The hole in the public coffers of Extremadura by Valdecañas: more than 200 million for the demolition and compensation

If the Supreme Court ruling ordering the

is confirmed (the Junta de Extremadura plans to appeal to the Constitutional Court), the coffers of the Extremaduran regional administration will have to face an astronomical amount that It is evaluated on the 202 million euros plus interest.

A first calculation of the

was already established by the order of June 30, 2020 of the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura (Tsjex) which, among other issues, emphasized the economic deterioration that the public coffers would suffer in the event of a demolition order.

Thus, it evaluated the cost of demolishing the entire infrastructure at 33,982,889.85 euros, to which another 111 million must be added for the compensation of the homeowners (185) by estimating the average value of 600,000 euros. each of the villas (185).

In that judicial estimate, the amount to be paid to the company promoting the project, Marina Isla de Valdecañas, with headquarters in Seville, was not reflected -and it was indicated as such due to lack of information.

As confirmed to EL MUNDO by one of its shareholders, Antonio Reneses,

So by all accounts, the cost for the regional administration would exceed at least 200 million euros, plus interest since the works and sales of the villas began in 2007.

economic damage

The island of Valdecañas has an area of ​​134.5 hectares, which represents approximately only 1.63% of the total area (7,600 hectares) of the ZEPA included in the Natural Network 2000, which is why its demolition has been ordered .

The Extremadura magistrates of the TSJex considered -as stated verbatim in the order- "the production of economic damage to the Junta de Extremadura that would suppose an unsustainable economic-financial burden for the operation of public services and to the detriment of the citizens who would be those who with their taxes would have to face the cost of a total demolition and compensation to third parties in good faith for the damages suffered".

The owners of the complex declare themselves "still stupefied" by the latest judicial decision.

Antonio Reneses confesses it to EL MUNDO, who remembers how the Board from the beginning of the project in 2005 assured them that the legal solution was the approval of a Regional Interest Plan (PIR), for which they, with this authorization, they executed the works.

This company (which was created with a share capital of 22 million euros) was broken down into three other subsidiaries, which have invested more than 140 million euros in the complex.

'Golf Valdecañas, SL', which was in charge of the construction of the 4-star hotel and the 18-hole golf course, which already filed an RPA (Property Responsibility of the Administration) against the Junta de Extremadura in 2015 when the first sentences questioned the feasibility of the works.

Claim

Then,

which currently employ 35 people.

"As soon as they notify us of the sentence, we will claim it again," confirms the shareholder.

The second company, called 'Marina Isla de Vadecañas', was in charge of managing the 185 one- and two-story villas that were sold, which the judge evaluates at an average of 600,000 euros plus other payments, he specifies, such as mortgage expenses, interest, taxes, improvements, swimming pools, moral damages...), which could cause "that amount to increase".

And that, the car specifies, that 32.74% of the planned homes were only built due to the legal uncertainty that aborted the second expansion phase of the project, that is, 185 of 565. These homes had between 275 and 560m2 in plots of about 820 m2 maximum if they were two-storey.

The urbanization also includes sports facilities, such as tennis courts, a bicycle circuit, a pier, a dry marina, a soccer and athletics field, or a wide variety of sports courts, which are used not only by the owners of the villas or the residents of the hotel. but also by the academy and school clubs of the two nearby towns, both El Gordo and Berrocal.

The works of the second phase

, paralyzed by the order of the TSJEx, which included its demolition, also of the planned 5-star hotel-spa are managed by the company 'Atalaya de Valdecañas' and the evaluated cost of these investments is 5.5 millions of euros.

Antonio Reneses considers that

for other projects that may end up in Extremadura when Valdecañas enjoyed "all the permits granted by the Board", he highlights, with "a very low urban density compared to the of the area and a very adequate model of environmental development".

DESOLATION

The lawyer for the owners of the villas, Luis Díaz Ambrona, acknowledges that

He even assures that one of them has transferred him that he has not yet been able to communicate to his young children that they will no longer be able to spend weekends or vacations there as they have done for years, being only an hour and a half away. by distance race from Madrid.

As for the possible compensation that the homeowners will receive, Ambrona stresses that the estimate made by the TSJEx "is quite low" and the different diversity of the constructions has not been taken into account, for which they surely claim much higher amounts judicially depending on each case.

"Who benefits from all this?" asks the lawyer, who warns that

and there will remain an area "much worse than the current one, because for many years a half landfill, a dump, and now it will be totally abandoned".

THE POPULATIONS

The economic deterioration does not stop there, with the demolition and compensation.

The two towns in the area, El Gordo (400 inhabitants) and Berrocal (108) - as well as other nearby towns, such as Oropesa (Toledo) and Navalmoral de la Mata, larger population centers, have benefited socially and economically from the ' life' that the resort has given them.

"We have always said that nature is compatible with construction, but hey, if they want us to stay as we are in Extremadura and not be able to do anything, or progress, and that the towns die, then let the Community pay us money of Madrid for bringing fresh air there", says

, mayor of Berrocalejo.

The discomfort also emerges from the words of

, councilor of El Gordo, who criticizes that "fridges, mattresses, rubble, rubbish, dead animals and all kinds of rubbish were deposited there without control, with which the dangers of fires They were constant and, furthermore, everything was surrounded by eucalyptus trees, and the whole town knows that, they are outraged at the situation because the demolition would be a great injustice, a great aberration".

El Gordo receives about 300,000 euros a year directly in taxes from the Island (since it occupies a larger area of ​​this municipality) and Berrocalejo, about 6,000.

The complex, in addition, and although the second phase of its construction was paralyzed, employs about 100 people directly (35 indefinite and 65 temporary) and about 200 indirectly throughout the region.

The professor of Territory Planning and Sustainable Development at the University of Extremadura, Julián Mora Aliseda, made an exhaustive report on the project that was evaluated by the TSJEx magistrates, and which was analyzed in the 2020 order. In it, he reflects Not only did the island manage to multiply the protected natural area by 93 times, but there was an "undoubted" economic impact in the area.

Thus, he compared the municipalities of Berrocalejo and El Gordo with other towns with the same level of population in the province of Cáceres and verified the "spectacular growth" of the population, including the number of births.

On the other hand, in these populations belonging to places such as La Vera, Villuercas, Hurdes or Sierra de Gata, among others, they have seen reduced its population in a very remarkable way in this first decade of the 21st century.

In addition, the municipal budgets had grown exponentially in recent years, since the Berrocalejo budget grew by 445.5% in 2009 compared to 2005, while that of El Gordo rose by 523.5% in 2009 with compared to 2005, which led to a greater provision of services, "improving the quality of life" within data that contrast "with the generalized decline of the rural world in Spain and Extremadura".

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