The National Court has issued a ruling that ends an administrative deadlock of almost two decades on the coastline of the municipality of Agüimes. The decision, notified on June 15, compels the central government to resume the expropriation process for land in Playa del Cabrón and the Arinaga Natural Monument, an area of high ecological value that had been in legal limbo since 2008 due to the Socialist Party (PSOE). The court ruling dismantles the government's argument, which for years had alleged a supposed expiration or tacit withdrawal of the expropriation rights to avoid completing the land acquisition.
The origin of this dispute dates back to the Council of Ministers' Agreement of July 2008, which declared the public utility and the necessity of occupying the affected properties due to their location in areas key to marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The area, which encompasses the Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) of Punta de la Sal, Arinaga, and Playa del Cabrón, possesses undeniable geological and ethnographic importance, and also contains historic lime kilns and coastal restoration areas.
Although an initial mutual agreement was reached for €7,50 per square meter, the deal fell through due to cadastral and registry discrepancies that the owners failed to resolve within the established deadlines. Faced with this inaction, the Directorate General for the Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea decided, years later, to dismiss any further proceedings, citing the alleged loss of public interest and the considerable time that had elapsed.
The Administrative Court, presided over by Judge Fernando Luis Ruiz Piñeiro, has flatly rejected the argument of "tacit withdrawal" invoked by the Administration. The ruling emphasizes that the mere passage of time does not equate to a waiver by the State regarding land whose declaration of public utility remains in effect. "There is no act that allows us to infer a declaration of intent to abandon the proceedings," the court maintains, setting a clear limit to the administrative discretion to disengage from initiated expropriation processes.
The court emphasizes that the registration deficiencies that previously hindered the payment of the fair compensation are rectifiable obstacles and, therefore, do not justify the definitive closure of the case. The court establishes that, although the original preliminary agreement lost its validity due to the parties' non-compliance, this does not preclude opening a new fair compensation proceeding to determine the true value of the assets.
The court decision represents a setback for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and also for the Gran Canaria Island Council, which had joined the case as a co-defendant along with the Ecclesiastical Institute of the Blessed Sacrament. All the public parties involved had requested the dismissal of the appeal, agreeing on their intention to bring the case to a close.
The ruling now compels the Ministry to reactivate the administrative process, requiring it to notify the owners—a joint ownership entity represented by attorney Matilde Marín Pérez—of the resumption of proceedings. The Administration could only avoid paying the fair compensation if, in an unexpected turn of events, it were to formally revoke the declaration of public utility and necessity of occupation that applies to these lands, a measure that would imply a public renunciation of the specific protection afforded to the Arinaga coastline.
This ruling sets a crucial precedent for landowners in southeastern Gran Canaria, an area where the pressures of tourism development and environmental protection often clash. The National Court has made it clear that when the public interest has been formally declared, the Administration cannot simply remain silent and inactive to evade its economic and land management obligations. The Agüimes coastline, key to the islands' marine biodiversity conservation strategy, is once again on the State's radar, this time with the obligation to complete the expropriation process that began eighteen years ago.
