El Vila, 53 years and still nothing is resolved.

El Vila, 53 years and still nothing is resolved. | E. Ballestero

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPollensa22/12/2016 00:00
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Fifty-three years ago a special plan for the El Vila urbanisation in Pollensa was approved, but the development has never been completed. Under the original scheme of 1963 and a second approval twenty years later, the development was to be undertaken according to the so-called system of compensation by which owners assumed principal responsibility.

In 1999 the town hall changed this and took on responsibility, which meant that it would then pass costs onto owners. This change led to a period of litigation which was resolved in favour of the town hall in 2003. Despite this, work has remained paralysed. To make things more complicated, the regional government's urgent measures for sustainable development of 2008 meant that El Vila was protected under these measures. Specifically, the upper zone of the urbanisation was declassified (for development purposes). This includes a green area that was essential in order for there to be development. Prevention of further development under these measures was mainly justified on the grounds of the impact on the general landscape.

Owners are now organising themselves. Lawyer Leopoldo de Miquel, who is a specialist in urban planning and who leads the demands made by owners, says that the El Vila cooperation association will exhaust all avenues with the town hall and the Council of Majorca before going to court if necessary.

At a meeting at the Puerto Pollensa yacht club, it was agreed to send a letter to the mayor, Miquel Àngel March, formally requesting the reactivation of the urbanisation and demanding damages resulting from municipal inactivity. Earlier this year, de Miquel had formally registered notification with the town hall on behalf of the Vidal family, which owns land listed in the green areas of the original 1963 plan. This was notification of a demand that the town hall must expropriate 38,000 square metres that are intended as public green space.