BENIDORM City Council has asked for a €55 million government loan to stave off the risk of bankruptcy over a €350 million compensation award.
The unprecedented sum of €283 million plus interest was granted by the Valencian Supreme Court in May 2024 to the Murcia Puchades family over the loss of building rights in the protected Serra Gelada Natural Park.
The family on Friday demanded the immediate execution of the massive payment which equates to roughly two annual municipal budgets.
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- ‘Historic’ fine in Benidorm threatens to bankrupt the tourist mecca: City hall is ordered to pay €283million compensation to family who was blocked from building on protected land
Speaking on Thursday, Benidorm mayor, Toni Perez, issued a message to residents over the Serra Gelada payment, stating that it ‘should concern us, but in the right proportion’.
All legal routes taken by Benidorm council to overturn the ruling have come to nothing.
Now the authority has applied to the government’s Economic Impulse Fund for help.
The €55 million loan- if granted- would have to be repaid within 12 years at an interest rate of around 3.5%.
Toni Perez, informed all of the council’s political groups about the application to the fund which helps authorities deal with financial court rulings that could affect the provision of local services.
With interest rising by around €50,000 per day on the compensation award, the council is still investigating how to cover the remaining €300 million.
One last legal throw of the dice could be to take the issue to Spain’s Supreme Court- something that the council is examining.
The Murcia Puchades family had three plots totalling over two million square metres 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 ex-mayor Agustin Navarro and left open an option to pay compensation to keep constructors out of ‘protected’ areas.
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