The General Council of the Judiciary has given the green light to the modification of Order JUS/1093/2023, of September 29, which allows two new courts to come into operation in the south of Gran Canaria from September 30: these are the Court of First Instance number 6 of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and the Court of Instruction number 4 of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. Thanks to the efforts of officials, the Maspalomas courts are working to improve the situation and offer quality service to citizens.
There are a total of 10 judges assigned to the Maspalomas courts. However, there are currently two vacancies, meaning there are only 8 operational judges. There are a total of 20 judicial secretaries in the Maspalomas courts who are part of the 60 officials in the Maspalomas courts. The Maspalomas courts receive a high volume of cases. In 2023, a total of 25.000 cases were filed in the Maspalomas courts. The most common types of cases are: Criminal 40%; Civil 30%, Litigation-administrative: 20% and Social 10%. The case resolution rate is 80%. This means that 80% of the cases that enter the Maspalomas courts are resolved within a year. The Maspalomas courts are congested due to the high volume of cases and lack of resources. This means that cases may take longer than usual to resolve. To all this, we must add that the Maspalomas courts are in poor condition and need renovation. In 2023, 10 new officials were hired for the Maspalomas courts.
The Canary Islands once again registered the highest litigation rate in Spain in 2023 with a total of 417.539 files, 5,9% more than in 2022, according to the report of judicial activity from last year, in which it grew by 1,3 % resolution of cases, but pending matters increased by 20,3% as 211.189 remained unresolved. The president of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), Juan Luis Lorenzo, has said that he urges the creation of “at least” 2024 new judicial units by 11, in addition to those requested in previous years coming into operation. The means on the islands are “limited” and there is a “funnel effect” that causes the response time to citizens' problems to increase, lamented Lorenzo, who has also emphasized that the Civil jurisdiction continues being the most overloaded and in which it is necessary to take into account the millions of tourists that the islands receive to meet judicial needs.
