The dissenting vote in the ruling on Ence warned of "irreversible damage" to the coastline

He warned of the "irreversible damage" that the activity of the plant would produce on the coast where it sits

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The magistrate who issued a dissenting opinion in the sentence that endorses the extension to the Ence factory in the Pontevedra estuary considered that the decision of the National Court to annul this concession should be confirmed, for which she refers to the "damage" of the activity of the pulp mill on the coast on which it sits.

In the ruling, which was released this Wednesday, this magistrate warns that "it cannot be forgotten that the extraordinary extension in question here, which (...) affects uses incompatible with the maritime-terrestrial public domain, It has a duration of up to 75 years that overlaps with the 30 years that derive from the transitory regime of the Law of Coasts of 1988".

In addition, "in cases such as the present case, they would also be added to the period from the granting of the concession, in many cases in the middle of the 20th century or even before."

Regarding this "temporary extension", as the magistrate who issued the dissenting opinion recalls, "the Council of State drew attention". Thus, he points to an opinion with which he warned that "it will end up producing a transitory system lasting a century, with a potentially irreversible impact on these delicate ecosystems", which "could make irreversible the damage caused" to the domain terrestrial maritime public "preventing its conservation and the sustainability of its use or generating enormous long-term costs in its rehabilitation or restoration, with the consequent economic consequences that a short-term recovery principle prevents from being prevented".

These "reasons" are understood by the magistrate "more than enough to be taken into account" in the interpretation that she proposes "in harmonization of the various constitutional values ​​and assets at stake."

A month ago it emerged that the fifth section of the contentious-administrative chamber of the Supreme Court had upheld the appeals presented by Ence and other entities against the judgments of the National Court that annulled the extension that determined the continuity of the factory in the estuary of Pontevedra until the year 2073.

Specifically, the resolution, authorized on January 20, 2016, when Mariano Rajoy headed the Government of Spain, granted Ence a 60-year extension (from the date of application, in 2013) of the occupancy concession. of a strip of land maritime public domain for the pulp mill in Pontevedra.

The court considers that concessions prior to the General Coastal Law of 1988 can be extended, as is the case, "provided there are favorable environmental reports" and in the case under study, he remarks, "there were favorable reports from the Administration on this matter ".

(There will be expansion)