Court Number 5 of Arrecife, which is investigating the "Unión" case, also has an open procedure for the licenses that the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, granted in his day to his party colleague and current PNL councilor in Arrecife, Pedro de Armas, to build ten chalets in Playa Blanca.
In the latest order on the "Unión" case, Judge Lucía Barrancos refers to these judicial proceedings, pointing out that "a crime against land planning is being investigated, with respect to an execution project of ten homes on non-developable land." Currently, the investigation is in the hands of the Environmental Prosecutor's Office.
Pedro de Armas, who is currently an opposition councilor in the Arrecife City Council, has held various positions of relevance in the last two decades, some of them directly related to Urban Planning. In fact, he has been a councilor of this area in the Arrecife City Council. Furthermore, in 2001 he was appointed CEO of Gesplan, the public company of the Canary Islands Government dedicated to the Management and Territorial and Environmental Planning of the islands.
"Hidden" licenses
In 2005, Pedro de Armas, through the company Marivista, [received licenses from the Yaiza City Council to build ten homes in the Playa Blanca Partial Plan->11967]. However, the Cabildo had warned that this plan was extinguished and, therefore, its construction could not be authorized, as later ratified by the courts of Justice.
In addition, the Yaiza City Council hid these licenses from the Cabildo, thus preventing it from appealing them. This was a common practice of José Francisco Reyes' government for years, until Justice forced him to report to the first Island Institution the licenses he granted. Despite this, [the Consistory continued to resist handing over those granted to Pedro de Armas->12172].
Finally, in 2008, and when the works were already well advanced, [the Contentious-Administrative Court Number 5 of Las Palmas issued an order suspending these licenses->19292]. In addition, the Court ordered the registration of the appeal in the Land Registry, to warn potential buyers of the lawsuit that was open and prevent them from acquiring these homes without knowing their legal situation.
Change of hands and budget "downward"
José Francisco Reyes signed the license authorizing the construction of these homes on November 14, 2005, and only eight days later, he authorized the start of earthmoving in the area.
Shortly after obtaining the municipal permits, Pedro De Armas' family company, Marivista S.L., sold the land, already with the licenses granted by the former mayor of Yaiza, to the company "Villas Blancas Lanzarote S.L."
When applying for the license, Pedro de Armas budgeted the ten homes at 588,731 euros. That is, about 58,000 euros per chalet. Based on that budget, the Yaiza City Council charged just over 31,000 euros in fees.
However, according to what they told La Voz at the time from the Official College of Quantity Surveyors and Technical Architects of Lanzarote, both the budget for the homes and, therefore, that of the fees, should have been much higher. In fact, they assured that for the construction of the ten chalets of these characteristics, the City Council should have been paid almost double, about 60,000 euros.
RELATED NEWS
[Reyes hides two licenses granted to Pedro de Armas in Playa Blanca->11967]
[Reyes still does not deliver to the Cabildo the licenses he granted to Pedro de Armas for 10 chalets->12172]
[The Court suspends the licenses that Reyes granted to Pedro de Armas to build 10 chalets in Playa Blanca->19292]
[LICENSES GRANTED, CABILDO RESOLUTION AND PROJECT DATA->11985]