Urban planning

El Vilà development back in court as compensation demands begin

The El Vilà development in Pollensa. | Elena Ballestero

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPollensa09/11/2017 00:00

Pollensa town hall will have to provide an explanation to the Balearic High Court regarding the El Vilà development. The owners' association lodged an appeal for judicial review with the court last Friday. This denounced the town hall's inaction and a failure to comply with judicial orders made by the court in 2003. Under those rulings the town hall had to facilitate the development through the system of cooperation with owners.

The appeal having been made, and the town hall already faces two demands for compensation totalling 551,182 euros.

The original scheme for El Vilà goes all the way back to 1963. In 1982 it was finally approved and subsequently was included in the town hall's 1990 urban plan. In 2008 the then regional government reclassified the land (as it did with various other projects under its "emergency measures" decree). This, however, only applied to the upper reaches of the development.

In 2014 the lawyer Leopoldo de Miguel presented a case to the anti-corruption prosecution service regarding the paralysation of the development and others in Pollensa. This argued that there had been a deliberate abuse of public office, and court proceedings were opened and are still ongoing.

Because of the prosecution service's involvement, the owners' association presented a request at the start of this year for a formal reactivation of the development. This was lodged with the town hall in February, and it would appear that there has never been a response.