Canarias
Lanzarote dubbed the new Marbella as 22 illegal hotel complexes face demolition
By h.b.
Mar 17, 2008 - 2:32 PM

Some are describing Lanzarote as the new Marbella, following the revelation that the Canary Island High Court is to cancel the licences for 22 complexes in Yaiza and Teguise, eight top class hotels among them, because they are illegal. What’s more they all face demolition despite the fact that they have benefitted by European Union funding to the tune of 36.5 million €.

The El País newspaper quotes a Socialist councillor from the regional Cabildo council on Lanzarote, Carlos Espino, as saying there will be no amnesty. ‘We will demolish what is necessary’.

It means that 23% of the tourist places on the island, with as many as 15,000 beds, could be demolished as investigations also continue by the UDYCO organised crime police unit into the assets of two local mayors, José Francisco Reyes from Yaiza, and Juan Pedro Hernández from Teguise.

Among the large hotels under threat are the Meliá Volcán, the Princess Yaiza, Iberostar Papagayo, Papagayo Arenas, San Boi, Gran Castillo, and Natura Palace, along with many other lesser known ‘aparthotels’, six of which are still under construction.

The Canary Island High Court has not accepted any of the plans put to it by the local councils involved for the ordination of their territory, and two other courts are investigating whether people in the town halls committed a crime by awarding permission for hotels which had already been deemed illegal by the courts.