The clock has started ticking. Since this Wednesday, January 15, the concessionaires of the eight beach kiosks involved in the mega-concession under suspicion in Formentera are in breach of the concession contract by ignoring the obligation to dismantle the structures for one month, as also established by the concession title of Costas under the Coastal Regulation, the contracts with the Consell and the specifications.
Although the new owners of the beach bars have tried to avoid this obligation, the legal-technical report of the Consell de Formentera issued last December 20 is conclusive and leaves no room for doubt. “It is mandatory to dismantle the facilities of the food and beverage establishments between January 15 and February 15, as this Consell must comply with the provisions of its concession title,” state the technicians in the document in possession of La Voz de Ibiza.
This report has been prepared by the legal and technical services of the Consell in the framework of the monitoring of the beach services contract based on the doubts raised by the persons awarded the contract for the exploitation of seasonal services on the beaches of Formentera. The third point of this report refers to the “dismantling of the concession installations”. There it is detailed that Article 68 of the General Coastal Regulation specifies the dimensions, distances and temporality of food and beverage establishments on natural beaches. In the resolution of the General Directorate of the Coast and Sea of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge determines that the facilities must be “removable” to provide services in high season to beach users. The same Ministry has established that “having reviewed the proposal of the Consell, its allegations in the hearing process and the history of existing concessions in force in this Directorate General of the Coast and Sea, in relation to the period of operation of the kiosks and the situation of the same for the application of Articles 68 and 69 of the General Regulation of Coasts”, it is established that “it is prevented from maintaining a kiosk of a removable nature all year round in operation”.
Kiosks cannot be permanent
It is that the kiosks in natural stretches “cannot be permanent”. The same article 68 states that “these facilities shall be seasonal and dismountable in all their elements”.
Although the concession title of Costas establishes that “the administrative concessions must be dismantled one month a year (during the first quarter of the year)“, from a municipal allegation presented in March 2023 it was established that “the annual obligation to dismantle is reduced to the period of one monthbetween January 15 and February 15 of each year“. The Consell set this condition to harmonize two contradictory principles: the obligation to dismantle one month during the first quarter established by Costas and to be open all year round to deseasonalize, a condition also set in the specifications.
So this Wednesday the concessionaires of the questioned chiringuitos should have not only dismantled all the structures but also reverted the territory to its original state. After the 30 days, they could start again to assemble the kiosks. Something that, clearly, they have failed to do.
They knew
The Formentera beach bars were aware of the obligation to dismantle each of the facilities for a minimum of one month when they formalized the contract with the Consell de Formentera, which put an end to the tortuous process of the contest under suspicion and allowed the launch of what the promoters foresaw as a succulent business and which has now turned out to be not so succulent and has led them to request a reduction in the canon of the canon, which has led them to request a reduction in the canon of the canon, which has led them to request a reduction in the canon of the canon. to request a reduction of the canon. The concession title that is part of the contract, without any doubt, establishes, in response to a previous allegation of the Consell de Formentera, which intended to be open all year round, that “the facilities must remain dismantled one month within the annual period in the first quarter of the year”.
The Govern also confirms it
The Conselleria del Mar y del Cicle del Agua of the Balearic Government has informed last week that the targeted beach bars are obliged to “dismantle their facilities for at least one month, between January 15 and February 15 of this year,” according to Ràdio Illa. Meanwhile, the councilor of Environment of the Consell de Formentera and first vice president, Verónica Castelló, has advanced her intentions to request to the Govern the suspension of the obligation to dismantle the beach kiosks. This despite the fact that Castelló was one of the three councilors of Sa Unió who were part of the extraordinary Governing Board responsible for awarding the lots, which is why she was questioned in the framework of the investigation initiated by the UCO of the Guardia Civil last October.
Silence
This week, La Voz de Ibiza tried to know the position of the Consell and if it planned to open a disciplinary file before the imminent expiration of the deadline for the dismantling of the kiosks. So far, the query was not answered.
