Joshua Parfitt
IT took 14 years for the sentence to come, but the Valdecañas resort complex has finally received a demolition order.
Extremadura’s Tribunal Supremo announced this week the 18-hole golf course, 4-star hotel, 185 chalets, 76 berths and 385 further chalets under construction must be destroyed.
Activist group Ecologistas en Accion brought the case after discovering the Valdecañas resort was built inside the Red Natura 2000 network of EU protected areas.
The luxury resort is situated on an island of 135 hectares surrounded by the Valdecañas man-made reservoir.
A previous court case in 2019 ruled that although the complex was built on protected land, the demolition bill would have to be footed by the Extremadura government at a cost of €145 million.
The cost included an estimated €34 million to restore the land to its original state, and €111 million paid to those losing their holiday homes.
“The supreme court now annuls this ruling and orders the demolition of the remaining construction works and existing installations,” a press release from Extremadura’s Consejo General del Poder Judicial said.
“The full contents of the sentence will be made clear in the following days.”
It is not yet known the full cost of demolition and reparations to homeowners.
Valdecañas shot to fame as a luxury holiday resort particularly for residents in Madrid, as it boasted the nearest sandy beach to the capital.
Ecologistas en Accion said they celebrated the result but weren’t ‘100%’ happy as homeowners could stand to lose money.
“Although homeowners did know what they were buying as the first complaint was lodged in 2007, and each buyer signed a purchase form that exonerated the promoter in case of a demolition order.”
A spokesperson said that homeowners could appeal for financial reparations, but may find difficulty as none of their ‘fundamental rights’ had been breached.
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