After 8 years of lawsuits and 15 judgments, the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) this summer put an end to the litigation of the Can Juncadella roundabout, in Lloret de Mar, closed to the public since 2009. The judge dismissed the last appeal presented and ratified the public ownership of this coastal path, formerly used by fishermen, approximately two kilometers between the beaches of Cala Morisca and Canyelles. The interlocutory required the property owner, a company linked to the former president of Kazakhstan, to allow pedestrians to pass through.
For years, an iron gate has prevented access to those approaching the Can Juncadella luxury villa estate, located in the area of natural interest of the Cadiretes massif. Those who did so received warnings over loudspeakers or by private security guards – sometimes armed and accompanied by dogs of a dangerous breed – not to proceed. The property placed several cameras and signs in the area, still present, warning that the land is "private property" and it is strictly forbidden to "take photos or videos", otherwise legal action will be taken against the person or company responsible".
Months after this firm ruling by the TSJC, which no longer accepts any further appeals, there has been no response to the judicial decision to recover for citizens a path that was already public in the past. The environmental organization SOS Lloret reports that this path has been completely blurred and has practically disappeared.
Lloret de Mar City Council assures that it is working to set a short-term calendar that responds to the court ruling. "We can't open the road yet because it's yet to be defined", justifies the new mayor, Adrià Lamelas (PSC), who points out that the court ruling "recognizes the existence of a stretch of public domain, but does not set a specific route" . In this sense, one of the first actions will be to design a "viable and safe route", which will have to be endorsed by other higher administrations such as the Generalitat and the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
The Council, which is pleased that the legal process has been put to an end, is in contact with the property to define this layout. The mayor promises "speed" in the process, despite the fact that he does not dare to set a date for the reopening of the road. The ecologists urge the Council to recover the route of the road, which is already listed in the Municipal Urban Planning Plan. "If they get tangled up in a new layout, the process will take even longer", warns Jordi Palaudelmàs, spokesperson for SOS Lloret, who fears that the owners of the estate want to delay the opening of the road as much as possible. "The property has dedicated itself to obstructing access, it has no interest in reopening it and is prolonging a situation that should be executed immediately", he warns.
The case dates back to 2009, when Lloret de Mar City Council and the owners of the property signed an agreement according to which the owners of the luxury villa in Can Juncadella undertook to pay the full cost of the works adaptation of the patrol path between the Canyelles and Morisca coves. In return, Lloret de Mar Council recognized the private ownership of another path that crossed the estate, the GR92-11. It was then that the property closed the road on the pretext of carrying out improvement works. The deadline for reopening it was one year and three months. After several failed projects and seven years, in 2016 the City Council revoked the agreement for non-compliance.
Thus began a judicial battle that ended this summer with the final verdict of the TSJC. A full stop to a cause that has been bogged down for years. The end point will come when the trail is finally reopened.
