A complete construction project of more than 200 buildings has to be demolished on a Spanish island. This is because the project would have been built in a protected area. The demolition will cost millions of euros.
After a 14-year legal battle, Spain’s highest court has issued a striking ruling. A luxury golf resort, a four-star hotel, 185 villas and an artificial beach have to be completely demolished.
That’s because the environmental group Ecologistas en Acción had started a lawsuit because they thought the project was built in a protected area and therefore needed to be natural again. The entire construction project is located on the island of La Isla de Valdecañas in a reservoir in the Extremadura region in western Spain.
In July 2020, the court had ruled that the hotel, villas and golf course, which were already in use, were allowed to remain because they did not damage the surrounding area. The court’s decision had also taken the economic situation into account.
That lawsuit had estimated that tearing down the entire project would cost about $34 million. The owners of the land should also receive compensation of 111 million euros. And that bill would go to the board of the region.
But the highest court ruling now overturns that earlier decision, forcing the entire project to be aborted.