the Ring Road.
Since this Monday, he fears that the company awarded the Ring Road construction will close off this access and assures that "everything is ready" to "pour the concrete" and build a wall. Therefore, he has placed his vehicle in this passage to prevent them from closing it.
"Unauthorized" access, according to the Canary Islands Government
The Canary Islands Government indicates that there is no "authorized access" in that area and that it is necessary to install this wall because the regulations require it. However, the affected party claims in his complaint that it is a "lawful and authorized" access, so he requests that the works be suspended.
In his lawsuit before the Courts, this neighbor claims that the company has started work on the road to his property, "which consists of eliminating that access street and building a wall that will completely deprive him of the right to access his home." If this passage is closed, Diego de la Cerda will not be able to leave "from any side", since behind the house there is only "countryside" and, in addition, it is "private property".
The lawsuit insists that he has an access authorization from the service station, creating the road to the house, dated December 2, 1997. In addition, he claims that he has been entering his property through this area for more than a decade. "It took me almost ten years to be able to enter through there, until a judge said that the access should be opened and the Public Works Department of the Canary Islands Government opened it about 15 years ago," he explains.
"This is an injustice and a shame"
This neighbor claims that he even went to ask the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, for a meeting to explain his situation, but "he didn't have time". "Tell me now what I do and how I enter my house. This is an injustice and a shame," laments Diego de la Cerda, who lives on this property with 12 other people.
Both on the facade of the house and on the fences placed due to the works, there are different signs in which this citizen explains his protest.
