The Audiencia de Sevilla has acquitted a resident of Castilblanco de los Arroyos who, only a few weeks earlier, had been sentenced by the same court to six months in jail for building a swimming pool on protected land in Las Minas.
The man built a 55 square metre swimming pool on land he purchased in Las Minas, a protected area with strict planning rules, and used a small unit to house a generator. He was ordered to cease his building and was personally notified of the order by the Local Police on June 4, 2005. However, he continued building.
At his first court appearance, he was sentenced to six months in jail, fined €1,080 and ordered to pay demolition costs of €4,404.
The same court has now acquitted the man, the reasons being:
The court decided it was possible that the small construction used to house the generator could actually have been in existence on the land at the time the man purchased the plot and, in addition, it is not a construction considered significant or relevant as far as the Penal Code is concerned.
The swimming pool does not qualify as a ‘building’ under law or jurisprudence as it is not ‘a permanent structure adhering to the ground, designed to be used as accommodation, transitional housing or as a home’.
This latest ruling by the Audencia de Sevilla is definitive and cannot be appealed.