An "error" in the Arrecife City Council postpones the closure of the Hormiconsa crusher again

The developer was convicted in 2015 by the Provincial Court, which ordered him to demolish the warehouses, a concrete plant and a crusher built "illegally" in 2005, but the sentence has not yet been complied with

March 28 2025 (11:30 WET)
Updated in March 28 2025 (12:40 WET)
The Maneje crusher.
The Maneje crusher.

An "error" in the Arrecife City Council has again postponed the closure of the crusher plant that the company Hormiconsa Canarias SA has in the Maneje neighborhood. This was explained by the secretary of the council and also the Councilor for Classified Activities, Kevin Cortés, during the extraordinary plenary session held this Friday.

The Department of Nature Protection (Deprona) informed the council that they had mistaken the plot when decreeing the closure of the activity. The municipal plenary approved the closure of the activity on plot 536 at the end of 2024. However, when the agents arrived at the site, they realized that the company was accumulating aggregates in this space and that the crusher plant is actually installed in 351.

"There has been an error, it has been immediately corrected by opening a closure file, it has been sent to the Local Police and in due course the closure of 351, where the crusher is located, will be brought to the plenary session," the secretary of the council emphasized during the plenary session, which has classified the situation as a "small error."

However, the closure and demolition of these warehouses has been running through the corridors of the Arrecife City Council for more than a decade, without the activity being brought to an end.

The owner of Hormiconsa, Miguel Morales, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison and a fine of 67,500 euros in a sentence that was confirmed by the Las Palmas Provincial Court in 2015. This ruling, obliged the developer to demolish the warehouses, a concrete plant and a crusher built "illegally" in 2005. That year, the company began to dismantle the warehouses, but continued to carry out the activity to date.

Councilor Kevin Cortés justified the error in identifying the plot and assured that "as everything is fenced, the people who carried out the report thought it was one plot, but there is truly another adjacent plot."

Thus, during the plenary session they reported that two days ago a new file was initiated to close the real plot and that "soon" it will be taken to the plenary session "more quickly if possible" for the closure of that activity, according to the councilor.

During the plenary session, the main opposition party, the PSOE of Arrecife, pointed out that it is "the second material error" that has been detected in this matter, that already in 2015, there was a material error when complying with the sentence. In addition, he indicated that "there are writings from the property requesting extensions to continue developing the activity on plot 351."

For the moment, a technician from the Arrecife City Council has been appointed to instruct this new sanctioning file. Thus, the secretary of the City Council has clarified that "the area will not allow any activity there" and regarding its demolition, he stressed that he does not know if there is a Urban Planning file to demand the demolition of the facilities.

"We have to proceed to the closure, to the sealing of this closure. Rest assured that we are fully involved. It is a situation that has been delayed in time, for the neighbors and for the environmental impact that may be generated," Cortés concluded.

The Maneje crusher.
It is reported that the Maneje crusher continues to operate despite Arrecife decreeing its closure
The Court confirms the conviction of Miguel Morales and the order to demolish the Hormiconsa crusher
The Court upholds the sentence against Miguel Morales and the order to demolish the Hormiconsa crusher
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