The owners of the beach bars of the mega-contest under suspicion of Formentera knew since October 18 that the Balearic Government would not yield to the obligation stipulated in the General Coastal Regulation to dismantle the beach structures every year for at least one month, a date that began to run last January 15.
Thus, the lies wielded by the owners of the silver kiosks, and repeated by the new Governing Board of the Consell de Formentera, crumble like a house of cards. First, because the owners tried to ignore such obligation by arguing that “there is not a single mention of the obligation to dismantle the kiosks in January; on the contrary, among the conditions and obligations of environmental character does not appear the slightest trace or hint on this issue,” as they have raised in an allegation filed by the lawyer of the beach bars, Francisco Javier Jiménez de Cisneros Cid. Secondly, because they blame the “lack of political will” for the fact that they will be forced to remove the structures, as the Government ratified a few days ago. This was echoed by the Consell de Formentera, which stated that in December “seven of the eight lots of kiosks asked the previous councilor of Litoral the possibility of not dismantling their facilities, because of the damage that this would generate. A request that was not transferred to the Government of the Balearic of the Balearic Islands at the time”, they pointed out. However, as La Voz de Ibiza was able to confirm , this request was made even months before, with a negative response from the regional authorities.
Meeting and refusal
On Monday, October 7, after several insistences, Asier Fernandez was received in Palma by the head of Authorizations of the Conselleria del Mar. Later, the head of Temporary Authorizations, a lawyer and the person in charge who signed the stakes were added. “I tried to meet before. But, the director (general of Coasts and Coastal) of the Conselleria(Carlos Simarro Vicens) was on leave and it was impossible for me,” explained Fernandez consulted by La Voz de Ibiza. At that meeting, among several queries, Fernandez asked: “Do they have to dismantle the beach bars?The answer left no room for doubt:“You have signed this and you have to comply with it“. “The Conselleria del Mar was consulted, the Demarcación de Costas was consulted, everybody was consulted. And everyone said ‘you have to dismantle’. And based on all that information the technical report was made, signed by the person in charge of the contract and by the lawyer,” Fernandez told La Voz de Ibiza. This was notified orally to the beach bars in a meeting held on October 18 in which 7 of the 8 beach bars were present. At that same meeting, the businessman Angel Bustos, who took the role of spokesman for the licensees, requesteda reduction in the fee as “economic rebalancing” after considering that “the specifications are impossible to meet”. In addition, a written response was made to “each and every one of the questions officially asked by the licensees via the entry register. And also to those made in person during the meeting that we convened from the Coastal Department with all of them just before the end of the tourist season”.
In point three of that document dated December 20 and bearing the signatures of the contract manager and Environment technician, Javier Asencio, and the lawyer Carmen Marí-Mayans Torres, detailed the famous Article 68 of the General Regulation of Coasts that clearly stipulates the obligation to dismantle for a month. And it is concluded that“it is mandatory to dismantle the facilities of food and beverage establishments from January 15 to February 15, because this Consell must abide by the provisions of its concessionary title“.
