The inhabitants of Cortegana (Huelva) saw in 2007 how the pine forests that cover the Llanos del Murteral and the Umbría de Alcornocosa could be saved from the transformation of a tourist complex of 67 chalets and an aerodrome thanks to special protection. Today, these same trees are condemned to perish, cut down to make way for a 15 million m3 pool of mining waste. During the journey between the two projects, a reclassification was carried out following an agreement concluded in 2013 between a mining company and the mayor of the town which removed this special protection of pine forests.
A little over a decade after signing this document, the mining company has just obtained environmental authorization for its waste depot – signed by high-ranking official Pedro Yórquez, brother of a company employee. In this regard, MATSA states that “the AAU authorization process was carried out in accordance with current legislation, therefore there is no conflict of interest or incompatibility in its administrative processing.” Furthermore, the delegate’s worker’s brother “had no participation in the construction project of the waste management facility to which the AUA refers.” “His duties have no connection with the said project.”
For his part, this mayor, José Enrique Borrallo, is the current director general of the Protected Natural Areas of Andalusia.
The journey from a judge’s order crippling a luxury tourism project to environmental approval for a hazardous mining waste repository on the same land involves several steps.
“The city of pilots”
When in 2004 the company Turística Plus Ultra planned to build a tourist complex in Valdelamusa, it had the support of the Cortegana Town Hall so that in 2006, the municipal plenary assembly gave the green light for the construction of 67 chalets and the preparation of an airfield (already existing) in the pine forests. We would call it The city of pilots.
But the classification of land as undevelopable with special protection imposed procedures which were not respected. The Council denounced it, the judge paralyzed the project – as reported The country– and the Consultative Council of Andalusia ended up canceling the file. There would be no complex.
Time passed and a new idea emerged to use this land: expanding MATSA’s mining facilities in the city. There were two traps. On the one hand, the protection of pine forests which came into force in 2007 and, on the other hand, the fact that the land did not belong to MATSA but to another company: Piritas de Huelva.
Agreement “to make projects possible and viable”
For the first, an agreement was concluded between the town hall of Cortegana and the mining company. For the second, MATSA has started negotiations to purchase the land. The agreement was signed on September 5, 2013, when the mayor was José Enrique Borrallo Romero (PP). Borrallo’s written commitment to classify the land “to make Matsa’s projects possible and viable,” as outlined in the agreement, came before the mining company even acquired the land that was to be redeveloped – this operation was closed only in 2015 –. Borrallo justified himself by saying that “there was a tacit agreement”.
The compensation that MATSA had to satisfy, according to this agreement, provided that 30% of the new local hires made came from the municipality of Cortegana, both in the construction and operation phases of the facilities.
At the same time, MATSA had to take charge of various “repairs of public roads, sports and recreational areas” for an amount of 130,147.9 euros. Of course, posters would be placed on which would appear the legend: “With the collaboration of Matsa”, specify the clauses.
In addition, the company had to provide the Town Hall with an ambulance for 24,400 euros and a multi-dump truck for 41,140 euros. It was also indicated in the text that “among the actions that Matsa is committed to carrying out, in the same way as in previous years, are the sponsorship of municipal associations and municipal events, which it undertakes to maintain over the years. “of validity of this agreement. » The amount “will be at least” 14,000 euros per year.
On the other hand, the agreement establishes that “this municipal council undertakes to develop the necessary planning documents to make Matsa projects in the municipality of Cortegana possible and viable.” The agreement provides that the mining company undertakes to “collaborate in the development” of the new urban planning of the municipality and also gives it control over the way in which this is carried out, since it admits that the company can “verify the wording of the aforementioned planning document, at any time, upon simple request from MATSA.
On the fiscal level, this agreement committed to bringing to the municipal plenary assembly a premium of 75% on taxes and building permit fees for mining installations and to drafting in three months an ordinance which would reduce it by 10% to 7% (at the amount of the investment) the compensation that MATSA had to pay under the town planning law for the exceptional use of non-developable land.
After the modification of the PGOU
The Cortegana General Urban Plan was finally modified during a plenary session on December 12, 2013. The report of the current project for the construction of the pond indicates that the land chosen is non-developable land of a rural or natural character with a use of the pine forest for timber.
Once the modification of the PGOU was accepted, the acquisition of the land took more than a year. In 2019, the municipal elections changed the political color of Cortegana City Hall, which became governed by the PSOE and the IU. In November 2020, this municipal council ordered the paralysis and sealing of various MATSA works, according to them, for lack of permits. In 2021, the Sandfire company acquired Matsa and in May 2023, the following elections returned the mayoralty to the People’s Party.
After signing the agreement, José Enrique Borrallo remained mayor of Cortegana until May 2019 – from January to April of the same year he also served as senator of the PP by regional designation. He then remained councilor of this municipality until, in January 2021, the Junta de Andalucía appointed him delegate to Huelva of the Ministry of Sustainable Development. On August 11, 2022, he became director general of Protected Natural Areas, leaving the position of provincial delegate of this department. Less than a month later, Pedro Yórquez Sancha held the same position. Two years later, in August 2024, Yórquez Sancha authorized the construction of a mining waste pond on these lands.
