Two new files raise to six the establishments of Can Picafort investigated for irregular occupations of the coastline

PalmaThe Council of Mallorca has opened two new coastal disciplinary proceedings in Can Picafort for occupations without the corresponding authorizing title. The procedures, issued this September 3rd, affect the SPAR Roma supermarket, located on Passeig de l'Enginyer Antoni Garau, and the Don Denis restaurant and cafeteria, on Passeig de l'Enginyer Felicià Fuster. With these two new cases, there are now six establishments under investigation of which the GOB is aware.

According to the entity, the new proceedings demonstrate that these are not isolated cases, but rather a broader problem of occupation of public coastal space by commercial and catering establishments. In both procedures, the actions have been initiated against both the business promoters and the Santa Margalida City Council, as the owner of the affected land. The resolutions order the suspension of the use considered improper and the removal of the affected facilities.

Three proceedings linked to the same company

One of the new procedures corresponds to the SPAR Roma supermarket, promoted by LAUMAE GARRIDO SLU, a company that also appears in the files opened against the Restaurant Chocolate and the Hotel Vent i Mar. According to the data provided by the GOB, the three files provisionally accumulate 29,580 euros between the proposed sanctions and the economic benefits that should be handed over to the Administration.

The entity focuses on the fact that the company is linked to the Santa Margalida councilor Eugenio Garrido Vivas, municipal head of Works, Services and Infrastructures and with competencies related to the organization and exploitation of the beaches. For this reason, the GOB considers that, beyond the result of the administrative files, there is a question of political responsibility and demands the dismissal of Garrido from the municipal responsibilities related to this matter.

58,392.50 euros in six files

The two new procedures raise to 58,392.50 euros the total provisional amount of the proposed sanctions and economic benefits quantified in the six files known to GOB.

The first four, which the entity made known on August 31, accumulated 43,665 euros. The two new files add 14,727.50 euros to this: 7,220 euros in the case of SPAR Roma, 1,550 of which correspond to the sanction and 5,670 euros to the economic benefit, and 7,507.50 euros in the case of the Restaurant Cafeteria Don Denis, with a proposed sanction of 1,027.50 euros and 6,480 euros of benefit. GOB warns, however, that it is still unknown whether the inspection will lead to new files and demands that the Council make public the global scope of the actions.

GOB demands explanations

The environmental organization also questions the role of the Santa Margalida City Council. The mayor, Martí Torres, has publicly assured that the Council "has not authorized anything there." According to information published by various media outlets, the City Council also allegedly did not collect the municipal tax from the establishments because they did not have the Coastal authorization. For the GOB, if the City Council was aware of this situation, it must explain why the occupations have been allowed to continue for years and what actions it took to restore legality.

Furthermore, the new resolutions from the Council require the City Council to certify whether any municipal authorization agreement existed and what amount of public fees had been paid during 2024. The organization demands that this information be made public and that it be clarified what had been authorized, what had been collected, and how the authorities had acted regarding occupations that did not have the necessary titles. The GOB also points out that the report corresponding to SPAR Roma confirms that, although there are four meters of clear passage, 1.20 meters of the occupation are located within the transit easement.

Faced with what it considers a "trickle" of new files, the organization demands that the Council explain how many inspections have been carried out in Can Picafort and how many procedures are still pending. The GOB argues that the case highlights the shortcomings in control mechanisms and considers that the future coastal law should incorporate more effective guarantees to ensure public use of the coast, as well as greater coordination, inspection, and administrative control.

The organization specifically demands the clarification of political responsibilities at the Santa Margalida City Council, the removal of Eugenio Garrido from municipal powers related to this matter, transparency regarding the authorizations and the amounts collected or left uncollected, the removal of irregular occupations, and the restoration of legality in coastal easements. For the GOB, the coastline is a space for collective use that cannot be subject to appropriation for private use without the corresponding authorizations, and it considers that the administrations must guarantee the effective compliance with the regulations.