The cost of fighting brick in the Balearic Islands: 225 million in compensation for stopping works

Resorts

on the beach,

and luxury homes coexist with the vegetation and crystal clear waters on the coasts of the Mediterranean archipelago.

Stopping its proliferation has had a millionaire cost for the public coffers of the Balearic Islands: the Government has already had to pay 225 million euros in compensation to developers and construction companies after lengthy lawsuits caused by a 2008 law that paralyzed its construction projects , according to data from the Ministry of the Presidency.

An invoice that will exceed 300 million if the Executive loses the appeal that it has just presented against the January sentence that condemns it to pay another 63.5 million for the same reason, plus the interest accrued since 2009.

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The island of Tagomago, managed by Matthias Kühn, partner of Norma Duval, for sale for 150 million

The last leak opened in the regional budgets for this reason occurred for the benefit of Birdie Son Vida SL, owned by the German tycoon Matthias Kühn.

The real estate developer, current owner of the island of Tagomago, near Ibiza, intended to build 33 luxury villas with sea views in Muleta II, a piece of land located in the exclusive Puerto de Sóller.

Then, the government of Francesc Antich (PSOE) approved the law 4/2008, of urgent measures for a sustainable territorial development.

A legislative change in the classification of the land that stopped him in his tracks.

The litigation dates back to 2010, when the promoter filed a lawsuit against the Balearic Government for the approval of the protection law.

The rule regulated the reclassification of 14 urbanizable areas in Mallorca and Ibiza that became rustic land with special protection, including the natural areas of the Sierra de Tramuntana.

It could no longer be built.

End to the brick dream.

Start of lawsuits.

The house of the island of Tagomago

"In this autonomous community we have two territorial models: the one that the left-wing governments have implemented with the aim of protecting the territory of the islands and the one represented by the popular governments, which have carried out urban planning à la carte", declared the Minister of the Presidency , Mercedes Garrido, after the resolution was made public in January condemning the Government to pay 63.5 million to the promoter, which together with the interest accrued since 2009 will raise the bill for that specific case above 90 million.

“If we are one of the main tourist industries and one of the great economic engines of Spain, it is because of the landscape we have.

This is the price we have to pay for the protection of the territory,” she stated.

The judicial consequences of the 2008 law have been attracting the attention of the Balearic Accounts Syndicate for years, which warns each year in its reports that the total amount of compensation will be multimillionaire.

"There are a multitude of legal proceedings from different promoters in various territories," acknowledges a spokesman for the Ministry of the Presidency, who declines to specify the number of compensations paid, or the location of the projects for which they have been paid.

Plan of the Muleta II urbanization in Puerto de Sóller (Mallorca). BOE

And they are many.

The owners began a cascade of lawsuits against the Government for the approval of the protection law that prevented them from building on them.

In 2017, eight open judicial processes were counted, according to the documentation produced by the Sindicatura de Comptes.

Four of them, which totaled 89.6 million euros in compensation, reached a final judgment during the following years after the appeals filed by the administration were not admitted for processing.

In Mallorca, the Superior Court sentenced the owners of the plots of Cala Carbó, in Pollença, to pay 5.6 million euros.

At the other end of the island, in Biniorella (Andratx), the amount was much higher: 39.8 million.

In 2018, the resolution of legal disputes also reached Ibiza.

The Balearic Government paid 17 million euros to compensate the owners of the Roca Llisa urbanization, in the town of Santa Eulàlia des Riu.

To this amount was added 87 million to the construction companies of Punta Pedrera, in the municipality of Sant Josep, for the annulment of urban planning licenses to build 244 homes.

To meet the costs of these sentences, the Administration requested a loan of 147 million euros four years ago, of which 36.5 million were intended to pay interest.

The Balearic Government, chaired by the socialist Francina Armengol, approved a reform of the law in 2020 to avoid further legal claims and compensation.

The trials for the 2008 regulatory change, however, have continued their course.

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