The legal and tax ramifications of the Canary Islands' real estate and industrial sector are once again shaking the archipelago's legal system. The Third Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas has emphatically upheld the conviction against Cornisa del Suroeste SA (Cornisa), ordering it to immediately pay 2,5 million euros to Hijos de Francisco López Sánchez SA (Lopesan). The ruling, which Maspalomas24H has obtained, was authored by Judge Paloma Bono López and thus brings to a close a complex corporate dispute that had dragged on for over a decade, involving accounting disputes, tax audits, and cross-claims in southern Gran Canaria.
The origin of the financial conflict dates back to the spin-off of the long-established company Lomados SA. Following a tax audit, the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) determined that the three successor companies—Lopesan, Cornisa, and Promotora Urbanística Canaria SL (Promotora)—were jointly and severally liable for a tax debt totaling €5.033.721,87. According to the internal agreements of the three companies, Lopesan and Promotora were jointly responsible for settling 50% of the outstanding amount, while Cornisa was to assume the remaining 50%.
The Gordian knot of the legal dispute arose when Lopesan and Promotora paid their half during the voluntary payment period. Cornisa, on the other hand, chose to appeal the settlement before the Regional Economic-Administrative Court (TEAR) and requested a stay of execution of the debt. Faced with its partner's inaction, and to halt an imminent enforcement action by the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT), which was already demanding more than 3 million euros from Lopesan—including a 20% executive surcharge—the tourism giant paid Cornisa's share on March 4, 2013, to avoid the precautionary seizure of its assets. Since then, Lopesan has launched an aggressive recovery campaign to recoup the funds.
In its appeal, Cornisa argued that Lopesan made a prejudicial and premature payment on a debt that was not yet formally due because it was under appeal, thus depriving it of the payment deferrals offered by the tax authorities. The Provincial Court has flatly rejected this argument. The court clarified that the mere filing of an appeal does not suspend the obligation to pay or halt the accrual of the onerous statutory late payment interest, validating that Lopesan acted in good faith to safeguard its own business assets.
The litigation also concealed some unusual details in a counterclaim where Cornisa accused Lopesan of "emptying" bank accounts and arbitrarily managing joint funds. Specifically, Cornisa demanded the restitution of €645.277,08 withdrawn in February 2012 from a Lomados account at Banco Santander without the joint signature of its authorized representatives. However, the judges dismissed the claim after unearthing old emails from Cornisa's own representative, a senior executive named Santos, who in December 2012 admitted in writing that the €600.000 in transactions corresponded to investments in Canary Islands public debt legally allocated to Lopesan during the corporate split.
The ruling by the Third Section only grants Cornisa minor compensation for the outstanding issues arising from the management of the urbanization project with the Mogán City Council. Lopesan will have to pay €5.863,64 for guarantee expenses and €16.276,92 for the fees of lawyer García Cuyás; while Promotora will assume €2.759,35 and €7.669,89 for the same items, all accruing interest. These minor sums barely mask a multimillion-euro accounting defeat for Cornisa, confirming the validity of recourse actions against evasive taxpayers.
