The business group that owns the Meliá Volcán hotel in Playa Blanca has announced, through a statement, that it will take legal action against the Minister of the Presidency and Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Carlos Espino, for having made public accusations "false, offensive and threatening" against the business group in an interview published on November 23 in a regional newspaper
The representative of the Horinsa group, Francisco Armas, who is also president of the Lanzarote hotel association, states that Carlos Espino's statements, in which he questions the procedure followed to obtain the tourist license for the construction of a hotel in Playa Blanca, granted by the Yaiza City Council "are unfounded and seriously damage the image of the plaintiff".
Espino stated in that interview that the group that owns the Meliá Volcán hotel "applied for its license at nine in the morning and it was granted at noon (?) and that it lacks positive reports from the Yaiza City Council".
Armas points out in the statement that "the application for the building permit for the construction of a luxury hotel (?) took place on May 14, 1998, and the final urban license for the execution project was granted on September 14, 1999, so it is evident that it was not requested and obtained on the same day".
"On the other hand - the businessman points out - the aforementioned urban license not only has favorable reports from the technicians of the Yaiza City Council, but also from the Government of the Canary Islands through the General Directorate of Housing of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water; and from the General Directorate of Tourism Planning and Infrastructure of the Vice-Ministry of Tourism of the Ministry of Tourism and Transport".
"Specifically - the businessman continues - on June 4, 1998, the project is favorably reported, regarding compliance with the habitability conditions of the basic building regulations and others, by the General Directorate of Housing of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water of the Government of the Canary Islands and on July 8, 1998, prior authorization is granted by the General Directorate of Tourism Planning and Infrastructure of the Vice-Ministry of Tourism of the Ministry of Tourism and Transport of the Government of the Canary Islands".
THE REPORTS
The statement continues with more details of the file, such as that it "has the favorable report of the secretary of the municipal council, dated June 2, 1999, as well as the three technical reports of the surveyors of the Technical Office of the City Council itself, the last one dated September 7, 1999",.
Armas points out "the need to face calmly, through dialogue and negotiation, the conflict generated by the annulled tourist licenses, although we cannot allow our public image to be damaged by statements that
seriously undermine the truth and call into question the way of acting of companies that have a solid prestige in the tourism sector".
The building permit for the basic project for this hotel, granted on June 1, 1998, in the period between the approval of the Moratorium Law and its official publication, has been annulled by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. Among other aspects, it does not have a compatibility report with the Island Planning Plan and lacks a municipal legal report.
ACN Press
