In a significant ruling, the High Court has instructed the continuation of the legalization process for the Hotel Papagayo in Playa Blanca (Lanzarote), delivering a setback to former president Dolores Corujo's attempts to obstruct an agreement between the Yaiza Council and the hotel owners.
The ruling means that the Cabildo de Lanzarote is mandated by the court to provide the sectoral report to the owners of Papagayo Arenas Hotel, which was constructed in the early 2000s, nearly 20 years ago in Playa Blanca.
This step is crucial for advancing the legalisation agreement negotiated with the Yaiza City Council. Mayor Óscar Noda has consistently advocated for legal solutions for the dozens of hotels entangled in legal disputes initiated by the Cabildo. Several have already secured municipal licenses, while many are in the process of legalisation.
In the case of the Hotel Papagayo, the PSOE and the former president of Cabildo, employed a strategy to hinder the legalisation agreement. For instance, they refrained from issuing the sectoral report, without which the southern municipality could not grant the construction license in the event of an agreement with the property owners.
This ruling, as assessed by legal and business circles, deals a severe blow to the Socialist party, as it exposes the misstep in the strategy employed by the PSOE's general secretary in Lanzarote, Dolores Corujo, and her external legal team during her tenure as president of Cabildo.
They utilized all available means to prevent the regulation of Hotel Papagayo and, more broadly, the majority of buildings with municipal licenses annulled in the courts.
In fact, they sought to demolish the Papagayo Hotel in Playa Blanca as a crowning achievement in their policy against certain hoteliers on the island. In the case of Hotel Papagayo, complications arose as the construction closed one beach access point. The property owners, in collaboration with the Yaiza Council, are working to address this issue within the framework of the hotel's regularisation process.
In essence, the Oswaldo Betancort-led Cabildo is now compelled to deliver the sectoral report, enabling them to proceed with the hotel's regularisation process.
The reality is that all these hotels, open to the public for years, were built on plots approved by partial plans. The majority can be legalised under the new General Plan of Yaiza, although some may need modifications to meet the requirements.
