Luxury villas now on sale amidst controversy
The developer behind the massive Cuna del Alma tourist project, currently under construction in Puertito de Adeje, Tenerife, has begun selling its luxury villas. Nine listings have been published on the Idealista portal, with prices reaching up to €2.3 million. This sales push continues despite open legal cases and numerous calls to halt construction, with the developer proudly promoting its “sustainable vision.”
A promise of escape and five-star luxury
The advertisements directly appeal to those seeking an escape, asking: “Do you dream of escaping the dark winter days, but work and the worries of a second home in the sun prevent you from making it a reality? Furthermore, don’t you want to give up the luxury and services of a five-star hotel?” The cheapest villa on offer is 188 square meters and costs €680,400. The most expensive is a four-bedroom property spanning 524 square meters, priced at a staggering €2.3 million.
Developer’s sustainability claims
Cuna del Alma justifies its “environmental vision” by pointing to plans for an “organic farm,” the use of “sustainable” building materials, and the creation of a recycled water treatment plant. The developer also argues that it has reduced the building density to “avoid excessive occupation” of the land. The plot for the 420 villas covers 500,000 square meters, though the promoter defends the project by stating it will “only” build on 136,000 of them. The luxury urbanization will feature two communal swimming pools, a beach club, a spa, and a “water sports center focused on snorkeling and diving.”
Widespread environmental and social opposition
Since its launch in 2022, the project’s environmental impact has been heavily criticized by various ecological groups. Furthermore, the massive demonstrations that have been organized across the Canary Islands against mass tourism and the overexploitation of territory have specifically demanded its suspension. Over the years, the project has received three separate stop orders for destroying an archaeological site, for beginning work without an environmental impact assessment, and for posing a threat to the ‘viborina triste’ (Echium triste), a plant species with special protection in the Canaries.
Legal challenges and reduced fines
Most of these legal cases expired, and to date, only the one related to the destruction of archaeological sites has been reopened. The General Directorate of Culture and Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands initially proposed a fine of €229,503 for the company for causing irreversible damage to heritage. However, the regional government later reduced this fine to less than half of the €600,000 penalty that had been proposed during the previous legislative period.
A contentious expropriation
Despite the multi-million-euro price tags of the Cuna del Alma villas, the project’s Compensation Board intends to expropriate a beachfront warehouse owned by the Galindo family for just €12,688. Jesús V. Galindo is 80 years old, diabetic, has heart disease, and is battling cancer. His warehouse occupies 66 square meters.
His son, Juan Galindo, told the press: “We are outraged. They want to leave my family without a property that has been in our family for many years and has incalculable sentimental value, all so a private company—there is no public interest in this operation—can exploit its future beach club without any problems.” He emphasized, “And for a ridiculous amount of about €12,500, which isn’t even enough to buy an open parking space in any building in Adeje.” Galindo insists that the price per square meter in this area is around €5,000, stating, “Our property has a current expert valuation of between €60,000 and €120,000.”
A “maneuver with dubious guarantees”
The platform Salvar El Puertito (Save El Puertito) views the sale of the villas as a “maneuver with dubious guarantees” from a commercial standpoint. The villas being advertised are on plot T2, and the urban planning license for this enclave has been appealed by the Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN).
The platform points out that “among the irregularities, it stands out that the license was granted without the mandatory and required authorization for work in a coastal protection easement from the competent organism, the Government of the Canary Islands.” Salvar El Puertito indicates that this information, which would give any investor pause for thought, is being omitted at the offices of this Belgian developer.
A direct warning to potential buyers
The platform insists that this project “can never be classified as sustainable,” highlighting the “destruction of volcanic deposits declared a Place of Geological Interest; a coastal scrub habitat (one of the few remnants left in the southwest of the island) that is home to more than 20 species of terrestrial vertebrates and ten protected plant species, including the endemic and increasingly threatened ‘viborina triste’.”
They conclude with a stark warning to potential buyers: “From the Salvar El Puertito platform, we send a message to buyers: we are going to paralyze these works as already happened in 2022. Buying here is a risky investment, aside from the fact that collaborating economically with what is possibly one of the most famous urban planning scandals of the 21st century in the Canary Islands is very poorly viewed by the local population.”
