The Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has annulled the new waste collection fee from the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The City Council is considering appealing the ruling.
The City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria received notification on Monday of a ruling from the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) that annulled the waste fee approved in April 2024. The Councillor for Finance, Francisco Hernández Spínola, immediately met with legal services to analyse the ruling and assess a possible appeal to the Supreme Court.
Deficiencies in the financial report
The ruling, reported by the EFE agency, points out “deficiencies” in the criteria used to quantify and distribute the fee. The court considers that the economic-financial report does not adequately justify the actual cost of the service or the distribution criteria among taxpayers.
The appeal was filed by the Canarian Foundation Schools of Antúnez, which argued that the ordinance violated the principles of economic capacity and equality. The foundation claimed that there were no exemptions for non-profit private educational centres or for entities covered by Law 49/2002.
Unpublished studies from Catalonia
One of the most controversial points is that the City Council used studies on waste production carried out in Catalonia to set the fees, without having published them or made them available to interested parties during the processing. The court considers that this prevented verification of their adequacy to the local reality and the formulation of allegations.
The court notes that the requirements of “justification, publicity, and information” were not met during the process. It is also not specified in the technical-economic report how those data were compared with the available information on the actual provision of the service in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Local angle: what happens now?
The annulment of the fee affects all taxpayers in the municipality, who were subject to the new ordinance since its approval. The City Council must decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court or to draft a new ordinance that rectifies the identified defects.
In the meantime, waste collection continues to operate normally, but the City Council will have to review the financing system of the service. Residents can rest assured: no cuts or immediate changes in the service are anticipated, although adjustments may occur in the upcoming tax ordinances.
Councillor Spínola has assured that the ruling will be studied “in detail” before a decision is made. The deadline to file an appeal to the Supreme Court is 30 business days from the notification.
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