A hotel with a total capacity of 3,664 people, including up to 643 people staying in 261 rooms. These are just some details of the rehabilitation project that Divarian Property SA and Coral Homes SL., owners of Sidi Saler, presented to Valencia City Hall in 2019 to reopen the establishment.
This capacity data includes the four planned rooms, three restaurants, two dining rooms for celebrations and as many bars. The proposal provides for an investment of 6.5 million euros for an establishment that could aspire to a category between four and five stars, sold as sustainable by including elements of energy saving, use of renewable energy and construction with natural materials. For example, the exterior cladding of the main facades is offered with wooden elements.
However, a place with activity of such magnitude could hardly be compatible today with its location in the Albufera Natural Park due to the impact it would have on the levels of acoustics, lighting and traffic, an aspect already highlighted by municipal technicians. reports issued before the property is refused permission for works and activities requested, a procedure which is judicial.
According to the document issued by the Devesa service on the impact of hotel activity on the environment and on the implications of a possible demolition, the document is strong: “The reopening of the hotel would represent a regression in the protection of the natural park which would have a lasting effect. If the hotel were to operate again, it would become a source of noise and light pollution and increase anthropogenic pressure on La Devesa in general and on Garrofera beach in particular, especially at night. Based on the multiple experiences carried out in the restoration of the also constructed La Devesa dune habitats, it can be guaranteed that the recovery of all the mentioned habitats on the land currently occupied by the Sidi Saler Hotel is technically feasible.
In recent weeks, several incidents have taken place in the hotel complex, resulting from the alleged occupation of some of its rooms, despite the fact that it has security guards. The last one happened last Saturday, July 28, when part of the property caught fire. In this regard, the mayor of València, María José Catalá, who said that she was negotiating with the owners to reopen the hotel with a “100% sustainable” project, without specifying whether they had presented an alternative proposal, commented the fire. : “I think there is a reality which is that the property must be sold. “We cannot continue like this.” During the last four years of the previous left-wing municipal executive, no incidents were recorded.
In this regard, Acció Ecologista-Agró, an entity involved in the trial concerning the refusal of licenses by the City Hall to the property, denounced this Tuesday that the Sidi Saler property uses the so-called “squatters” to justify its survival. the hotel.
“Complaints in the press denouncing the presence of people in a possible situation of marginalization inside the building arose and intensified with the legal condemnation proceedings. The owner had already warned and predicted years ago that if the permit was not granted it would likely be occupied. Acció Ecologista-Agró denounced this accusation and warns that the reopening of Sidi Saler could cause real inconvenience to the natural park and local residents,” they commented.
The organization considers that the existence of the squatters is not a coincidence, but rather responds to “a strategy premeditated well in advance by the ownership of the Sidi Saler hotel; a terrible tactic with which they would try to condition Justice, the Town Hall and public opinion to authorize the reopening of the Sidi Saler Hotel” and declared that the project presented to the Town Hall to obtain the license literally says: “After this process of deterioration and occupation, which can be long, the building must ultimately be demolished and, in addition to the economic cost of demolition, estimated at around 4 million euros, if the action is carried out with good materials management demolition, demolition would have an environmental cost high since it would generate more than 32,000 tonnes of materials whose sole purpose would be to be deposited in landfills, i.e. more than 32,000 tonnes of waste would be generated.
