It is reported that the TSJA, the Superior Court of Justice of Andalucia, has ordered Nerja Town Hall to pay €630,304.06 plus interest, which may amount to €900,000, to the company Maravillas del Mar S.A. relating to the expropriation of lands for the proposed water treatment plant.
It seems that in 2002, the Council expropriated the land in question for the future construction of the water treatment plant. The company were ‘compensated’ at a rate of €12.02 per square metre for the land and this figure was based on ‘rustic’ status.
However, according to the Court, the Nerja PGOU lists the land as ‘urban’ or ‘general’, and therefore developable, meaning that the correct compensation rate should have been €83 per square metre. A slight difference.
Maravillas del Mar S.A. were claiming a higher amount of compensation taking into account the loss of value of other lands held by the company in the same area but this was rejected by the Court.
Nerja Council is reported as having no official record of the court decision rendered by the TSJA on March 31st 2010 and is therefore unable to comment on the matter.