In addition to ordering the seizure of assets and rights of 17 members of the last two Boards of Directors of Inalsa, the order of the Mercantile Court Number 1 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has also highlighted that the bankruptcy administrators of Inalsa requested "a few weeks ago" the "cessation of activity" of the company and its "liquidation". However, since it is a company that provides an essential public service, applying this measure would be much more complex than in any private company.
For the time being, the judge makes it clear again, as he did in his day rejecting a request from creditors, that Inalsa's assets, essentially made up of desalination plants, cannot be seized. "Public domain assets are unattachable or unenforceable," the judge argues, adding that "all those legal acts that could have the indirect effect of proceeding with the loss of the public nature of the asset are also prohibited."
Therefore, to "liquidate" Inalsa, other formulas would have to be sought to pay the creditors, and that is why patrimonial responsibilities are sought in the members of the Board of Directors and even in the Insular Water Consortium. The next step would be for the administration to directly assume the service and look for a new management formula. And the one that would "cease the activity" would be Inalsa, but obviously the water supply on the island could not be interrupted.
In this sense, the order does open the door to mixed formulas, where ownership remains in the hands of the public administration, but the service is provided by a private company. In fact, it even cites the example of the Municipal Water Company of Las Palmas, Emalsa, which since 1992, has been participated by private companies, which have 66 percent of the shares, while the City Council of the capital of Gran Canaria maintains the remaining 33 percent.
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