Joshua Parfitt
VALENCIA’S anti-fraud agency has ordered seven businesses on the popular Arenal beach in Javea to close.
Javea’s town hall has three months to shut bar-restaurants down, which according to an official report include Bambula, Baltasar, Aqua, Botanico, Achill and Atalaya.
The Agencia Valenciana Antifraude ruled the bar-restaurants did not have relevant licences, and had not informed coastal authorities of their usage of protected land.
The thumping resolution of 39 pages was published on Monday after affected business did not close following an order last September.
The report says the bar-restaurants ‘remained open to the public without a proper municipal licence’, even after being ordered to close last year.
“None of the files show the necessary approval from the coastal authority nor regional departments,” the report read.
It alleges that municipal technicians found ‘health risks’ at the business during inspections, such as lacking a fire escape.
Legal battles stem from 2018 when Policia Local in Javea found one of the businesses to not have a licence during an inspection.
Valencia’s regional anti-fraud agency is now asking Javea town hall to ‘finalise’ the cases against the seven bar-restaurants within three months.
Initially Javea’s department for Displicina Urbanistica (urban discipline) said it ‘lacked means’ to shut the business down and suffered from too many cases at once.
Monday’s report rejected the claims, however, and ordered local authorities to order businesses to close.
Javea Company, owner of four of the seven establishments, reportedly began applying for the relevant licences and comply with legal requirements last month.
It is not known what will happen should these licences succeed.
