Thursday, November 23, 2023, 08:08
It’s over. The history of more than 80 years of the legendary El Tintero kiosk has come to an end and this could not be sadder because of its surprise and its little or no support. The views from Cura beach will no longer be the same. The pike, as confirmed to this newspaper by sources from the Coastal Demarcation, will demolish this Thursday the terrace where one day fishing gear began to be dyed – hence its name – and ended up as one of the most traditional establishments, a must-see summers for every resident and lover of Torrevieja.
The reason for this loss is none other than those, in the eyes of citizens, disagreements between administrations. Costas considers that it is a private economic activity that is being exploited without any concession in the maritime public domain. The City Council, on the other hand, considers the kiosk, which was already entering its third generation, as one more element of Torrevieja’s historical heritage, no longer for its architectural value, but rather for its sociological value, which has occupied a place in the hearts of all Torrevieja residents and in good faith. part of the Vega Baja.
With all the pain in their souls, the grandchildren of the founder of El Tintero, Antonio Chazarra, abandon that plume of land reclaimed from the sea, that unparalleled viewpoint of the Mediterranean with their heads held high and without making a fuss. Handing over the keys and turning off the electricity and water without question, with the poise and serene certainty of having made great the memory of the dream of their ancestors, of the place where they grew up, laughed and, in the process, made something happier. the stay of so many tourists who have stopped by to take a bath and taste its unforgettable cuttlefish and sardines.
The family had already spent 13 years litigating in court to obtain a happy concession despite successive setbacks. The last hope they had left to save what has been their life was the City Council, but not even it has been able to arrive in time. Costas has gone ahead. The plan to prevent the demolition or at least delay it was its declaration as an Asset of Local Relevance. The executive of Eduardo Dolón (PP), in fact, had already commissioned a report from the Tomás Llavador Araquitectos e Ingenieros SL studio (and invested 9,801 euros in it) to justify the convenience of declaring this sanctuary of traditional cuisine inviolable. It was awarded at the Government Board on June 9 and the execution deadline expired on December 9. But it is clear that an undelivered study has not scared Costas one bit.
Virtually no political group with representation in the City Council has seen favorably the demolition of El Tintero. Even the previous mayor, José Manuel Dolón (Los Verdes), who headed the five-party government between 2015 and 2019, expressed a few weeks after leaving the mayor’s office that he would promote the protection of the kiosk. The family also commissioned a study from the University of Alicante to prove to the City Council that their premises deserved it. Eduardo Dolón’s second term (2019-2023) has passed and the matter remains at the same point.
From Costas they insist that their arrival is in compliance with a court order. They point out that, on June 29, 2022, they received a ruling issued by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, by which the contentious appeal of the owners against the Resolution of the Alicante Provincial Coastal Service, issued on December 17, 2018. The location has been without a concession since 2011.
The family still appealed to the Supreme Court, but on February 22, 2023, the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the high court notified Costas of the inadmissibility of the appeal, making the sentence final. “To proceed with the subsidiary execution, they explain, there is judicial authorization to enter the establishment, obtained by Order issued on October 25, granting a period of 30 calendar days to make the demolition effective.” Tomorrow, Friday, therefore, the deadline to execute the judicial resolution expired.
On November 20, 2023, the state administration concludes, an act of reversion of the land in favor of the State was drawn up with the assistance of the interested parties, who, they acknowledge, agreed to hand over the keys without resisting.
Precedents
It is not the first time that the institution dependent on the Ministry for the Ecological Transition acts in the same way in the vicinity. While El Tintero acts as a barrier, a separating line between Cura beach and the so-called ‘natural pools’ of Juan Aparicio promenade, there was another establishment that was delighting just at the other end, at the beginning of the Punta Margalla promenade. In November 2020, the José María kiosk also closed its doors forever with another demolition of Costas and left behind another extensive history as a reference beach bar on Avenida de los Marineros.
Actions that continue to attract attention if the application of the Coastal Law is taken orthodoxy. In Torrevieja there are many examples in which private activities are carried out without any pull on the wrist by the state body, such is the case of the terraces of Paseo Juan Aparicio, the Hombre del Mar kiosk or the private parking of the Club Naútico , for which landfilling was authorized in the middle of the port bay. Except that with El Tintero, in this case, perhaps a place is lost that, in its kind, is only older than the also mythical bar La Marina, which has presided since the end of the 19th century over what was once the mouth of the Mínguez wharf, now newly unearthed.
At first, the magnitude of the demolition is unknown. Whether it will be exclusively the kitchens, bar and the pergola, that is, the entire upper structure, or whether the demolition of the concrete base in the middle of the sea on which El Tintero sits will also be carried out. Sources consulted suggest that the intervention will only consist of the dismantling of the beach bar itself, while the platform will remain as a new public viewing point. In recent weeks, the space was free of furniture and belongings.
Origins in the 30s of the last century
Conceived as a kiosk to provide service during the summer season, its structure in the 30s and 40s of the last century was made of wood. It was the time when baths began to be promoted and picnic areas proliferated. So the concessions of this type of business served as a good summer complement for those who worked hard during the year in the salt flats. From this period are the well-known white benches of Paseo de las Rocas, now Juan Aparicio. With that secular name, in fact, the first establishment that occupied this space was founded: ‘Merendero Las Rocas’. A legend was born there that, in its beginnings, was a meeting place, they say, of gentlemen and high-born aristocrats coming from all over Vega Baja. It is even said to have housed clay pigeon shooting tournaments. It was not until the 1950s when it changed hands and Antonio Chazarra baptized it ‘El Tintero’, as the majority of Torrevieja people knew it. In 1953, the wooden structure disappeared and was replaced by the current platform with a semicircular shape and railings overlooking the sea, consolidating it as a place of worship for every good summer in the salt city.
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