The Siam Park project in El Veril cannot catch a break. After the Supreme Court annulled the original plan, after the environmental complaint by Turcon and after eleven years of delays, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has now submitted an official report — setting clear conditions for the planned hotel. The message: if it is to be built at all, only under the strictest requirements.

What the Cabildo Demands

The Department of Territorial Policy (Consejería de Política Territorial) of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria has issued its report on the new PMM (Plan de Modernización, Mejora e Incremento de la Competitividad) for El Veril. The PMM is the urban planning instrument that must be in place before the Siam Park can be built — and it is currently being processed by the Canary Islands regional government.

The Cabildo's key demands:

Terraced and landscape-integrated. The hotel cannot be built as a monolithic block. The Cabildo requires a stepped design (escalonado) and integration into the surrounding landscape (mimetizado). Anyone who knows the location — between the GC-1 motorway and the GC-500 coastal road, at the entrance to Playa del Inglés — knows how visible any building there would be.

Five-star gran lujo only. The plot partly falls within one of the island's seven new "tourist territorial units." In these areas, the Island Plan permits only hotels of the highest category: five-star gran lujo. Not a standard five-star. Not a four-star. Only the top tier.

Maximum 25 beds per hectare. The density limit is strict. For a plot of nearly 184,000 square metres (18.4 hectares), this means a theoretical maximum of 460 beds. The project currently envisages 300 beds — that fits, but leaves virtually no room for future expansion.

Extreme environmental measures. The Cabildo uses the phrase "extremar las medidas ambientales." This is not standard language. It is an explicit warning: environmental compatibility will be the central test.

Why This Matters

The Cabildo's report is not a veto. The Cabildo cannot block the PMM — that competence rests with the Canary Islands regional government. But the report sets a framework that makes the project more expensive, more complex and more demanding.

A five-star gran lujo hotel is an entirely different proposition from a conventional resort hotel. Construction costs are higher, operating costs are higher, the target market is smaller. For the Kiessling family, which already estimates the total investment at 160 million euros and is claiming 122.3 million euros in damages from three administrations, this is yet another cost factor in a project that has not seen a single spade in the ground since 2014.

The History of Delays

For those who have lost track — a summary:

2014–2015: The first PMM for El Veril is approved by the Canary Islands government. Siam Park is planned on a plot of nearly 184,000 m² at the entrance to Playa del Inglés: water park plus 300-bed hotel.

2016: Construction was supposed to begin. Nothing happened.

2022: The Supreme Court annuls the PMM — because it lacked a mandatory report from the Island Water Council (Consejo Insular de Aguas) on water resources. A procedural defect, but a fatal one.

2023: Loro Parque claims 122.3 million euros in damages from the municipality, Cabildo and regional government. The Cabildo rejects the claim, supported by an opinion from the Consejo Consultivo.

2024: San Bartolomé de Tirajana municipality unanimously approves restarting the PMM process. Gesplan confirms: the land remains zoned for development.

February 2026: The municipality submits a new environmental report to the regional government.

March 2026: Turcon-Ecologistas files a complaint with the Finance Ministry — alleging possible use of state-owned land.

April 2026: The Cabildo submits its report with strict conditions for the hotel.

Eleven years. Three levels of government. A Supreme Court ruling. Dozens of reports. And still not a single spadeful of earth.

What Happens Next

The Canary Islands government must now issue the Strategic Environmental Declaration and approve the new PMM. Only then can the municipality grant a building licence. The Cabildo's report feeds into that process — not as a veto, but as a weighty framework.

Whether the Siam Park will ever be built, nobody knows today. What is certain: with each new report, each new condition and each further year, the project becomes more expensive, more complex and more politically charged.

We reported in March on the Turcon complaint and the history of delays. This article is an update.

→ Siam Park Gran Canaria: New Complaint Stalls Project (March 2026)