Puerto del Rosario finally approves adding the cornice to the Heritage Catalog
The City Council of Puerto del Rosario has taken a new step in processing the Municipal Heritage Protection Catalog, introducing significant changes concerning the most controversial part of the document: the properties that make up La Cornisa, one of the last architectural remnants of the former Puerto Cabras.
In the extraordinary plenary session held on Wednesday, March 11, the governing coalition (CC‑PSOE) voted in favour of adding new assets that were not included in the initial approval, among them the 16 properties of La Cornisa and an additional 60 heritage items of architectural, ethnographic and archaeological significance.
The council thus removes the doubts raised by a urban‑development project included in the current General Plan, which would have required demolishing the old houses to build a five‑storey commercial‑residential zone. For now the Catalog remains in its initial approval phase, with the final endorsement expected around the summer.
During the session, the municipal government reported the outcome of the public information period that followed the Catalog’s first approval. 179 objections were received, all of which have been examined and answered by the drafting team.
In his speech, Mayor David de Vera recalled that the current legislature has pursued two parallel procedures concerning La Cornisa.
First, the initial approval of the Heritage Assets Catalog, which originally excluded these properties in order to comply with a Supreme Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) ruling that required the council to correct the building‑area calculations of the disputed urban‑development project.
Second, a minor amendment to the General Urban Plan, launched “responsibly” according to the mayor, to implement the court decision and incorporate sectoral reports, citizen petitions, and association inputs that highlighted “the high heritage value not only of the 16 La Cornisa buildings but of the whole architectural ensemble.”
The mayor added that once the inclusion of La Cornisa’s properties and the other 60 items is approved, a public hearing will be opened for interested parties, accompanied by descriptive sheets for each dwelling and an economic report.
“The economic report must detail the instruments that the General Plan of Puerto del Rosario will provide for monetary compensation or for the exploitation of building rights,” he explained, referring to the owners of La Cornisa properties who would lose the right to build that they had acquired under the previously approved development plan.
It is expected that these owners will participate in the hearing and submit objections, as the opposition groups indicated that counter‑arguments could be raised against La Cornisa’s inclusion in the Catalog.
La Cornisa of Puerto del Rosario Confronts CC and PP
After the plenary, the political debate intensified. The Canary Coalition of Puerto del Rosario (CC) praised the move on its social networks, calling the inclusion of La Cornisa “key to preserving and valorising the municipality’s memory and identity.”
The People’s Party (PP), however, voted against the measure and accused the mayor and his governing coalition of acting impulsively, seeking “more electoral gain than genuine protection of municipal heritage.” The PP argued that, throughout the process, municipal legal reports had consistently recommended that La Cornisa’s properties remain excluded until a prior amendment of the General Urban Plan (PGO) was made.
According to the PP, the change of stance was made “in a hurry and without a new legal opinion from the Urban Planning Department to justify the decision,” a move that could generate legal and financial problems for the council.
Mayor David de Vera rejected any procedural irregularities:
“There is no technical or legal report in this file that indicates any legal or technical irregularity in the procedure.”
Voting and Absences in a Key Legislative Debate
When the vote took place, councillors from the governing coalition (CC and PSOE) raised their hands in favour, joined by an independent councillor, Javier Montserrat Peña Armas, who is not part of the Fuerteventura Avanza group. Two other councillors from that formation were absent.
Councillors from the People’s Party and AMF voted against the proposal.
Several seats remained empty during the debate. Municipal sources said the PP’s absences were communicated and justified, whereas the Fuerteventura Avanza councillors did not provide explanations and also missed the pre‑plenary spokesperson meeting.