Saved from the disco by the bell

[Jultxxxyes]

An old 1989 contract has given a victory to residents of the Salamanca district in Madrid against a leisure entrepreneur who wants to open a business in the neighborhood yard

 

In 1989, long before the Goya neighborhood in Madrid became an area of bars and parties around the WiZink Center, a community of neighbors was careful to protect themselves so that they did not install a disco in their inner courtyard. Room X had just closed in the basement of the building, on Calle del Berro Street 29, and the neighbors feared that Chinese businessman Cheng Xiao Tong would use the huge underground space for a nightclub. That's why they agreed with him in writing that he would only open a restaurant there. Thirty-one years later that old yellowed document is your best protection against Eugenio Gurumeta, a leisure entrepreneur who smelled the opportunity to open a business next to the fourth world concert venue in number of tickets.
A sentence of the Provincial Court of Madrid consulted by this newspaper gave the reason two weeks ago to the neighbors, a relief for them because in parallel and since 2017 they maintain a battle before the City Council so that it does not grant the license to Gurumeta.

“He has given us vidilla because we saw him blacker than the fish,” says José María López Moya, a 58-year-old neighbor who has lived in the building since 1971. Some second-generation residents like him thank their parents for being so farsighted The neighbors of the other six-story buildings that overlook the common courtyard also breathe in relief.

 

In the 80s, the residents of Fuente del Berro 29 saw with disgust that their bass houses a cinema that broadcast movies such as Vice on Planet Eros or hot sex schoolgirls. The porn had replaced the Hollywood hits of the old cinema Felipe II, but at least the clientele made no noise. They entered discreetly, many sneaking.

Worse was the fight that was coming. The Chinese businessman, who took over the premises in July 1989, started underground works to adapt the old cinema. He designed a large space with three floors and 1,304 square meters. It was ideal for a disco, the neighbors thought.

To heal in health, on November 21, 1989 the 12 owners met, including Cheng. They agreed that, in exchange for validating the works done by him behind the back of the community, he would only open a restaurant. These pacts that limit the right of property to protect the community are common, according to Immaculate Vivas Tesón, professor of Civil Law at the University of Seville. Although the City Council hypothetically gave a disco license to Gurumeta, neighborhood agreements prevail. "For example, a community of owners can prevent a neighbor from having a potentially dangerous dog at home, even if he has all the licenses in order," says Vivas Tesón.

The neighbors of Calle del Berro 29, almost all retired or about to retire, keep the document typed, already yellowed, in a piece of furniture in their meeting room. He was not registered in the Property Registry but the magistrates of the Thirteenth Section of the Provincial Court of Madrid have said that it was not necessary in this case, since the owner of the premises remains the same, Cheng. The businessman who rented it, Gurumeta, was diligently notified. When he contacted the neighbors in January 2017 to inform them of their negotiations to rent the premises, they quickly informed him by burofax that the only possible exploitation was that of a restaurant.

Breakfasts with jazz
Gurumeta says he won't give his arm to twist. He will resort to the Supreme Court and says that in case of losing he does not rule out opening a restaurant, as the 1989 agreement allows, but he adds, that it would be a "restaurant with shows", a type of activity cataloged with that name in the Madrid norms and which he said would fit into that pact.

 

Gurumeta, 59, is in charge of Tropos, an agency with 25 years of experience in which they have organized more than 5,000 shows and more than 2,000 events, according to their website. After signing the rental with Cheng, he wasted no time to announce on the Internet the local future, the Tropos Space. On the web hung the plans of the space, with capacity for 800 people in four rooms (Kamaloo, Lemur, Chrysalis and Octopussy). The neighbors had no doubt that the businessman sought to capture the public of the WiZink Center when the concerts ended after midnight. The venue with capacity for 17,453 spectators celebrates events and concerts almost half the day of the year: 164 in 2019, among them Rosalia, Juan Luis Guerra or Daddy Yankee.

He denies it. He says he has changed plans and what he really has in mind is to celebrate company meals. "I want, for example, to give breakfast to an elevator company," he tells this newspaper. "Obviously when you have a cocktail you want to have ambient music, maybe a little jazz band ...".

The neighbors are concerned that the City Council seems more favorable to the interests of Gurumeta since the team of José Luis Martínez-Almeida arrived. Gurumeta applied for an unsuccessful license to the Activity Agency six times in 2017 and 2018. They were quickly denied. But now, the request he sent in March 2019, is still under study and has a favorable report from the Town Planning technicians. In this last attempt, Gurumeta requests a license for an “auditorium with associated bar / restaurant”, a term that scares the neighbors. Too much they already have with the noise of the WiZink that, they say, makes the pictures on their walls tremble.

Gurumeta remains confident that he will get away with it. He defines himself as "a man full of plans that are usually fulfilled." Just in case, the neighbors have not removed from their facades the banners against the party room of their nightmares.

WON BATTLE?
The defeated businessman, Gurumeta, says he will appeal to the Supreme Court the ruling of the Provincial Court of January 26 but his options are limited. He could exercise the appeal, but the Supreme Court has said that this is not an excuse to access a third judicial instance. It would only be admissible if it fits one of the few assumptions, such as that Gurumeta shows that there is contradictory jurisprudence of the Provincial Hearings on cases like his.

If the appeal were admitted, the lawsuit could last several years. In the meantime, neighbors can ask that the party room not be opened.