"The lack of decisions is total. Their duty of vigilance and control during all these years has been null due to absolute non-existence, even after having full knowledge of the facts, even if only through the present procedure, in which officials and authorities of all the administrations involved are accused: Yaiza City Council, Lanzarote Cabildo and Government of the Canary Islands."
This is one of the fragments of the forceful order of the judge of Court Number 5 of Arrecife, Silvia Muñoz, in which she orders the closure of the Stratvs winery but, in addition, makes harsh reproaches to the institutions that should have ensured legality. The judge goes so far as to say that the "inactivity" shown by the public administrations in this case is "alarming".
With these statements, the judge refers to what has happened in the last 15 years and until this very Friday, when it has been the Justice that has had to close the winery and all its annexed facilities. And all this, despite the fact that the different administrations have had reports for a decade, warning of the different irregularities and even the contamination that was being produced with wastewater. And also despite the fact that what was built had nothing to do with what had been authorized.
In fact, one of the first aspects that the order underlines is that in the municipal file itself on the application for an activity license, the irregularities of the Stratvs facilities were already "revealed". "It was well known that what was being built was neither authorized nor would be authorized," the judge points out.
But apart from the alleged crimes against land planning and against historical heritage, for the demolition of a construction that in theory was going to be rehabilitated, the administration was also aware for more than seven years of a possible crime against the environment, due to the dumping of contaminated wastewater on the protected soil of La Geria.
A report warned about it, but it was never monitored again
Regarding wastewater, the judge points out that a technician from the Health area of the General Directorate of Public Health issued several reports between 2006 and 2008 warning that "the facilities did not comply with the regulations regarding wastewater evacuation".
Even, Public Health addressed the Yaiza City Council in August 2008, pointing out that they had been requesting a technical report from the City Council on the septic tank and filtering well for industrial wastewater discharge since 2006, without it having been issued until that moment. In addition, it cites several more reports, including one from December 2008, "prior to the granting of the City Council license, which is also negative".
When Juan Francisco Rosa finally submitted an application for authorization for the wastewater treatment system (months after having inaugurated Stratvs), the Island Water Council, dependent on the Cabildo, took samples on October 16, 2008. And in his report, the section chief warned that "the waters from both pits drain into a drainage well, from where it infiltrates into the ground"; that "the results of the analyses gave figures indicating a high degree of contamination" and that "the parameters obtained from the resulting water product of the purification system notably exceed the established limits".
Despite all this, in November 2008 he was given a "provisional authorization for six months, without the possibility of extension, and provided that the quality of the water is guaranteed by monthly periodic analyses, said authorization being revoked if it is not complied with". Since then, there is no record that a single control was carried out by the Island Water Council again. Nor were samples taken again, nor was anything done when that provisional authorization expired.
According to the summary of the case, and the judge includes in the order, the only thing there are is three analyses provided between February and June 2009 by Juan Francisco Rosa himself, "in which it is not known who, where or with what reliable guarantees the samples are taken".
Afterwards, "no further authorization is recorded" and the judge concludes that "there is no authorization whatsoever for the discharges that have been taking place and there is no record that the Island Water Council has shown the slightest concern in this regard, as there is no record of controls, inspections or any action".
"Flagrant inactivity of the Yaiza City Council"
In her order, the judge recalls that there are technicians and politicians accused of the permits that were granted in their day to the winery (to which the promoter did not even adhere later, since he did something totally different from what was projected), but she also warns that "the inactivity of any means of control or intervention from the administrative point of view, despite having knowledge of the situation of the Stratvs complex is such, that the possible commission of a crime is raised by those who knowingly had a legal obligation to act".
In this regard, she recalls that when the mayor of Yaiza, Gladys Acuña, was called to testify as an accused in the case, on July 12, she was asked if she was going to adopt measures, given that at least through the instruction of the case she had already had knowledge of the facts. Her answer was affirmative but almost 20 days later, the Court had to address the City Council through a provision, so that it would state what measures had been adopted, "knowing the lack of licenses".
Finally, on September 9, the City Council ordered the closure only of the restaurant, and to this day it maintains an open file on the rest of the installation. At the end of October, Gladys Acuña confirmed to La Voz that the closure had been proposed and they were awaiting possible allegations and responding to them, but to this day they still have not closed that file, alleging lack of personnel.
Thus, in addition to the facts that are already imputed to the mayor, the former mayor José Francisco Reyes and other councilors and technicians of Yaiza, the judge reproaches the "still current and flagrant inactivity of the City Council and the Island Water Council and their patent negligence in the fulfillment of their functions".
Next, she reproduces one of the arguments of the defense of Juan Francisco Rosa, who in order to try to avoid the precautionary measure of closure being agreed, alleged that "the mayor herself has officiated civil ceremonies" in the Stratvs facilities.
Various activities and with publicity
The order also recalls that the winery had been carrying out "various activities", such as "theme parties, workshops, concerts, summer cinema, brunch, painting exhibition, astronomical nights, conferences or fashion shows, among others", as collected by the Seprona and as can be seen "in numerous publicity in different media", despite the fact that it lacked permits.
"It turns out that in an ostentatious manner in view and patience of the various administrations, and outside of all administrative control, activities are carried out without the existence of the mandatory permits and licenses, with the consequent damage to the environment and the ecological and historical heritage, values that are especially protected in the area of La Geria", insists the judge.
And all this, adding to the fact that "the initial terms of the license were not respected" and "thus, taking shelter in the traditional maintenance of the wine activity of the area, the construction has ended up being carried out that encompasses a complex with a shop-museum-tasting, projection room, El Aljibe del Obispo restaurant, Las Barricas terrace and parking that exceeds in an exaggerated and gross manner what was initially authorized, before the eyes of the public institutions that, despite their knowledge, omitted any control".
