The World Travel Market in London in November 2025 is approaching, and tour operators are beginning to outline challenges to build loyalty to the destination. After more than a decade of neglect and litigation, the demolition of the Metro shopping center in Playa del Inglés is closer to becoming a reality. This week, the owners' association approved an 800.000 euro contribution to draft the demolition plan and subsequently carry out the work, according to sources close to the owners of the property's businesses.
The community's objective is to comply with the demolition order issued by the Department of Urban Planning of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council, supported by the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands. The High Court of Justice (TSJC) declared the building a state of dereliction in September 2022 and ratified the demolition obligation after dismissing the appeal filed by Juan Marrero Santana's Esquina Alemana company in March 2025.
The owners' plan is to submit the demolition project this summer so that the City Council can review it and issue the permit in early September. The idea is to begin demolition before the end of 2025 and, once completed, fence off the 4.500-square-meter site, which will remain in the heart of Playa del Inglés. However, the question remains as to how the funds will be raised among the hundred or so community members involved, a challenge the community hopes to resolve to bring closure to an issue that has already dragged on for nearly 14 years.
The building, virtually closed since 2012, has serious structural deficiencies, including the risk of collapse in the basement ceilings and damage to the retaining walls, according to multiple municipal reports. The situation worsened after the 2013 fire, although five shops on the upper floor remain open, creating a picture of neglect and vulnerability in the tourist center.
The lengthy legal process began in 2013, when the homeowners' association petitioned the City Council for a dereliction declaration, supported by technical reports from 2012. In 2021, the TSJC (High Court of Justice) forced the City Council to initiate formal proceedings, which culminated a year later with the dereliction decree and demolition order. A report by architect Rafael Redondo Peñaranda, incorporated into the file, found cracks and structural problems that justified the measure.
In 2024, the Urban Planning Department ordered the building's ground floors to be boarded up, and following the finalization of the dereliction decree in March of this year, the company Vías y Obras was asked to close all access points, which will affect the last remaining open premises. Municipal sources have explained that the City Council lacks the resources to carry out the closure, so hiring an external company is being considered. With this outlay, and last summer, there was talk of the imminent presentation of the demolition project, the Metro shopping center will close a chapter of abandonment and litigation in the heart of Playa del Inglés's tourist center and free up a strategic space for the future development of southern Gran Canaria.
