A hotel with capacity for a total of 3,664 people, of which up to 643 would be guests staying in 261 rooms. These are just some details of the rehabilitation project that Divarian Property SA and Coral Homes SL., owners of Sidi Saler, presented to the Valencia City Council in 2019 to reopen the establishment.
These capacity data include the four planned rooms, three restaurants, two dining rooms for celebrations and as many bars. The proposal foresees an investment of 6.5 million euros for an establishment that could aspire to a category of between four and five stars that is sold as sustainable by including elements of energy saving, use of renewable energy and construction with natural materials. For example, the exterior cladding of the main facades is proposed with wooden elements.
However, a venue with an activity of such dimensions could hardly be compatible today with its location in the Albufera Natural Park due to the impact it would have on acoustic, lighting and traffic levels, an aspect that was already highlighted by municipal technicians. in one of the reports issued before the property was denied a requested works and activity license, a procedure that is judicialized.
According to the document issued by the Devesa service on the impact of hotel activity on the environment and on the implications of a possible demolition, the document is forceful: “The reopening of the hotel would represent a regression in the protection of the natural park that would have a lasting effect. If the hotel were to come into operation again, it would become a source of noise and light pollution and would increase the anthropogenic pressure on La Devesa in general and on Garrofera beach in particular, especially at night. Based on the multiple experiences carried out in the restoration of the dune habitats of La Devesa that were also built, it can be ensured that the recovery of all the habitats referred to on the land currently occupied by the Sidi Saler hotel is technically feasible.”
In recent weeks there have been various incidents in the hotel complex resulting from the alleged occupation of some of its rooms despite the fact that it has security guards. The last one occurred last Saturday, July 28, when a part of the property caught fire. In this regard, the mayor of València, María José Catalá, who stated that she is negotiating with the owners to reopen the hotel with a project that is “100% sustainable” without clarifying whether they have presented an alternative proposal, commented on the fire: “ I think there is a reality which is that the property must be sold. “We cannot continue like this.” In the last four years of the previous left-wing municipal executive, there is no record of incidents.
In this regard, Acció Ecologista-Agró, an entity involved in the judicial case regarding the denial of licenses by the City Council to the property, denounced this Tuesday that the Sidi Saler property is using the alleged “squatters” to justify its survival. of the hotel.
“Complaints in the press pointing out the presence of people in a possible situation of marginalization within the building have arisen and have intensified with the judicial proceedings seen for sentencing. The owner already warned and predicted years ago that, if the license was not granted, it would probably be occupied. Acció Ecologista-Agró has denounced this accusation and warns that the reopening of Sidi Saler could cause real inconvenience for the natural park and the neighbors,” they commented.
The organization considered that the existence of squatters is not coincidental, but rather responds “to a strategy premeditated long in advance by the ownership of the Sidi Saler Hotel; a terrible tactic with which they would be trying to condition the Justice, the City Council and public opinion to authorize the reopening of the Sidi Saler Hotel” and stated that the project presented to the City Council to obtain the license literally says: “After this process of deterioration and occupation, which can be long, the building must finally be demolished and, apart from the economic cost of the demolition, estimated at approximately 4 million euros, if the action is carried out with correct management of the materials of demolition, the demolition would have a high environmental cost since it would generate more than 32,000 tons of materials whose sole purpose would be to be deposited in landfills, that is, more than 32,000 tons of garbage would be generated.
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