Puerto del Rosario expects to give final approval to Heritage Catalogue on 15 September

David de Vera says the Town Council expects to put the final approval of Puerto del Rosario’s Heritage Catalogue to an extraordinary council meeting on 15 September, following the end of the objections period and, he says, receipt of favourable reports. In an interview with La Voz de Fuerteventura, the mayor also discusses the situation at Marlape, sanctions in the taxi sector, cases involving abandoned vehicles and some of the projects approaching the final stretch of the current term.

Puerto del Rosario Town Council expects to give final approval to the Municipal Heritage Catalogue, including 16 properties in the Cornisa which were left out when the document received initial approval in May 2025.

The capital’s mayor, David de Vera, says an extraordinary council meeting will be called for 15 September, following the end of the objections period and a process shaped in particular by the situation of those properties.

This has been one of the most complex issues in the capital’s heritage-protection process. The mayor recalled that Puerto del Rosario’s General Plan did not provide for the heritage protection that needed to be incorporated into planning instruments. He explained that, during the initial approval process, the properties affected by a court ruling had to be temporarily excluded.

Later, during the objections period, work was carried out to reinstate the Cornisa and make a minor amendment to the General Plan, in order to comply with the court ruling and recognise the development rights corresponding to the owners.

The Town Council now has the reports needed to move towards final approval on the 15th of the month.

The Plenary Affairs Committee is expected to be called on 11 September and to meet on the 14th.

Developers interested in Marlape, but Sareb is not selling

The situation at the Marlape development remains one of the main cases before the Town Council.

De Vera says the council is continuing to impose coercive fines on Sareb. The mayor expects that process to conclude in November—the relevant ordinance allows for a maximum of ten fines—and says the possibility of proceeding with eviction and demolition remains on the table if the owner takes no action.

“The cost of demolition has been put at €1.2 million, and we will have to start proceedings for the eviction and demolition of infrastructure, which are Sareb’s responsibility,” he said.

The mayor made clear, however, that demolition is not inevitable and that the planning situation can still be resolved.

“Marlape does not necessarily have to be demolished from November onwards,” he said.

The alternative, he explained, would be to submit an urbanisation project for the second phase and regularise the situation under planning rules.

He revealed that private companies are interested in the land, but Sareb “is neither putting it up for auction nor reaching financial agreements to transfer ownership, and in the end we are going round in circles”, he stressed.

De Vera insisted that 51% of Sareb is owned by the State, “which is looking the other way, not only in Puerto del Rosario but with all the homes occupied by Sareb. In the end, it has not taken concrete decisions or measures to resolve situations as complex as this one in Puerto del Rosario. We, as Puerto del Rosario Town Council, cannot look the other way as has been happening since 2022.”

More than 3,100 abandoned vehicles since 2018

The September council meeting will also address issues relating to abandoned vehicles.

De Vera presented figures showing the numbers of vehicles removed, advertised and handed over since 2018, putting the total number of cases over that period at more than 3,100. “Since 2018, we have had more than 3,124 vehicles on the street,” he said.

The mayor explained that when a vehicle is abandoned on a public road, an administrative procedure must be followed before the case can be resolved. This may end with the vehicle being removed, returned to its owner or, where appropriate, decontaminated and crushed.

For 2025, De Vera said 413 abandoned vehicles had been removed or were subject to removal proceedings, of which 353 had been returned to their owners or handlers.

The mayor acknowledged that the administrative workload involved in these cases had led to backlogs at certain points, but said the Town Council had now made progress in bringing them up to date.

“We are fully up to date for 2025, and through April 2026 we are completely up to date with these abandoned vehicles on the streets,” he said.

More than 300 sanctions in the taxi sector

The mayor also discussed taxi services and defended the measures taken during his term, from updating fares to awarding nine new licences for taxis adapted for people with reduced mobility, amending the bylaw and setting up the municipal coordination centre.

One of the main figures cited in the interview was the number of sanction proceedings opened.

“There are more than 300 sanctions,” he said, resulting from failures to comply with the shift schedules.

The mayor explained that these cases are currently going through the administrative process, having been notified and followed by the relevant period for submitting objections.

De Vera argued that the new bylaws had given the Town Council tools to monitor compliance with the service requirements, and called for shared responsibility between the administration and licence holders.

“The taxis belong to the licence holders, but the Town Council is responsible for those licences,” he said.

Works and projects under way until the end of the term

De Vera ended the interview by emphasising that the Town Council has several projects under way as the current term enters its final stretch.

Among those he cited were the start of renewal and improvement works in the Las Granadas neighbourhood, with an investment of €1.34 million; the award of the El Charco project, worth €3.8 million; the recent award of work at the Tetir Cultural Centre; and progress on plans for the future Local Police facilities. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us before this term ends,” he concluded.