Alex Trelinski
THE Valencian Supreme Court(TSJCV) has thrown out an appeal by Benidorm council over a €283 million compensation payment- plus interest- to developers over the loss of building rights.
The authority said the ruling made in May 2024 misinterpreted land law and the nature of agreements.
Other technical arguments were made in an attempt in overthrow the original judgement which Benidorm mayor, Toni Perez, last year branded as ‘nonsense’.
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The TSJCV disagreed and legal options are now solely down to making an appeal to Spain’s Constitutional Court if the council can prove that fundamental rights were violated.
Otherwise, it has to find €330 million which would in theory bankrupt it- with its annual budget under half the total.
The compensation is over the loss of building rights in the protected Serra Gelada Natural Park.
The massively higher award went to Murcia Puchades Expansion SL and Urban Urban Villajoyosa 2000 SL after a lower court initially gave them just under €700,000.
The TSJCV took the view that the land had been previously been classified as urban land suitable for development back in the 1960’s.
Therefore it allowed a new assessment of its value which gave the developers what they wanted in compensation for scrapping the project.
The Murcia Puchades family had three plots totalling over two million square meters in the Serra Gelada
Their legal action started after Benidorm City Council voided urban planning agreements signed in 2003 between then-mayor, Vicente Perez Devesa and several companies.
The agreements were renewed twice in 2010 and 2013 by then-mayor Agustin Navarro which had an option to pay compensation to keep constructors out of ‘protected’ areas.
Lawyers for the developers have regularly indicated their willingness to negotiate with Benidorm council.
The authority has so far rejected those overtures as it has concentrated on seeing the legal process play out.
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