The Almuñécar Town Hall breathes more easily after a judge threw out a claim for four million euros in compensation. And let’s be honest, it’s our taxpayers’ money that was at risk.
The seemingly eternal eyesore that greets visitors to Almuñécar approaching from La Herradura on the N-340, is visual testament to just how shaky a building licence can be when there are changes in the Mayor’s office.
In 2002, the Town Hall granted a building licence to the projected-hotel owners. The said licence gave permission for a ground floor, three upper floors and a penthouse. The work, with a budget of 12 million, was to be concluded by 2004. So far so good. However…
The governing PP party lost the following elections and the CA (Benavides) took over the running of the Town Hall, thence began a legal process to annul the licence for having two floors too many.
In 2009, the Town Hall obtained the annulment of the building licence thanks to a court decision, which stated that the hotel owners would need to demolish the two upper floors.
The property owner than sued the Town Hall for damages, demanding 4m euros to cover professional expenses, funds spent, earnings lost, etc. Who can blame them: the Town Hall grants a licence for the said amount of floors and then annuls the licence for having built that many floors, it seems.
Thanks to this latest court finding, the Town Hall can mop its brow in relief, but the sentence is not final; there can be an appeal. In fact, the judge partially sides with the claimant and recommends that he tries again once the structure is eventually demolished.
And therein lies the crux of the matter: the claimant cannot call for damages for the partial demolition if the act has still not been carried out. And carried out it must be, because according to municipal regulations the structure exceeds the height limit by two floors.
Editorial Comment: Why was the licence granted in the first place? Therein lies the unhappy story of incompetence, political favours and a lack of personal accountability in Spain, perhaps.
Previous Gazette article on the subject.
(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)