The Arrecife Prosecutor's Office has filed an appeal for reconsideration against the decision of Court No. 3 of Arrecife to dismiss the case for the demolition of a historic building at number 33 Calle Real de Arrecife in 2006. In that case, two municipal technicians, the owners of the building, as well as former mayor María Isabel Déniz and several members of her Governing Board were charged with prevarication and a crime against historical heritage. The Court itself will have to resolve the appeal.
Judge Jerónimo Alonso dismissed the case against all those involved last month, four years after it was opened and shortly after taking statements from both Déniz and the rest of the councilors who decided to grant the demolition license. Among the reasons for the dismissal is the annulment by the courts of the municipal catalog of historic buildings, which included this property, as well as the legal coverage under which the building was protected. The Arrecife City Council appealed the decision to annul the catalog and the Supreme Court has not yet ruled.
The Prosecutor's Office considers, however, that the license was granted during a period in which the granting of licenses had been suspended, as well as that the building does have historical value and that there is evidence that has not yet been presented within the procedure.
A nineteenth-century house with illustrious residents
The property belonged to the group of nineteenth-century "high houses" of Arrecife and its former owners were the Aldana family, who built it in the early nineteenth century. It had 22 rooms, a cistern, a saltwater well and two courtyards. Dr. José Molina Orosa, who today gives his name to the General Hospital of Lanzarote, lived and practiced there. Guillermo Topham Walsh also lived in that house.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote prepared a report on the house, after its demolition, which it described as "null and void, administratively liable to be sanctioned and criminally prosecuted." It also said that "such destruction was an illegal act and public administrations, including the Prosecutor's Office, must act accordingly. Thus, the historical artistic values that this property had are being ignored and if its denunciation proceeds, it must be forced to restore what was demolished due to its high historical and artistic value."
S.G. / ACN Press
