The Orihuela Local Police and the Seprona the Civil Guard have forcibly arrested Kimberly and Love Wesenauer of the Finca Langostina on Monday as they tried to defend what they consider to be their land, in the face of the judicial rulings that say otherwise.
The order was signed by Judge Francisca Isabel Fernández Zapata, head of the Court of First Instance No. 4 of Orihuela, when sending the judicial commission to supervise the handing over of the land to the builders of the new estate.
The young women were arrested as they opposed the forced eviction of a section of the 200-year-old estate that has been surrounded by new tourist housing in the last twenty years.
In an atmosphere of great tension and screams, the owner, Gabriele Wesenauer, with her husband, was also held by the agents after she had collapsed to the ground.
Two of the daughters were eventually arrested, handcuffed and forcibly placed in a police vehicle prior to their transfer to the Civil Guard barracks of Torre de la Horadada.
Also at the scene was the builder and businessman from Molins (Orihuela) Victor Gálvez, one of the Directors of Lideralis Empresarial in Desarrollo SL, a company that regularly changes its trading name according to the circumstances.
The Wesenauer had made a new proposal to stop the topographical survey by presenting a letter, supported by an expert report, because the works with heavy machinery are being carried out next to an old stable where there are several pairs of nesting swallows.
This request for the adoption of the measures by the court has been submitted to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office in Alicante.
Numerous media outlets gathered in the house along with many people who have supported the family in the struggle they have maintained to defend this traditional estate in the last twenty years.
In 2020 Orihuela council promised to promote the protection of the house as being of Special Cultural Interest. It was endorsed by a report from the municipal architect himself, which could have resulted in the paralysis of the construction of the houses.
Both the then Mayor Emilio Bascuñana and the current mayor Pepe Vegara have failed to fulfil that commitment. However the Council has since approved the builder in his right to act, since otherwise it would mean that the municipality would have to compensate the firm for their losses.
On Monday, Friends of Sierra Escalona (ASE) issued a statement of support to the family that owns the house in its demands. They said that this is one of the few “traditional constructions that have survived the avalanche of tourist urbanizations that have invaded much of the Campoamor Dehesa in Orihuela Costa.”
None of this has invoked any sympathy from the Local Police agents, who finally detained the two sisters. According to police sources, they are accused of disobedience for trying to hinder the execution of a sentence and also of attacking authority with their minor struggles with uniformed officials.
