The Canary Islands Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment has lifted one of the three stop orders that were in place for the construction project of the Cuna del Alma tourist complex in Puertito de Adeje in the south of Tenerife.
The agency, part of the Canary Islands Government, has revoked the stop order and the €110,000 fine imposed on the project's promoter for starting construction without obtaining the required environmental impact assessment, as they only had a simplified evaluation.
The compensation board of action unit 1 in sector SO-6, Puertito de Adeje, filed a motion for reconsideration against this resolution, which the Canary Islands Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment has accepted. However, legal recourse through administrative litigation against this decision is still possible.
Approximately twenty environmental groups led by “Salvar La Tejita” have announced their intention to continue the legal and social fight against this project. They believe that the matter will undoubtedly end up in the hands of justice and will lead to further social mobilisations.
The decision to lift the stop order by the Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment is justified on the grounds that the Adeje Council granted a license for the project, limiting the agency's capacity to intervene. The agency rejects all arguments presented by the appellant except for the alleged violation of local autonomy, in this case, the Adeje City Council as the competent authority for approving the urbanisation project and appointing the environmental body for projects.
The municipal environmental body was established in 2020, before the initiation of the punitive procedure by the Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment. The agency's suspension of the Cuna del Alma project implies the suspension of the executability of the municipal administrative approval of an urbanisation project embraced by the Adeje Council.
The resolution states, "Every public administration, in the exercise of its powers, enjoys declarative and executive self-control." In this case, the City Council exercises executive self-control over the approved urbanisation project, which was not contested, through the compensation board, acting under its supervision and control.
The provisional suspension of the project's execution "is, therefore, the suspension of the execution of the municipal administrative act that approves it, affecting it without having been contested in administrative litigation, which questions the competence entrusted to the Adeje City Council as a local entity, meaning that it is called into question and limited by another regional authority."
The other two proceedings against the Cuna del Alma promoter were related to the impact on archaeological sites and the 'Viborina Triste,' a protected plant.
Regarding the latter, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Canary Islands Government, Mariano Hernández Zapata, announced last September that the proceeding would be reopened and "the counter would be reset," instead of letting it expire, as happened with the former.
