- The Diputación Foral de Álava has started a study in the area of the Marqués de Foronda Palace to resolve the demolition of a protected building on the plot for the construction of a macro-residence.
This has been announced by El Correo, which states that a building with a “special rehabilitation and renovation regime” has been demolished in its entirety to build a nursing home and a gastronomic school in a land owned by Promos Murgoitio in Gonzalo Antón. Gonzalo Anton is an entrepreneur and was president of Deportivo Alavés.
The demolished building is not a manor house, but another existing building on this plot. In 2019 it ceased to be owned by the Council for EUR 1.2 million and the Algerian businessman plans to invest EUR 24 million.
The building was a supplementary building of the main palace. The City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz informs the Council that the building is included as an element to be protected in the catalogue of the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU) with a special rehabilitation and renovation scheme. The building’s protection regime forced the façade and the ‘basic volumetry’, which was demolished in 2020.
This constitutes a ‘very serious’ infringement under the Basque Cultural Heritage Act. The law provides for fines of up to EUR 1 million and, furthermore, says that those responsible will have to ‘rebuild, where possible’.
Construction of a private residence with capacity for 200 or 300 people on the ground. It will be the largest private residence in Álava.