As of: March 10, 2024, 10:33 p.m
By: Julia Hanigk
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A building ban in Mallorca ends with real estate entrepreneur Matthias Kühn receiving millions in compensation.
A verdict that puts the Balearic Islands government in distress.
Port de Sóller – The Balearic island of Mallorca is not only a party heaven, but also a place of longing for many Germans.
Pensioners are considering emigrating there, others are considering building a chic holiday home there.
The Hamburg real estate agent Matthias Kühn wanted to take advantage of this - and in 1999 he bought a property near the popular port town of Port de Sóller.
33 luxury villas were supposed to be built on it, but that never happened.
The region was declared a nature reserve in 2008 and was therefore banned from building.
Kühn then went to court and was proven right, as the
Mallorca Zeitung
reports.
“Compensated with almost 100 million”: Real estate agent receives huge sum from the state treasury
Since 2008, the real estate mogul has been in a legal dispute with the government and the municipality of Sóller.
Although a judgment was made last year, confirmation by the Supreme Court in Spain only followed on March 6th.
This makes it clear: Matthias Kühn is entitled to a sum of over 96 million euros in compensation from the Balearic Islands government.
In an interview with the
Bild newspaper
, Kühn explained: “My company is being compensated by the Balearic government with almost 100 million euros.
This amount is made up of the property value of 63,533,374.48 euros plus interest that has accrued since May 18, 2009.
The interest amount up to March 6th is 32,308,461.56.”
Matthias Kühn with his wife Norma Duval 2021. (archive photo) © Manuel Cedron/agefotostock/IMAGO
Credit is necessary: Governments are unhappy about high payments
This enormous sum is causing dissatisfaction in the government.
Antoni Costa, the current deputy prime minister, accused the previous government of “irresponsibility” and “negligence” at the expense of taxpayers.
The prices for Mallorca are rising anyway.
She added that the payment would burn a “huge hole” in the state’s coffers.
The amount is not available in this amount and the state government now has to take out a loan.
The former government, on the other hand, blames the current Prime Minister Marga Prohens.
She claims that Kühn was promised that he could continue his construction project under certain conditions, which was then rejected.
Kühn then filed a lawsuit.
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Kühn is no longer building on the property
For Matthias Kühn, the verdict is a great relief, as he tells the
Bild newspaper
: “I finally won.
This gigantic and nerve-racking battle is over.
I immediately shared the great news with my children and my wife.” But he also added that he would no longer be building in Port de Sóller: “I am no longer following the project in Port de Sóller.
It has been sold to another company, is still declared a nature reserve and is practically worthless.
A Matthias Kühn comeback is not yet planned.” How he will invest the money is still unclear.
Port de Sóller is the only sheltered port on the west coast of Mallorca.
© Sergi Reboredo/VWPics/IMAGO
Meanwhile , Antoni Costa expressed fears in the newspaper
Ultima Hora
that the verdict in favor of Kühn could lead to a series of similar verdicts.
He fears: “There will be more to come for us.”
(jh)
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.