The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has brought an end to the legal battle initiated by the company Grupajes del Mar S.A. (Grupamar) against the Port Authority of Las Palmas, in a ruling that absolves the administration from responsibility for the financial cost overruns arising from an administrative concession. The ruling confirms that the increase in a mortgage loan —which rose from an interest rate of 1.35% to 1.67%— was not due to public negligence, but rather to the pending registered charges of a third party: the former concessionaire Frigoluz S.A.
The conflict originated when Grupamar attempted to mortgage its concession, a procedure that was blocked by banking institutions demanding that the land be free of encumbrances. The plaintiff argued that the Port should have expedited the clearing of the registration of the parcel to prevent market interest rate increases from raising its financing costs by more than 64,000 euros. However, the Administrative Litigation Chamber emphasizes that the obligation to cancel such annotations rested solely on Frigoluz S.A. The Port Authority, far from exhibiting negligence, has demonstrated having formally requested the previous holder to fulfill its duties, even extending deadlines to Grupamar to facilitate the signing of its deed.
Beyond the management issue, the judicial resolution highlights a procedural calculation error that would have invalidated the claim in any case: timeliness. The court determines that the damage was consolidated at the end of March 2022, when the mortgage was constituted and registered. Given that the claim for patrimonial liability was filed on September 22, 2023, Grupamar exceeded the legal one-year period by a wide margin. The ruling also dismisses the argument that it was a ‘continuing damage’, reminding that the company was able to quantify the exact harm from day one.
With this ruling, the court not only rejects the compensation but also imposes legal costs on the appealing company. The Canarian justice system thus validates the administrative action, confirming that the Port fulfilled its duty of diligence by certifying that the parcel was free of encumbrances in November 2022 and that prior delays were attributable to Frigoluz’s inaction and the plaintiff’s own timeline.
