The Canary Islands government authorizes two access to the sea from the illegal hotel Papagayo Arena

The Canary Islands Government has authorized two access to the sea from the illegal Hotel Papagayo Arena, in Lanzarote. The General Directorate of Coasts of the Autonomous Community has made this decision against the criteria of the State that, as confirmed from the Government Delegation to this newspaper, issued an unfavorable report in relation to these roads. This four -star hotel complex and 485 rooms work normally in the south of the island despite the fact that its urban license was annulled by justice by having been granted illegally.

Yaiza City Council sources explain that the tourist complex intends to create two accesses to the coast that can be used by the public and not only by hotel customers. However, they clarify this will not change the irregular situation of Papa Arena. The construction of the now called Sandos Papagayo disappeared a public access road to the coast, after the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, now in jail for corruption, unified two plots of the Partial Plan of the Coloradas to grant the license to the promoter in 1998. In addition, the building has more plants and more height than permitted.

” With his illegal action he led to a total alteration of Yaiza’s urban reality, ”says the judgment of the Yate case, which annulled this license. Yaiza was then the urban jewel of the island, a municipality distinguished by virgin beaches and the good weather and in which dozens of companies wanted to make their great tourist projects come true. The then mayor took advantage of these ingredients to patent ” Economic amounts ” to the promoters to expedite the procedures and grant licenses omitting requirements such as legal reports or the tourist authorization of the complexes.

The Civic Association The sun rises for everyone He has filed a complaint against the Government of the Canary Islands and the City of Yaiza for “ inaction ” to omit his duty to prosecute crimes. ” The complainants clarify that they are neither in favor of or against legalization or demolition, but ask that the legalization file be resolved at once “ The legalization file since ” that this situation is eternalized only benefits the complex ” that works at full performance and receiving income from their guests, ‘who enjoy “ exclusively’ ‘of a public beach converted into private’ ” ” ” ‘

Canarian coalition in Yaiza has taken advantage of the authorization granted to the hotel by the Government of the Canary Islands, where the party governs with the PP, to ask the City Hall if the necessary conditions are already given to grant the final license to the establishment. “It is an important step that helps to give stability and legal certainty to an infrastructure that has been the subject of controversy for decades in Lanzarote,” says the spokesman of the party in the municipality, Emilio Machín.

However, the occupation of a public road is not the only obstacle that the hotel must overcome to regularize its situation. In 2024, the General Directorate of the Coast and the Sea of ​​the Government of Spain placed the complex in the coastal protection zone, when reviewing the beach demarcation and confirming that the servitude is 100 meters and not 20. The resolution of coasts ordered “rectifying the legal situations recorded contradictory with the approved demarcation”, since in the protection servitude area it is prohibited to build housing or hotels. Along these lines, the City of Yaiza has already warned that it cannot grant the urban license to the complex without the approval of coasts.