The mayor of Tías, José Juan Cruz Saavedra, explained this Monday on Radio Lanzarote that the City Council is trying to reach an agreement with the owner of a plot of land in Puerto del Carmen, whose land was expropriated without compensation. A ruling condemns the City Council to pay him 3.3 million euros, and the government group is trying to reduce this figure through negotiation with the owner.
In this way, Cruz Saavedra has assured that what the City Council "wants" is to "carry out a negotiation to compensate the owner for his rights, without affecting the public coffers of the municipality." It is worth remembering that the municipal auditor issued a report stating that the City Council does not have the liquidity to face the payment of this sentence.
The mayor has confirmed that this sentence is appealed before the Supreme Court, although he has assured that he will continue trying to negotiate with the owner and hopes to find a solution in "two months."
Cruz Saavedra explained that "this issue is inherited from 1989", when the plenary session unanimously agreed on a resolution of the General Plan of the municipality, at the request of the residents of La Tiñosa. He also indicated that he already tried to negotiate with the owner offering that this plot, which is located on the seafront in La Tiñosa, would go from green to buildable "below ground", so that a public square could be built "covered and thus avoid as much as possible the impact of concrete."
Criticism of the PP
Likewise, the mayor has taken advantage of his intervention on Radio Lanzarote to criticize the PP and has considered that "the greatest satisfaction" of the popular formation is that "there are rulings against the City Council to be able to take political advantage of them." In this sense, he assured that the economic situation of the municipality is "the same as that of the rest of the corporations."
"The PSOE is clear that the City Council's budget is 24 million euros, which has decreased by 25 percent like any institution in this country. Depending on this, we have priorities. We are going to maintain social, sports, and cultural policies to continue providing services and improving the quality of life of citizens. The only thing the PP says is that it lowers taxes, but our obligation is to say what we are going to cut," insisted the mayor of Tías.
He has also acknowledged that the City Council "has pending payments", but has said that the Collection department "has more than 22 million euros pending collection."