Francisco Armas also differs in relation to the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands on the Meliá Volcán Hotel since, according to him, "surprisingly there is a ruling that annuls the license for lacking the compatibility report with the PIOT, but everyone knows that the partial plans adapted do not require the compatibility report", although the annulment ruling indicates that the report is necessary if the municipal planning is not adapted. Even so, Armas points out that in any case "it would not be the responsibility of the promoter but in any case it would be of the municipal administration".
According to what he explained, when they carried out the hotel construction project in '98 and requested the license from the Yaiza City Council, the plot was included within the Castillo del Águila Partial Plan. A Partial Plan that he has confirmed "was adapted to the PIOT", and whose adaptation was approved by the COTMAC (Canarian Commission for Urban Planning and Environment) on April 28, 1998, as shown in the document during the press conference, and that "meant the reduction of the number of beds and buildable area". Something that, according to what he stated, "was done with each and every one of the plots, with the added cost that plots that were all tourist plots, became residential and commercial. The number of beds in the Plan was reduced by 50 percent," he pointed out. "We asked for and obtained all the permits, so we started operating like any other company."
For this reason, Francisco Armas, who wanted to make it clear that "from Asolan we do not defend any type of illegality", has said that he does not feel "at all portrayed" with the report presented by the Cabildo, of which he also points out that "it does not conform to reality" and "does not contribute at all to solving the problems of Lanzarote" since, according to him, "the effort that has been made is for everything opposite to fixing it".
And, according to what Armas stated, "the vast majority of establishments can be fixed if there is a will". So far, in the case of the Meliá Volcán Hotel, the CEO of Horinsa assures that they are still assessing what to do "because we have been treated unfairly", he responds when asked about the possible request for responsibilities to the Cabildo for the publication of the report.
International repercussion
"In economic terms, this type of thing damages a lot," said Armas, who referred to the tourism sector as "the main engine of the island's economy", so he urged the administrations to solve the problem in those cases where it is possible so that "we don't waste another minute".
And, according to what he explained, with all the information that has been published on the subject in the media around the world, "tour operators have one more element to lower prices", which, according to him, "can have repercussions and affect everyone".
