Luxury Spanish Golf Resort To Be Demolished After 14-Year Legal Battle

Following a 14-year legal battle, Spain’s highest court has ruled that a luxury golf resort is to be destroyed as it stands on a protected natural area, according to a CNN travel report.

The Marina Isla de Valdecanas development, which features a golf course, a four-star hotel, 185 villas and an artificial beach, was built on La Isla de Valdecanas, an island situated in western Spain, around 100 miles west of Madrid. A second hotel and hundreds more villas were set to be added to the site before the latest ruling.

Ecological campaign group, Ecologistas en Accion, began the legal dispute 14 years ago, taking issue with the fact that the development sat on protected land and argued it should be returned to its natural state.

In July 2020, a court in Extremadura ruled against the eco group on economic grounds as the cost of demolition alone was estimated at nearly $39 million, while compensation packages for property owners stood to reach $126.7 million. 

With the regional government footing the bill, it was added that only facilities under construction would be destroyed, and as long as no environmental damage was being done, the resort could continue to operate.

However, a supreme court has now overturned the original verdict and ordered that the site be demolished. Reacting to the news, Ecologistas en Accion welcomed the latest decision, saying that a “dangerous precedent” regarding illegally constructed buildings had been avoided.

President of the Extramadura regional government, Guillermo Fernandez Vara, has stated his intent to lodge an appeal with Spain’s constitutional court in an attempt to save the development from its fate.