On December 27, 2021, LAW 5/2021, of December 21, was published on urgent measures to promote the primary, energy, tourism and territorial sectors of the Canary Islands, which includes essential measures in different areas: coasts, electricity sector, touristic renovation and modernization as well as classified activities.
Since March 2020 we have witnessed intense legislative work that tries to alleviate the serious consequences that the pandemic is leaving in the economic-social area. One of them was Decree Law 15/2020, of September 10, on urgent measures to boost the primary, energy, tourism and territorial sectors of the Canary Islands (validated by the Plenary of Parliament on October 7, 2020), approved by the Government of the Canary Islands, and that tried to “speed up” the excessive red tape that surrounded some administrative procedures which prevented, de facto, the recovery of economic activity.
Said Decree, obviously, has fallen short, in time and in scope. This Law 5/2021 may mean a more effective application of all those streamlining measures that were intended to be imposed through Decree Law 15/2020.
“Simplification and streamlining” are the two axes of this Law, and we more than welcome them, but we would like to add one more, if we could, staffing in those key departments in investment and economic recovery of the Canary community. If we have the instruments, but we don’t have enough staff or public employees to manage these files, the streamlining is going to slow down once again. We know of the reviled effort that is being made, in fact, we have witnessed the emergency created surrounding the volcano in La Palma. However, we daily witnesses, as lawyers, the work overload that some public employees have.
We will now make a brief summary of the main measures adopted in the different sectors:
- Coasts: the possibility of a responsible declaration for the execution of works in constructions and facilities prior to Law 22/1988, of July 28, on coasts is included.
2. Electricity sector: great and innovative ideas are being incorporated, which we trust will streamline the procedures for the installation of renewable energies and thus enhance the energy sector:
a) Reduction of deadlines in the authorization of procedures of electrical installations.
b) Compliance of authorization requests with current planning. A kind of “self-diagnosis” is proposed, where the promoter must comply with and which will avoid the presentation of non-viable projects.
c) Presentation of technical documentation in digital format, in addition to simplifying the documentation to be incorporated.
d) The urban license exemption is established for those projects of electrical production facilities from renewable sources in which the competent council has been consulted for substantive energy authorization and a binding report is incorporated.
e) A simplified procedure is introduced to authorize certain non-relevant substantial modifications of electricity generation facilities from renewable sources, consisting of technology changes introduced during the execution phase of the initially authorized project.
f) And, very importantly, the process of public information for the specific declaration of public utility of energy facilities is simplified, which entailed, until now, months and months of waiting in the processing.
3. Regarding the actions of renovation and modernization of tourism, a simplified procedure is also included, and in the line already initiated by Decree-Law 15/2021, incentives and health security measures are included in the actions of renovation and modernization of touristic establishments, as well as a new regulation on the terraces, in order to alleviate the effects of COVID.*
* In a future post, we will delve into these measures.
Eugenia Pérez
Partner. Business Department
