Controversy in Son Massip over the construction of a villa: the mayor of Escorca claims it has a permit
Hikers denounce "the loss of hundreds of meters of forest," while the Escorca City Council maintains that it has been urban land since the 1960s.
This browser does not support the video element.
PalmImages of advanced construction work in a wooded area of Son Massip, in Escorca, have alarmed hikers currently using the path that begins the ascent to the Voltes d'en Galileu. The recordings show a large area of recently excavated holm oak forest and the construction of a chalet of at least two stories on a street where, until now, there were only two old houses and no other urban development, according to eyewitnesses. According to witnesses, the work "devoured hundreds of square meters of forest" in an area far from the town center and close to an Area of Special Natural Interest (ANEI), raising suspicions that the construction may be illegal. "It's an abomination in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana," the hikers lamented.
For his part, the mayor of Escorca stepped forward and asserted that the construction is "perfectly legal." According to him, the plot has been part of an urban area "since the 1960s" and has all the necessary permits. "There are about twenty houses in this area," the mayor emphasized. It should be noted that the new Law on Administrative Simplification, which allows for the legalization of buildings on rural land that have passed the statute of limitations, would not apply to this case, since the property is not rural but urban, despite being adjacent to a protected area.