Paisajes de Asturias, a company specialized in the acquisition and restoration of unique palaces and buildings, is already the owner of the Torre dos Moreno de Ribadeo, an icon of Indian architecture, a property declared an asset of cultural interest (BIC). Landscapes of Asturias, which was already the majority owner (it owned 60%), has taken over another 21% that belonged to the Council. The Ribadense mayor, Fernando Suárez, revealed that the contract has been signed before a notary public by which Paisajes de Asturias must deliver in exchange to the City Council a building, already restored and within a maximum period of two years, which is located in the vicinity of the tower and that will be dedicated to the justice of the peace.
The remaining 19% of the property is not known to whom it belongs, probably to owners residing in South America. In fact, from time to time there are those who try to claim the property from the Council, but they all give up because they cannot prove it or when they know the charges they should face.
Because that is the great problem that the Torre dos Moreno presents at the moment; the pressing need for intervention to prevent it from falling apart. In the last twenty years various actions have been undertaken, some financed by the Xunta, to prevent the collapse of the building, but its deterioration is progressing, being in a state of ruin and constituting a serious risk for the people who walk around.
A study by the City Council in 2015 estimated the amount that would need to be invested at five million euros, far from the financial possibilities of the City Council, which opted for this exchange, which will allow the restoration of the property. There is no doubt about Paisajes de Asturias, which in other nearby palaces, such as Trenor or the Donlebún towers, in the neighboring Asturian municipality of Castropol, has shown an exquisite taste in refurbishment. In any case, the City Council is now in a position to force Paisajes de Asturias to undertake the restoration, as it has been doing for a decade with other owners of properties in the old town in poor condition.
What is unknown at this point is what purpose will be given to the Torre dos Moreno. There is a widespread conviction that it will be a hotel, since Paisajes de Asturias acquired another nearby property, the old Ribadeo cinema, which it has restored as a parking lot and multipurpose room, which would be the ideal complement to a hotel establishment.
In any case, Fernando Suárez recalls that the Torre dos Moreno, beyond the activities that the legitimate owners want to develop, as BIC that it is, is subject to the obligations that the law establishes for this type of property, in relation to visits and opening hours to the public. And he adds that with this operation, the Torre dos Moreno will be able to recover all the splendor it had when it was built as a rental house in 1915, designed by the Argentine architect, a disciple of Gaudí, Julián García Núñez.
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