"We have summoned you out of moral duty to give unpleasant news to the citizens." This is how the mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, began his press conference to explain the condemnation of about 6 million euros imposed on the City Council for the occupation of about 25,000 square meters of land without enabling title in 1985 in Caleta de Caballo. "We are not going to allow any poisoned inheritance to mortgage the future generations of the municipality," Betancort said, although he admitted that the money will have to be deducted from the investment items.
Betancort went so far as to point out that the plaintiff alleged that the City Council occupied 35,134.75 square meters at that time, and that it even "raffled or gave away plots among the neighbors." "It would be easy to look for responsibilities, but the call is to convey a message of tranquility and responsibility," said the mayor, thus rejecting taking legal action against that government group that occupied this land, and which was chaired by Dimas Martín.
Betancort has assured that the City Council has fought "for many years", since 2007, not to be condemned to pay this compensation. In that year, a letter was presented in the registry of the City Council in which the plaintiff, Caleta de Caballo y Barranco del Bebedero S.L., requested the restoration of the land to its original situation. "It was not viable and a judicial process was initiated," Betancort indicated.
The City Council at that time "did not answer" the letter, in which this company claimed 17.5 million euros. Subsequently, the City Council began to litigate and in the first instance a judge ruled that the municipality should pay 6.6 million euros. "We, out of duty and to fight and defend the municipal interests, sent to appeal the sentence to the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC)," Betancort explained.
Valuation to know the exact amount
Now, the sentence is already in the execution phase and cannot be appealed. The City Council will have to face a sentence of between 5 and 7 million euros, although the exact amount is not yet known since a valuation has to be made. The City Council will commission this valuation, although it will be the Court that has to decide the final amount. "We filed an appeal, but the court rejected it, so now we have to do the valuation ourselves, the other party, and what the Court says," he explained.
The government group is confident of reducing the sentence by 1 million euros, since at the time the urban land (17,419 square meters) and the rustic land of this land (7,695 square meters) were valued economically in the same way. "To pay the amount X we have to sit down with the plaintiff and make a payment plan of 10 or 15 years," Betancort said.
"I'm not going to blame anyone"
Betancort has admitted that the municipality has to face "a great challenge", but has affirmed that the government group was aware that this sentence could arrive, so it planned its policy based on this. "I don't want to be alarmist and I'm not going to blame anyone, but maybe things will arrive slower to the neighbors," he admitted.
Both the mayor and the Councilor of Finance, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, have recognized that they will have to reduce the investment chapter and the works that were going to be done in the municipality to face these payments, such as the paving plan, the awarding of energy lighting or the action in two or three "important" streets of Costa Teguise. Therefore, they will try to knock on the doors of other administrations to maintain the investment.
What the government group will not cut back on is sports, culture, education and social affairs. "We will continue to face the municipal needs with responsibility, although more slowly," said the councilor, who has also reviewed all the measures that PSOE and CC have adopted to reduce expenses in the face of this sentence.
"We are going to be able to get all this forward, although this is a mess. I've been quite bitter for a few days, but we have to face the situation as responsible politicians," Jiménez insisted.
Another sentence that could condemn the City Council
In addition to this "bucket of cold water" to the Consistory of La Villa could arrive another, a sentence that could condemn him to the payment of 1.7 million euros. "We are in a period of defense and being optimistic we have arguments to defend the lawsuit, but it can fall on us," said Betancort, who has limited himself to explaining that it is an urban issue in Costa Teguise.
