The future of a familiar Torrevieja-area landmark could be decided in the courts, with the council looking at legal action against the owner to preserve the Casa de los Balcones off the CV-95, which has been left in decay for over 15 years, as well as even taking over the property.
Torrevieja’s planning department has commissioned a report to see whether the building’s owner can be taken to court for failing to preserve the Casa, which is a protected building, and that Valencian urban law has been flouted.
Conversely, the property owner wants a legal ruling over the status of the house and to remove any “protected status”, believing it should be classified as a ruin. That would then allow it to be demolished, leaving the land then to be used for a fresh development.
The state of the Casa has led to a long-running row over the 19th century structure, with the owners being forced by the council to do some emergency work back in 2013, though the roof collapsed the following year. A series of fines have also been levied against the owner over not carrying work over the years.
