Its owner did not require the necessary reports from the Historical Heritage to begin the works in his hotel establishment, despite the fact that it was an old 16th century house, renovated by César Manrique and inside which there are murals by the artist. The well-known and traditional La Era restaurant, in Yaiza, was sealed last week by Seprona, the Nature Protection Service of the Civil Guard, after a complaint was filed with the Cabildo about the start of some works.
"La Casona de La Era was, together with the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, one of the properties that survived the fury of the volcano during the eruptions that, uninterrupted, devastated Lanzarote between 1730 and 1736". These are the data that are narrated on its website, where there is currently a message about the realization of those works that have turned out to be irregular. "Dear customers, we would like to inform you that we are undergoing renovations to be able to offer you a better service".
Renovations that affect the structure of the building, according to sources involved, and that required the authorization of the Historical Heritage Commission of the Cabildo. Seprona reported the situation to the First Institution and last week it ordered the stoppage of the works.
In addition to being an old building of traditional architecture, with a central courtyard, the La Era house has a history linked to César Manrique, who upon his return from New York in 1968, chose this building to create a tourist center on the island. Once acquired and restored, he finally decided to establish a restaurant dedicated to Canarian cuisine, which remains to this day.
Now, its owners will have to present a construction project and the Historical Heritage technicians evaluate the viability of the same to be able to continue with the reform that has been suspended for the moment.
Seven complaints in July
According to sources from the Civil Guard, during this month of July Seprona has detected seven irregular works, carried out in BIC environments, Property of Cultural Interest, in the absence of licenses or with the absence of mandatory reports for the start of the same. Most are undertaken by individuals, according to these same sources, but last week the placement of a Telecommunications Tower that is being carried out by the Government of the Canary Islands in the Atalaya de Femés was also sealed.
The work was carried out in a BIC environment, lacked a municipal license, territorial qualification, approval by the Historical Heritage of the Cabildo, so it was paralyzed last Friday. However, this Thursday they have restarted the works, before which the Civil Guard has transferred the case to the Courts.
Of the seven irregular works detected on the island - two in Teguise and Yaiza, one in San Bartolomé, another in Arrecife and the seventh in Tías - three of them, for the moment, have been paralyzed.
