What changes for guests and residents in Playa Blanca?
The court has not ordered a closure, and there is no date for affected guests. Mayor Óscar Noda said the municipality’s hotel supply is “in no way at risk”.
The Fundación César Manrique warned in the proceedings that the hotel stays open and in full operation. Neither the court nor the town hall has said whether that holds during the works.
Up to a year may pass before work starts, because that is how long the town hall has for the demolition plan. After that, the works get two years at most.
There is no official notice to guests. Anyone booking the Son Bou later should ask the hotel before travelling.
Noda stresses that the case concerns only the Son Bou, not the Hotel Princesa Yaiza. He calls the two hotels independent, but the owner is called Hotel Princesa Yaiza SA, and reports link the two hotels.
Why has the dispute dragged on since 2005?
On 31 October 2005 the TSJC annulled the licence under which the Son Bou was extended. Yaiza had issued its licences in 1998 and 2001, the town hall says.
A council decision of 22 January 2016 declared legalisation impossible and ordered demolition. No digger ever came: according to the court, no demolition has begun to this day.
On 30 October 2019 an administrative court in Las Palmas rejected the owner’s attempt to legalise the hotel. In September 2023 the TSJC gave the mayor one month to explain why the partial demolition had not happened.
Club Lanzarote has demanded enforcement since February 2024, and on 5 March 2025 the Cabildo (island government) asked the TSJC to force the town hall to act. In the new order the court shares the view of Club Lanzarote, the Fundación César Manrique and the Cabildo.
How much of the hotel is to go?
About two thirds of the hotel complex are to go, says Mayor Noda. The rest must remain stable and safe, according to the town hall.
The Fundación César Manrique expects more than 60%, because the excess built area is almost triple what is allowed. The court cites this estimate in its order, but only the technical project will set the exact extent.
The town hall’s proposal of February 2025 counts 55 units with 220 places, where 111 would be allowed. The second floor would disappear, while the lower floor and the tunnel to the Hotel Princesa Yaiza would stay.
Whether the two thirds fit this plan is unclear. The court set longer deadlines than the foundation first proposed, citing the special technical complexity of the demolitions.
Who pays for the demolition?
The owner, Hotel Princesa Yaiza SA, pays, as the court order sets out. The town hall may have to advance the money, Noda explained.
Noda promised: “No resident of Yaiza will have to pay for the demolition.” The town hall first calls on the owner to demolish the building itself, and otherwise it does the work and sends the bill.
Yaiza town hall has published no total. In February 2025 the mayor said the costs could exceed 2 million euros.
The owner bears 300 euros in procedural costs, because the court rejected two of its appeals, which according to the order served to delay the case artificially. On the second, the court speaks of abuse of process and bad faith, and no statement from the company is available.
What is still open and what happens next?
Noda has ordered the building department to start at once. It is to prepare the tender documents for the demolition and the site management.
Noda says the court adopted the deadlines the town hall wanted. Whether the owner will appeal is open, and the town hall is silent on it.
The owner wanted to postpone the demolition until a new zoning plan exists, because the Plan General de Ordenación Supletorio de Yaiza (the area’s general planning scheme) was annulled. The court sees no reason in a possible change to stop a final judgment.
The town hall’s lawyers also examined a possible compensation claim by the owner, which Noda says the order rules out. In July 2025 Greenpeace named four illegal hotels on Lanzarote that remain open, including Son Bou and Princesa Yaiza.