You can be forgiven for believing that the monstrous illegal hotel on El Algarrobico Beach in Almería has long been demolished, but that’s not the case.

The Regional High Court (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía) has rejected the appeal lodged by the hotel owners against the demolition order on the 400-room hotel, which has been built illegally in the municipality of Carboneras.

The court findings confirm that the land on which the hotel has been built belongs to the Regional Government and… the Junta must pay out 2.3m euros to the Azata company and its affiliate Azata del Sol, including the land register entry for the two plots. In other words, the Junta obtains the land through purchase, in effect.

The court rejects any compensation for the company, who had claimed for it, as the hotel stands 94.5% finished with an investment of 27.42m euros.

The Junta will now coordinate with the Central Government over the costs of the demolition.

Editorial Comment: the lethargic response from the Junta over this blatantly illegal hotel permitted the impressively sized building to reach this stage of completion. Now, thanks to its ineptitude, taxpayers’ money must be spent to demolish it.

If there is one outstanding manifestation of administrative inactivity – perhaps even collusion – as the building boom spawned concrete barbarities across the country, then it is the hotel on Playa Algarrobico.

Will somebody take responsibility? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.