We talked about this yesterday, one of the main concerns after the DANA flood two weeks ago was around the difficulty of resetting and starting over. This includes “everything,” starting with roads and infrastructure; without them it is impossible for this “reset” to reactivate the economy and transport in the Valencian Community. Meanwhile, the number of those affected is in the thousands and the complaints are piling up. Among them is the aristocracy in the figure of Juan Carlos I’s cousin.

Letter. As reported by Diario.es, in the midst of the liberation of the village of Requena following the devastation caused by DANA, a controversy broke out due to the refusal of a company owned by the cousin of King Emeritus Juan Carlos I to give permission to neighbors. to pass through their territory. The company in question, Borcier SA, of which María de Borbón y de Rojas and her husband Ramón José de la Cierva are a part, sent a letter to various authorities requesting that access to their farms be restricted, citing potential damages and risks of civil liability.

“We do not understand this insistence on having two public roads over our property and we are not responsible for repairing the road destroyed by DANA,” the company said in its published letter.

Area of ​​disagreement. Apparently the company of Juan Carlos I’s cousin owns a private hunting reserve of approximately 2,000 hectares in one of the areas most affected by the DANA disaster. The letter therefore specifically requests that those affected and neighbors in a village in Requena be banned from crossing the property road. To give us an idea of ​​the size of the land, its width is comparable to more than 2,700 football fields.

What’s the problem? The collapse of the bridge on the CV-395 highway caused the village of Reatillo to be virtually cut off. Although the Civil Guard offered to evacuate a small number of residents by helicopter, the mostly elderly villagers chose to stay in their homes. Certainly, the scenic route into the town passed through Borcier SA’s land, causing tensions when neighbors tried to use the road.

Arguments and claims. The letter signed by Ramón José de la Cierva states that there are alternative routes and that repairing the damaged bridge is not their responsibility. Although he officially refused, in a later meeting De la Cierva stated that he would “look the other way” if the neighbors crossed his property due to the exceptional situation; After the letter was sent, there was a change of heart and it maintained a rather harsh tone. , requests that his opposition to the use of his property be formalized.

It is between rights and needs. This case sparked a debate about the intersection between private property rights and public access needs, especially in emergencies that occur in the Valencian Community, as it cannot be otherwise. While homeowners highlight the risk of damage to their land and a possible “illegal route”, neighbors are defending their right to safe access to their homes in the face of a similar disaster.

Family business. Besides their interests in Borcier SA, María de Borbón and Ramón José de la Cierva own an extensive network of businesses and properties throughout Spain. In addition to being part of a complex rural context dominated by private land and infrastructure limitations, the village of Reatillo also has historical value as a refuge in the post-war period.

In the case of Emeritus’s cousin, as El Plural newspaper points out, María de Borbón is a Spanish aristocrat and businesswoman known for her role in the management of vast agricultural estates and family businesses. As a marquis and a descendant of the nobility, she is a representative of Borcier SA and participates in various companies with her husband. In addition to its commercial activity, it is affiliated with the Cultural Foundation of the Spanish Nobility, “thus reflecting Spain’s participation in the cultural and nobility sphere.”

Image | İNESE SPS

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