cuna del alma rubble adeje public plot

Cuna del Alma rubble dumped on Adeje public land

Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.

Rubble generated by the works on the controversial Cuna del Alma tourist development, in El Puertito de Adeje in southern Tenerife, is being stockpiled on a public plot owned by Adeje Council, Canarias Ahora has learned.

Rubble piling up on plot T-5

The plot, known as T-5, lies within the urban development area earmarked for the construction of 420 luxury villas in El Puertito, a natural spot surrounded by protected areas and sites of geological interest. The site forms part of the land the developer has transferred to Adeje Council as part of the average development gain from the scheme, as required by law. In this case, the transfer corresponds to 10% of the development gain from the initiative. The plots handed to the town hall are T-5, CO-2 and RD-6, valued at almost ten million euros.

Images seen by this newspaper show that the company behind Cuna del Alma, Segunda Casa Adeje SL, is indeed using plot T-5, which covers some 15,600 square metres, as a spoil tip. Lorries, excavators and other vehicles can also be seen alongside the pile of debris.

Council says it holds only “bare ownership”

Adeje Council maintains that, despite being the registered owner of the land, it does not have “control” over it, since it finds itself in a position of “bare ownership”. It explains that it will not be able to use the plot until the works are completed and the town hall takes formal delivery of it. Only then, it says, will it “have a use in keeping with what the law allows”. The same applies to plots CO-2 and RD-6. The council argues that the same criterion applies to the public works the developer is currently carrying out, such as the roads and street lighting, which in due course “will also become municipal”.

The sources consulted do not clarify whether the council approves of the dumping of rubble on plot T-5. They limit themselves to pointing out that they do not have “control” over the land.

Plot registered in the council’s name since 2022

Plot T-5 is designated for hotel and extra-hotel use and was registered in favour of Adeje Council in March 2022, according to Land Registry documentation. The land registry extract states literally that “this is one of the plots awarded” to the town hall “in payment of the 10% development gain to which it is entitled” from the Cuna del Alma tourist project.

This mechanism of development gain is no trivial matter. It entails the legal obligation on owners to transfer free of charge to the council a share of the development gain that the planning rules themselves recognise for them. As a general rule, that percentage ranges between 5% and 15%. On these plots, only open spaces, green areas and public facilities may be built, in line with the uses set out in the planning rules. In residential schemes, the regulations also provide for land to be earmarked for the construction of protected housing.

Cuna del Alma is a tourist project. It does not envisage the construction of public housing. But Adeje Council intends to sell the development gain it has acquired in order to channel those resources into building homes elsewhere in the municipality. This was the route the town hall used to declare the controversial luxury development a matter of first-order public interest. The declaration then allowed it to justify relocating the viborina triste, a protected plant species whose presence brought the works to a standstill for almost two years.

Almost ten million euros in development gain

Plot T-5, designated for hotel and extra-hotel use, has 8,501 development gain units assigned to it; CO-2, for commercial use, around 3,934; and RD-6, earmarked for recreational facilities, roughly 69.3. The combined value of the three plots comes to 9.9 million euros. A municipal decree seen by this newsroom also details that Adeje Council is entitled to a further 591.1 development gain units. As it does not hold them, it must receive financial compensation of 447,549 euros.

Works advance while part of the site remains halted

The Cuna del Alma works are advancing steadily except in a small part of the complex, covering some 2,400 square metres (the project spans close to 430,000), which has been halted by court order for the past six months over the alleged commission of an offence against land-use planning and the environment in the coastal protection zone. The case is being heard at Court of Instruction number 1 in Arona.

The director general of Coasts for the Canary Islands government, Antonio Acosta (appointed by Coalición Canaria); the head of the regional government’s Eastern Coastal Planning Service, Valeriano Díaz; and the legal representative and administrators of the developer, Segunda Casa Adeje SL, have all given evidence as investigated parties before the magistrate. Two Coasts technicians from the regional government have also testified as witnesses.

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