The resolution of the First Island Corporation is based on the "substantial modifications" existing between the initial project and the final execution

The Cabildo denies the license for opening and operation of the Hotel Rubicón Palace

The accidental president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Manuel Fajardo Palarea, reported that last Friday, September 2, he notified resolution 3144/05 in which it is resolved to deny "the authorization of opening and operation ...

September 5 2005 (23:28 WEST)
The Cabildo denies the opening and operation license of the Rubicón Palace Hotel
The Cabildo denies the opening and operation license of the Rubicón Palace Hotel

The accidental president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Manuel Fajardo Palarea, reported that last Friday, September 2, he notified resolution 3144/05 in which it is resolved to deny "the authorization of opening and tourist operation requested by the company TEIDE 10 S.L., for a 4-star hotel complex located on plot 100 of the Montaña Roja Special Plan, in Playa Blanca, called Hotel Rubicón Palace".

This resolution is based on an unfavorable report from the Island Territorial Planning Office (PIOT) "which warns of the manifest inadequacy of the accommodation establishment object of this file, to the determinations of the superior instrument of tourist urban planning", and considers that "once the basic, execution and reformed projects have been examined (...) they have turned out to be very different, not coinciding in their external appearance, the constructed area, the number of rooms by type, nor their distribution among the different modules and floors, so it can be concluded that the initial tourist project called Hotel Rubicón Palace, which was granted prior tourist authorization in its day, has been substantially modified in its final execution".

For the aforementioned, the resolution concludes, "it is agreed to transfer the resolution to the Tourism Department of the Government of the Canary Islands for the purposes that proceed in matters of infraction and tourist sanction that are within its competence".

On the other hand, the accidental president Manuel Fajardo, assures that "the Cabildo of Lanzarote does not undertake these actions against the staff of professionals who provide their services in this hotel establishment. On the other hand, it does have the obligation to ensure compliance with existing legality and to implement all the mechanisms at its disposal to ensure that it is complied with".

Yaiza's version

For its part, the southern Consistory defends the operation of the hotel saying that the Supreme Court issued a ruling that annuls the Island Territorial Planning Plan of Lanzarote (PIOT) on the Montaña Roja National Tourist Center, in the municipality of Yaiza. According to the City Council, this final judgment invalidates the recent resolution of the Cabildo of Lanzarote on reports of opening and operation of several hotels in the tourist area of Playa Blanca, within the Montaña Roja Partial Plan, including the Hotel Rubicón.

The deputy mayor and councilor of Urbanism of the City Council of Yaiza, José Antonio Rodríguez, said as soon as he learned of the resolution that "in addition to this Supreme Court ruling where it annuls the PIOT of 1991, there are several of the TSJC where the revision of the PIOT of 2000 (known as Moratoria) is also annulled and a recent ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands resolves the execution of this ruling by which, in the opinion of the legal services of the City Council of Yaiza, the latest resolutions of the Cabildo of Lanzarote are invalidated".

The Cabildo responds

Legal sources from the Cabildo told this newsroom that the City Council is trying to confuse public opinion because the Autonomous Community granted the promoters of the Rubicón Palace a prior tourism authorization, which has nothing to do with the PIOT, to build a type of hotel, but it turns out that the tourist project was substantially modified without the respective authorization, and that is why the opening is now denied.

The Cabildo clarifies that to give a tourism authorization it is necessary to present a project, which is verified if it complies with the tourism regulations (dimensions of the rooms and others) and not from the point of view of the Island Territorial Planning Plan as the City Council of Yaiza intends to make it understand.

The Autonomous Community granted the initial permit in 1999 for the construction of the hotel, but as the modification of the project was made without authorization and as since 2000 the powers in this matter are of the Cabildo, the First Corporation has decided to deny the opening and operation license once the final project has been analyzed.

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