Supreme court rejects Cordial attempt to declare El Pajar CEISA cement works concession already expired

The Spanish Supreme Court (TS) has rejected an appeal, presented by Cordial Properties, trying to end the cement company, CEISA, concession held on the port of Santa Águeda. CEISA general director, Claudio Piernavieja, celebrated the decision.

In a statement sent to journalists, CEISA reported that the Supreme Court would not admit the appeal for processing, and instead Cordial Properties will have to pay the costs of the trial.

This is the third time that the courts have found appeals inadmissible in this matter, having gone through the Contentious-Administrative Court of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, CEISA points out.

Claudio Piernavieja expressed “the company’s satisfaction with the seamless recognition of the end date of the concession for the industrial port of the Arguineguín cement factory”.

Cementos Especiales de las Islas (CEISA) has a concession for the exploitation of the port of Santa Águeda that ends in October 2022, and has requested a new extension to operate the facility until the year 2046, which in turn coincides with the exploitation permit for the San José quarry, located nearby.

The Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC, regional high court) dismissed an appeal filed by Cordial Properties seeking to date the termination of the concession from Puertos Canarios to CEISA cement company on March 10, 2020 and confirmed that the first instance ruling had considered that the aforementioned tourism company has no legitimate interest in filing a contentious-administrative appeal relating to the concession.

Puertos Canarios, the regional port authority dependent on the autonomous community, maintains that this concession expires on October 28, 2022, while the company Propiedades Cordiales SL have tried to allege that its legal term of exploitation expired on March 10, 2020, and so have requested it is declared expired and the cement company is ordered to dismantle its facilities from the dock.

The sentence determined that Cordial Properties is not a legitimate party at this time to challenge the concession and, therefore, to discuss the date established by Puertos Canarios.

This company gave two reasons that have not been accepted by the court: it was considered an interested party because it owns the land adjoining that of the port operation of the cement company and announced that it intended to apply for the Santa Águeda wharf concession as soon as it expired.