On Thursday, Palma town hall and Endesa signed an agreement that brings to an end a decade of litigation regarding the Gesa building and its neighbouring land.
Under the agreement, Endesa will make part of the building available to the town hall - a total of 5,600 square metres, 2,000 square metres of which will be free of charge for a twenty-year period and will be reserved for the renewable energy technology centre and other areas of the energy transition hub that the town hall intends to develop. The other 3,600 square metres of rental space will be for business activities related to the Nou Llevant Innovation District.
Endesa will retain ownership of the building and will have the site of the current Emaya municipal services agency building and a developable area on the second line (away from the sea) of some 58,000 square metres. The frontline will be a green area - 21,500 square metres of park. Endesa will participate in the Nou Llevant Innovation District project, a building for which has already been developed - the town hall will use this for its digital hub.
The plenary session of the town hall will definitively approve the agreement next month. Key to it is that Endesa has agreed to withdraw its legal claims against the town hall for compensation brought about by planning reorganisation.
Mayor José Hila says that the town hall's main objective has been to ensure that there wouldn't be development on the frontline. "It had to be a park and not a block of buildings. It will be a green area and will bring the sea a little closer to Palma."
The councillor for the model of the city, Neus Truyol, says that the agreement is the result of "intense and fruitful negotiations that have allowed us to resolve a legally entrenched conflict". "We are committed to guaranteeing free public space on the frontline and to a future of the city with new economic models based on innovation."