The Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has concluded the investigation of the case against the former mayor of Teguise, Juan Pedro Hernández, and has agreed to initiate the procedure to bring him to trial for an alleged continued crime of urban planning prevarication, for the granting of illegal tourist licenses in Costa Teguise.
In an order dated December 1, the Criminal Chamber of the TSJC gives the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution ten days to formulate their indictment, prior to the opening of the oral trial against Hernández, which could still take months or even more than a year to be held.
This procedure against the former mayor of Teguise (who at that time was a member of the PIL) is part of the Yate case, which also investigates the massive granting of licenses in Playa Blanca. However, years ago both cases were separated in the Courts. In addition, Hernández's case became the responsibility of the TSJC when he became a regional deputy for Coalición Canaria and, therefore, a person with parliamentary privilege. Thus, what happens after the next elections in May could also influence the processing of this case, depending on whether Juan Pedro Hernández continues or not in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
Illegal licenses without reports
The TSJC order details the facts imputed to Juan Pedro Hernández, focused on the granting of four illegal licenses in 1999. In addition, he granted extensions of two of those licenses, also outside the law. In all cases, the permits were annulled with final judgments.
The licenses were granted during the revision of the Island Planning Plan, which prevented the granting of new permits. In addition, the mayor granted them without the mandatory municipal technical and legal reports, and did not request the report of compatibility with the PIOTL.
One of the licenses was given to the Hoteles Playa group, for the construction of a five-star hotel on plot 216 of Costa Teguise. In addition, an extension of the license was later given. The same situation was repeated with another license granted to Armadores de Puerto Rico S.A., for the construction of a four-star hotel on plot 210, and to which an extension was also granted two years later.
The other two licenses were granted to Colinas Residencial, for 48 tourist apartments on plot 318-22; and to another company that intended to build an apartment complex with 157 lodging units on plot 214, also in Costa Teguise. In this case, the Justice accepted in its day the precautionary measures requested by the Cabildo while the lawsuit was resolved, so the complex was not built. And the same happened with the five-star hotel, which today is a skeleton at the entrance of Costa Teguise.
Unlike what happens in the part of the Yate case focused on the Yaiza City Council, in the case of Teguise it will be only Juan Pedro Hernández who sits on the bench, since according to the investigation, there were no technicians who endorsed the illegal licenses he granted. In addition, while José Francisco Reyes is also charged with bribery and money laundering, among other crimes, Juan Pedro Hernández will only respond for the alleged continued crime of urban planning prevarication.
