Second consecutive setback for

Iberdrola

in the case of its

macro-plant in Usagre

(Badajoz), whose facilities -the largest in Europe- had ordered the dismantling of the

Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura

(TSJEx) in order to return half of the total of the land it occupies (520 hectares) to its rightful owner, a resident of the town from whom

the company had irregularly expropriated the land when it had a

25-year rental

agreement with him .

After learning of the initial sentence, the company requested its correction and complement, a resource that exists before resorting to the Supreme Court, but once again

the Extremaduran high court has not only maintained its criteria in all its terms

but has included in the order , known this Tuesday, an

express reference to the Declaration of Public Utility (DUP)

that the project received from the Government Delegation of Extremadura to streamline administrative procedures and, above all, proceed with the expropriation.

Thus, it describes that "

there was no justification for requesting the expropriation

of some land when it was available under a lease, which on the date of the DUP request, and the same on the date of its declaration. , existed and produced effects, with what was a clever title that made

expropriation unnecessary

."

Therefore, he concludes, "the consequence of this is the declaration of full nullity of the DUP and of the expropriation procedure that is initiated in it."

With this declaration of nullity, the order orders the "consequent

restitution of the property

and possession to its owner, since restitution in natura is possible," the court order clarifies.

IBERDROLA'S OBJECTIVE

Iberdrola

had intended with this "clarification of sentence" that it be rectified and

the express mention of the "dismantling" of the construction

, inaugurated and fully operational since last April 2020, be removed from the text. The company had accepted the request of correction and complement when considering that the court had incurred in an "excess of jurisdiction" and of "contradiction" in its arguments, when speaking of the "restitution in natura" of the lands, considering that the owner had not asked to reach such extreme in your demand.

The company requested that

the plant remain active for rent,

an issue that the company itself failed to comply with when initiating the expropriation process before the public administrations.

In turn, Iberdrola considered the sentence "contradictory" when it ordered the return of the land when there is a lease in force that allowed it to use it.

However,

the car does not assess whether the contract is still in force today

and it sticks to the fact that it was when the DUP of those farms was requested to start the expropriation of the land: "It is not up to us to decide whether at the current date, nor at the date of the issuance of the sentence, that contract of The lease was in force. We limited ourselves to analyzing, as an essential preliminary ruling to decide on the expropriation file, the consideration that it was a working title on the dates of the application and declaration of the DUP. And in our opinion, it was, "he clarifies.

In this sense, it adds that the owner of the farm, Santos Lázaro Arias, did claim from the outset the "restitution of property and possession of the expropriated farms" for which "no more than what was requested is granted," according to the auto.

It must be remembered that in criminal proceedings an oral trial

has been opened against the former mayor, Antonio Luna

, his deputy mayor, María Dolores Esteban, and against the businessman Andreas Hilkermann for alleged

irregularities

in the

municipal authorizations

for the change of use of the land where the plant was built, which does not have an activity license.

Prevarication and false documentation

are some of the crimes that are investigated.

With a capacity of 500 megawatts, the Núñez de Balboa photovoltaic plant is the largest in Europe in operation.

A year after starting its operation, the Usagre City Council ordered Iberdrola to

stop the activity

due to the lack of a license to do so, as published by EL MUNDO, although the company filed an

appeal

that has not yet been answered by the City Council, so that

the plant continues with its activity today.

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