The Balearic Councillor of the Presidency, Mercedes Garrido, said in Parliament yesterday, in response to an query from the PP regarding the meeting last Thursday with the Consell and resident representatives of the Don Pepe apartments which concluded that “the urban planning” of the two blocks of flats should be studied because it will reveal if the “work can be done in one way or another”.
Specifically, he referred to the Balearic law of Urban Planning in which article 129.2, distinguishes two types of illegal housing: buildings built without a license or that the license has been annulled, in which no work can be carried out, and those legally implemented in which extension work or renovations have been executed without a license. In the latter case, renovation work may be authorised, but only on the legal part of the structure.
In the case of the Don Pepe apartments, only block B has a license (but for four floors, not five) and it will now be analyzed as to whether a license was granted in 1964 for both buildings, although there is no permit for block A in the municipal archives, for which four of the five floors of the building could be legalized and rehabilitated. “Here is the crux of the matter ,” Garrido stressed.
In any case, the Councillor for the Presidency stressed above all that we must be “honest” and explain to those affected “the truth of what is happening”. “If a solution can be found, I believe that it must be sought, but if it cannot be found, the people must also be told,” stressed Garrido, who criticised the “populism and demagogy” of the Ibizan PP deputy Virginia MarÃ, who, she said, is only seeking to “fish for votes” with this issue.
Commitment to neighbors of Don Pepe
As this newspaper has been able to learn, at the meeting last Thursday, Garrido informed the representatives of those affected that modifying the Balearic law of Urban Planning is not enough to save the homes of Don Pepe and that, although it was to study the urban planning situation of the licenses and whether authorization for their rehabilitation could be granted, this is the least likely scenario and both short-term measures (social assistance) and long term measures need to be a focus.
In fact, the mayor of Sant Josep, Angel Luis Guerrero, who attended the Parliament plenary session, recalled that the municipal technicians understand that block A does not have a license. “The Consell does not see it either and, in its report, speaks of possible interpretations”. Therefore, Guerrero also recognizes that it is “unlikely” that this route will prosper, although he is willing to “review it 20 times” in the hope that the Govern and the Consell “can shed some light or interpret something differently”.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.