The Supreme Court of Andalucia has ruled that the building license of the Algarrobico hotel was issued legally, confirming an earlier decision, and overturning an appeal of nullity by the Junta de Andalucia, Ecologista en Accion and Salvemos Mojacar who all wanted it thrown out.
However, because the Junta de Andalucia did not formally appeal an earlier decision by a lower court, instead contenting itself to questioning some of the evidence the ruling was based on, no further appeal through the regular courts can be allowed. Susana Diaz, then the President of Andalucia, publicly made a promise to “go to the legal limit” to overturn the building license, but then backtracked.
The Judges who issued the ruling criticised the “ambiguous and unambitious legal strategy followed by the Junta” which they said left them with no choice but to uphold the earlier ruling.
In short, what happened was that a local court said the building license was legal. Instead of appealing against the decision, the Junta appealed against the evidence. The Supreme Court has now ruled that the evidence was fine, and that it has no legal right to look afresh at the decision – which can no longer be appealed against.
The whole thing stinks of a back covering job by the Junta, which has no real interest in anyone looking too closely into the whole affair.
Although in theory this allows the builders of the hotel to finish off the hotel, the land it stands on was returned to the Junta by another court, after it was decided that the land was Natural Park and so should have been expropriated. What happens next is anyone’s guess.