The Provincial Court of Las Palmas has ratified the conviction against the owner of a house built without a license in the Protected Landscape of La Geria and against two other people who participated in the construction works, and has now also ordered the demolition of the construction.
In November 2011, the Criminal Court Number 1 of Arrecife already sentenced Ricardo Pacheco Perdomo, Miguel Ángel Armas García and Honorio Armas Martín as criminally responsible for a crime against land planning to a penalty of one year and six months in prison, to pay a fine of 2,160 euros and to the penalty of special disqualification from exercising a profession or trade related to construction for a period of one year and six months.
Both the defendants and the Public Prosecutor appealed that ruling before the Provincial Court, which has now ratified the convictions and has also ordered the demolition of the house, as requested by the prosecutor and the NGO WWW Adena, which was the one who reported the events in its day.
"An important step forward in defense of natural heritage"
"It is an important step forward in the defense of the natural heritage of our country," WWF (formerly Adena) has stated through a statement, in which it has made public this ruling dated last March.
The environmental organization has recalled that this procedure began in April 2000 against one of the people and in 2002 two others were charged. "In total, all those involved were accused: the owner of the house, the contractor and the technician. In 2011, the Criminal Court Number 1 of Arrecife issued a ruling, condemning the defendants, but without ordering the demolition of the work, because it understood that, since there were other constructions in the area, it was not appropriate", WWF recalled.
However, the Court has now decided to order the demolition, understanding that the works cannot be legalized. "The rehabilitation works exceeded three times the initial surface area of the house, were carried out in a protected area and did not have a license". Adena emphasizes, echoing the content of the ruling.
"Although it has taken us almost a decade, we hope that this ruling will serve to end the impunity and wild urban development with which the Canary Islands nature has been mistreated, even in protected areas," said the Secretary General of WWF Spain, Juan Carlos del Olmo.
Precedent with conviction of the former mayor of Tinajo
A construction in the same area of La Geria had already given rise to another ruling in 2011, also as a result of a complaint from WWF (Adena). In that case, in addition to those responsible for the work, the former mayor of Tinajo, Luis Perdomo, was also convicted for having allowed the works by giving a "verbal authorization" to the promoter.
However, on that occasion the Court did not order the demolition of the house. In this regard, it pointed out that in the vicinity "another building of greater dimensions had been built, on which there seems to be no criminal proceedings whatsoever." "Ordering the demolition of the work that concerns us now, would not restore the legal right violated, which, likewise, seems to have been violated by the nearby house," the ruling stated.
Now, on the contrary, the Court is ordering a demolition in that area for the first time, understanding that this is required by the seriousness of the events and the impossibility of legalizing the construction.
