05-06-2023, 08:06 PM
Noticias:
La Oliva will have to pay 200,000 euros for the death of a person on one of its beaches.
The Events occurred on the beach of Tebeto in Holy Week 2018
According to Cadena Ser, "the Chamber of Administrative Litigation number one of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria condemned the City Council of La Oliva (Fuerteventura) to compensate with more than 200,000 euros to the family of a man who died four years ago when he tried to rescue a woman on a beach that lacked rescue and surveillance service. "
"The Events occurred at Easter 2018 when Arturo Fontán went to check the state of the beach after leaving his son. At one point he saw how a swimmer was in serious trouble to leave the beach of Tebeto. He did not hesitate to throw himself into the sea to try to rescue her," explains Cadena Ser.
"The girl managed to escape the waves, however, the man who tried on several occasions to reach the shore, could not, and drowned shortly after arriving thirty-five minutes later the emergency services," they explain.
According to the sentence to which SER Las Palmas has had access, there was no signage that warned of the danger of the beach, it lacked a red flag, and it did not have surveillance, despite the fact that it was included in the catalog of beaches of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Dismissed at first instance
In the first instance, the family's lawsuit was dismissed, in a ruling in which the majorero consistory alleged that it was not a tourist beach and that it was isolated from urban centers. He assured that the deceased had been living for 18 years in Fuerteventura, knew the beach to which he went frequently and was a sailor, when his profession was a builder.
However, the appeal presented by the family to the contentious-administrative court of the capital of Gran Canaria now agrees with the plaintiffs in considering that if the means of surveillance and signaling had been put on the dangerousness of the beach, Arturo's life could have been saved.
In the legal grounds, the judicial order points out that "Arturo did not enter the water to take a bath, but did so to help a person who was experiencing difficulties in the sea, a fact from which it is already clear that the situation was dangerous, despite this, in an altruistic action, In order to save the life of another person, he took the risk of entering the sea to try to rescue the bather."
A decree that does not exempt
In its defense, the consistory argued that the deadline given by the administrations to approve the rescue plans of the beaches were postponed but this decree, according to the judicial order, did not leave the Administration without responsibility for any fact that could occur within its term, that is, it did not exempt the administration from its responsibility and obligation "in vigilando". In fact, Vanessa Ramírez, the family's lawyer, argues that this decree does not exonerate the City Council from its patrimonial responsibility because "it must act as a good father of a family with the diligence of a good father of a family when it comes to protecting beach users."
The sentence, a pioneer in Spain, condemns the City Council of La Oliva and the insurance company Mapfre to compensate the woman and her son to about 200,000 euros, another 600 for psychologist expenses and another 42,000 euros to the father of the deceased. The ruling, which can be appealed before the Supreme Court, is a pioneer in Spain and strengthens the need for the country's beaches to have means and signage that avoid endangering bathers.
La Oliva will have to pay 200,000 euros for the death of a person on one of its beaches.
The Events occurred on the beach of Tebeto in Holy Week 2018
According to Cadena Ser, "the Chamber of Administrative Litigation number one of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria condemned the City Council of La Oliva (Fuerteventura) to compensate with more than 200,000 euros to the family of a man who died four years ago when he tried to rescue a woman on a beach that lacked rescue and surveillance service. "
"The Events occurred at Easter 2018 when Arturo Fontán went to check the state of the beach after leaving his son. At one point he saw how a swimmer was in serious trouble to leave the beach of Tebeto. He did not hesitate to throw himself into the sea to try to rescue her," explains Cadena Ser.
"The girl managed to escape the waves, however, the man who tried on several occasions to reach the shore, could not, and drowned shortly after arriving thirty-five minutes later the emergency services," they explain.
According to the sentence to which SER Las Palmas has had access, there was no signage that warned of the danger of the beach, it lacked a red flag, and it did not have surveillance, despite the fact that it was included in the catalog of beaches of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Dismissed at first instance
In the first instance, the family's lawsuit was dismissed, in a ruling in which the majorero consistory alleged that it was not a tourist beach and that it was isolated from urban centers. He assured that the deceased had been living for 18 years in Fuerteventura, knew the beach to which he went frequently and was a sailor, when his profession was a builder.
However, the appeal presented by the family to the contentious-administrative court of the capital of Gran Canaria now agrees with the plaintiffs in considering that if the means of surveillance and signaling had been put on the dangerousness of the beach, Arturo's life could have been saved.
In the legal grounds, the judicial order points out that "Arturo did not enter the water to take a bath, but did so to help a person who was experiencing difficulties in the sea, a fact from which it is already clear that the situation was dangerous, despite this, in an altruistic action, In order to save the life of another person, he took the risk of entering the sea to try to rescue the bather."
A decree that does not exempt
In its defense, the consistory argued that the deadline given by the administrations to approve the rescue plans of the beaches were postponed but this decree, according to the judicial order, did not leave the Administration without responsibility for any fact that could occur within its term, that is, it did not exempt the administration from its responsibility and obligation "in vigilando". In fact, Vanessa Ramírez, the family's lawyer, argues that this decree does not exonerate the City Council from its patrimonial responsibility because "it must act as a good father of a family with the diligence of a good father of a family when it comes to protecting beach users."
The sentence, a pioneer in Spain, condemns the City Council of La Oliva and the insurance company Mapfre to compensate the woman and her son to about 200,000 euros, another 600 for psychologist expenses and another 42,000 euros to the father of the deceased. The ruling, which can be appealed before the Supreme Court, is a pioneer in Spain and strengthens the need for the country's beaches to have means and signage that avoid endangering bathers.