A business owner in the south of Gran Canaria has been forced to close his five restaurants and lay off 25 workers – half of the staff – after operating them for 50 years without a license.
According to La Provincia newspaper, Pablo González the owner of the Gran Canaria, El Pirata, Atlanta, Venecia and El Tiburón restaurants, all located on the seafront of Puerto Rico, one of the main tourist areas of the municipality of Mogán.
Noise complaints led to a municipal inspection that ended up revealing that at least the Gran Canaria and El Pirata restaurants have been operating for 50 years without licences from the City Council. Thus, the council has sealed both premises and fined them 22,500 euros after verifying the irregular situation in which they were found.
Territorial limbo
It so happens that, in addition, the Urban Planning department of the council maintains that González does not have a license because those premises are under “administrative concession”, given that they are located on land belonging to the public maritime-terrestrial domain (DPMT) and he has never applied for licenses.
However, the businessman assures that he has them registered in his name in the Property Registry and that the only thing that is under concession to Costas are the terraces.
“The premises are under protection easement [a strip of privately owned land adjacent to the DPMT] and are under a special regime, but I own the property,” he explained to La Provincia. Because of this, he is accusing the Council of “hiding information” by not providing him with police files and reports that he has requested.
He also said that, in his opinion, “a massacre against a businessman” has been committed, with him, and his staff, voicing their protest.
