The State versus the Sandinistas. The former win. The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) issued a new judicial endorsement on Monday, safeguarding the construction of the Chira-Soria pumped-storage hydroelectric plant in Gran Canaria. The Second Section of the Administrative Court dismissed in full the appeal filed by the Turcón-Ecologistas en Acción group, which sought to overturn both the administrative authorization and the declaration of public utility granted to this key energy infrastructure for the island.
The core of the legal battle brought by environmentalists centered on the challenge to the favorable and conditional Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued on July 30, 2021. However, the court argues in its ruling that this document constitutes an "essential but procedural act," which makes it impossible to review it through an independent appeal; its determinations had to be challenged together with the main administrative authorization.
Beyond the legal formalities, the decisive argument that tipped the scales in the Court's decision was the plaintiffs' lack of sufficient technical evidence. Although the group submitted a dossier comprising 51 documents, including maps, minutes, statistics, and reports, the court found it lacking a technical expert opinion that could rigorously and precisely refute the conclusions of the environmental impact assessment.
The ruling clarifies that the complete absence of an environmental assessment is not equivalent to a mere disagreement about the intensity or sufficiency of the impacts analyzed. According to the Court, questioning the technical merit of an assessment already carried out requires a highly robust expert opinion, which was not provided in this case.
The court ruling recalls that the prior environmental assessment process thoroughly examined a very wide range of impacts on the island territory: from natural habitats, fauna, vegetation and the Natura 2000 Network, to the marine environment, the subsoil, the atmosphere, geodiversity, the landscape and cultural heritage.
Furthermore, the resolution emphasizes the dynamic nature of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is strictly subject to compliance with a total of fourteen conditions. To ensure strict compliance, the project includes the operation of a technical monitoring committee jointly composed of representatives from the regional government, the Gran Canaria Island Council, and the project developer, Red Eléctrica de España.
The ruling, which also includes the order to pay legal costs for the plaintiff organization, represents a new administrative relief for the continuation of the work on this major energy storage project, a milestone destined to transform the model of renewable energy penetration in the archipelago.
