The Madrid Contentious-Administrative Court N.8 has ruled that Martinsa-Fadesa will not have to pay €15,448,656 to the Aranjuez Town City Hall for the maintenance costs and taxes of the La Montaña residential development located in the municipality from 2010 to 2021. The judge considers null and void the city hall’s decree of 2 August 2021 which claimed this amount from the failed construction company.
The ruling, dated 9 January, concludes that the agreement for the provision of urban development services that the city hall signed with Martinsa-Fadesa suffered from several invalidating irregularities (for example, approving it urgently) and, therefore, that it was null and void. “The alleged agreement, known as the urban development agreement, does not include any real urban development obligations, but rather obligations that are effectively incumbent on the Town Hall, and it is not understood, nor is it explained, nor is the cause of the same clarified,” the judge states in the resolution.
Andersen’s Real Estate department, headed by Javier Lacleta together with associate lawyer Elena Guitián, secured this victory in court for the construction company in liquidation. “The defendant administration invalidly claimed these costs on the basis of a 2005 service provision agreement signed between Martinsa-Fadesa before entering into insolvency proceedings and the Aranjuez Town Council,” they explain.
The Madrid court has fully admitted the appeal filed by Andersen on behalf of Martinsa-Fadesa against a the decree issued by the Aranjuez City Hall. This amount was the invoice that the council had issued for “alleged maintenance and supply costs of basic services, as well as the costs of IBIS, energy, water, bus line, among others, incurred by the said Administration in the La Montaña sector,” the lawyers add.
The recent ruling annuls the decree on the grounds that it is “not in accordance with the law as it was issued under an agreement that has been found to be without cause and null and void,” against which there is still room for appeal.
In Lacleta’s opinion, “the ruling is also novel in that it invalidates the actions carried out by this Administration in relation to the urbanisation works in the La Montaña sector. The administrative judge considers that it is untenable that the Aranjuez Town Council argues that these works remain unfinished, as they have not been expressly accepted, and at the same time, charges the residents who live in this area the IBI every year, and even pretends that the bankrupt company pays sine die all the expenses related to the urbanisation.”
