Dismissed claim for pecuniary liability filed by company that intended to build hotel at Port of Palma

Dismissed claim for pecuniary liability filed by company that intended to build hotel at Port of Palma

Palma

19/05/2017

The Court for Contentious-Administrative Proceedings of the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has dismissed the appeal filed by the company Concesionaria Es Mollet S.L. against the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), confirming that any claims for pecuniary liability following a rejected proposal to construct a five-star hotel resort at the Port of Palma will not be admitted.

On April 2014, the APB issued a call for tenders for the operation under concession arrangements of a building for commercial premises in the Mollet opposite dock area at the Port of Palma. Two companies submitted bids for the tender, which was later declared null by the APB Board of Directors after both proposals were rejected.

The offer submitted by Concesionaria Es Mollet entailed building a five-star hotel for 84 guests, 24 parking spaces, a heated swimming pool and other hotel services. In March 2015, the Board of Directors rejected the bid after determining that the hotel proposal failed to meet the rules of the tender.

Following this decision, Concesionaria Es Mollet filed for compensation totalling 420,000 euros for pecuniary loss, which was dismissed by the APB and now settled by the ruling issued by the TSJIB.

According to the ruling, hotel activity is forbidden pursuant to article 72 of the Consolidated Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Navy (TRLPEMM), except under exceptional circumstances, duly justified on grounds of the general interest and following the issuance of a report from State Ports and the Council of Ministers. In view of this, the ruling states that the bid failed to meet the conditions of use stipulated in current legislation and that it was justifiably rejected.

There will be no further public tenders

Last February, following the second call for public tender for the operation of two buildings in the Mollet opposite port for commercial premises, the APB Board of Directors agreed to abandon the process.

With this initiative, in line with Palma City Council, the APB aims to promote the redevelopment of this area, streamlining its uses and abolishing any buildings that are not necessary for port activity.

Rejecting this project will enable expansion of the Mollet opposite dock area and provide the port with spaces open to citizens, moving closer towards the ‘Port-City’ model sought by many cities of reference.