Supreme Court lets ruling against Pájara Town Council over Costa Calma nursery stand

The Supreme Court’s Civil Chamber has refused to admit the appeal on points of law brought by the local council and has declared final the Provincial Court of Las Palmas’ ruling in favour of the property’s owner, El Ombú Canario SL.

The Supreme Court based its decision on the failure to demonstrate that the case raised an issue of legal significance warranting review. According to the order, dated 28 October and made public on Friday, none of the five grounds put forward by the council’s representatives met the legal requirements for the High Court to review the case.

The order says the council sought to challenge the lower courts’ assessment of the evidence and notes that an appeal on points of law is not a third instance in which the facts can be examined again.

Repeated court proceedings without proof of ownership

The Provincial Court’s ruling had concluded that the council had not shown that it held a title granting it a legal right to occupy the building.

The order sets out the property’s history and the urban-planning transactions that led to the current situation.

Specifically, it says that, under a deed dated 11 June 1998, the developer transferred plot D-5—but not C-8—to the council. The property containing the building at the centre of the eviction proceedings derives from plot C-8.

The Supreme Court also notes that the current owner acquired the building at an out-of-court auction, after it had passed through the hands of different owners, and subsequently registered its ownership with the Land Registry.

The ruling also highlights actions by the council that the courts regarded as recognition of private ownership. These included demanding that the previous owner, CHM, pay property tax (IBI) from 2003, as well as attaching the property over debts owed by the company.

The council also joined CHM’s insolvency proceedings as a creditor and did not challenge the inclusion of the nursery building among the assets to be liquidated. Those assets were later acquired by El Ombú Canario SL.

Owner to seek eviction and claim damages

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the property-owning company has announced further legal action to recover the building and claim sums it says remain outstanding.

One of its representatives told La Voz de Fuerteventura that the next step would be to ask the court to order the occupants’ eviction. The company then plans to file a claim for the damages it says it suffered during almost twenty years of conflict.

The claim would also cover issues relating to property tax (IBI) and the corresponding interest, the company says.

The owner, whose title to the property has been established, points out that Pájara Town Council has been ordered to pay legal costs on three occasions and says it has yet to pay any of them. The company says it will seek payment.

The further action will have to go through the courts. The financial value of any damages claim will need to be determined in the relevant proceedings, which the company expects to be lengthy.