The Court of First Instance of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has dismissed the appeal filed by Canal Gestión Lanzarote against the Lanzarote Water Consortium, in which the former concessionaire claimed the restoration of the economic-financial balance of the contract and a compensation of 8,081,454.43 euros for loss of income that it claimed to have suffered as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ruling, issued on September 15, declares the dismissal of Canal Gestión's claim to be lawful and therefore rejects that the Consortium has to face the payment requested by the company.
Canal Gestión based its claim on the sharp drop in tourist activity recorded during the pandemic and the consequent reduction in income from industrial and tourist tariffs. The company requested compensation for the losses it claimed to have suffered between March 14, 2020, and May 9, 2021.
The Water Consortium opposed this claim, considering, among other issues, that the public service continued to be provided during the state of alarm and that there was no total or partial impossibility of executing the contract. It also argued that the concessionaire had calculated the alleged imbalance by considering the income not received, but without adequately considering the reduction in costs associated with the decrease in water production and consumption.
The president of the Lanzarote Water Consortium, Oswaldo Betancort, has highlighted the "impeccable work done by the legal services of the Cabildo" and values the ruling as "an important endorsement of the defense of public interests carried out by the Consortium, because it prevents more than eight million euros from having to come out of public coffers to meet a claim that Justice now considers unfounded".
For his part, the Minister of Water of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Domingo Cejas, points out that "the ruling is very clear in considering that the service continued to be provided during the pandemic and that a temporary drop in income cannot be automatically equated to a breach of the economic balance of a thirty-year concession".
The ruling thus dismisses the appeal of Canal Gestión Lanzarote and declares the action of the Water Consortium to be in accordance with the law. It does not impose the costs of the proceedings on any of the parties and against the resolution, an appeal may be filed before the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands within fifteen days.
Add La Voz de Lanzarote as a preferred Google source.
Stay informed with the latest current news.