Building of Es Trenc hotel banned by Supreme Court

The controversial plan to build a luxury hotel complex with some 1,200 places near to the unspoiled beach of Es Trenc in Sa Rapita (Campos) appears to have been killed off by a ruling from the Supreme Court. The matter had been sent to the court by the Balearic High Court, itself acting on an original appeal against the hotel’s construction led by PSOE and Més when they were in opposition.
This legal process goes back to 2012 and it centred on a modification of the Majorcan Territorial Plan and what was argued to have been the inadmissibility of a correction made to it by the Council of Majorca (then under the control of the Partido Popular). The court has ruled that such modification could not be made.
In so doing it has now dismissed a further appeal, this time on behalf of the former Council administration which had sought to overturn a previous banning order. Legal costs arising from this appeal which the Council will have to pay, though not great at 6.300 euros, have nevertheless been criticised by PSOE’s Mercedes Garrido who said that the previous administration had been deaf to warnings from PSOE that an appeal against the previous judgement was a waste of time and of money.
The plan for the hotel caused a great deal of opposition, with human chains formed on Es Trenc beach to protest against what was seen as the potential destruction of a part of coastal Majorca largely unaffected by tourism development. The campaign against the hotel also included publicity issued to tourists passing through Palma’s airport.