The judicial decision, recently notified, declares the inadmissibility of an appeal filed by the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the City Council itself, and a commercial entity, against the September 2022 ruling that invalidated the plan. This annulment resulted from a lawsuit filed by a former mayor and local businessman.
“"The annulment of the Plan was not desirable, because despite its flaws, it has been a very useful document for the municipality, but we have to abide by judicial decisions and act accordingly. We will continue to tender and execute works of general interest and will study private applications considering the conditions we had before 2014."
Given the precedents of various judicial resolutions and the need to update municipal planning, the City Council had already initiated the process to draft and approve a new General Plan. The objective is to address the current needs of the municipality. A drafting team is working on the document, and a first draft is expected in the first week of May for submission to the environmental body.
The process of developing the new plan began with a citizen consultation, where opinions, proposals, and assessments from residents, businesses, and local groups were gathered regarding the situation of population centers and the priorities for Yaiza's urban development.
The First Section of the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the TSJC bases its order on the fact that the defect leading to the plan's nullity, the omission of a mandatory report, is not rectifiable. Furthermore, the court considers that there is no objective cassational interest, thus rejecting the regional appeal without imposing procedural costs on the appealing parties, given the complexity of the debated issue.
The Yaiza City Council has recalled that the 2022 ruling annulled the General Plan based on one of the twenty grounds for challenge presented by the plaintiff: the lack of a road report. The remaining nineteen grounds were dismissed.
“"It is clear that the 2014 Plan was not to legalize hotels; the proof is that we felt its usefulness as an urban planning tool for sports, educational facilities, or the construction of housing for residents in different localities. We have a great challenge ahead: to continue with the orderly development of our municipality."
