Jorge Hinojosa
GREEN groups have joined the Junta to appeal the construction of a €120 million mega-project in one of Andalucia’s most fragile protected spaces.
Ecologistas en Accion have slammed the ‘crazy’ decision to allow nearly 300 buildings to go up inside the only coastal part of the Los Alcornocales Natural Park, near Sotogrande.
It comes after a Supreme Court ruling permitted giant olive oil conglomerate Carbonell y Figueras to develop a tourist project in the protected zone of the Campo de Gibraltar.
In total, the pair can now build 263 bungalows and six hostels over 330 hectares of parkland, home to dozens of protected species, that reaches down to the sea.
Environmentalists insist that all activity, including cultivation, is strictly banned inside the park to prevent any alteration of its ecosystem.
And the Andalucia Supreme Court agreed, when in 2021, it denied permission to the builders of the Borondo area, that sits between Alcaidesa and Sotogrande.
The scheme, which developers say will create up to 600 jobs, sits in an unrivalled area between the A7 motorway and Playa del Guadalquiton with amazing sea views.
Describing it as a ‘green gem’ Borondo developer Joan Cruz insists only 1,5% of the 330 hectares of land owned by the olive oil giant will be built on.
“The coastal area will be protected and will allow the movement of any wild animal into the Alcornocales park,” he claimed.
He added that the developers had travelled the world to visit similar schemes inside national parks in Tanzania, Canada and Ecuador.
The company still needs several permissions to start building – and it could take approximately three years to start the construction.
In the meantime, green group Ecologistas is joining the Junta in appealing the decision to the European Court.
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