Laurence Dollimore
THOUSANDS of locals and expats have mobilised against plans to build a luxury hotel in the heart of a protected natural park in Andalucia.
Developers are set to construct a four-star resort close to the ‘untouched’ beach of Los Genoveses in the stunning Cabo de Gata nature reserve in Almeria (site circled in graphic above).
It is one of the final few stretches of Spain’s Mediterranean coast that has not been built on.
The firm Torres y Gonzalez Diaz wants to turn abandoned Las Chiqueras estate – formerly a pig farm – into a 30-room hotel with 70 parking spaces.
The exclusive retreat will count on multiple swimming pools and stunning unspoilt views of the beach, often voted one of Spain’s finest.
The firm, which owns numerous hotels, has been fighting environmentalists to get its plans approved since 2016.
Now, alarmingly, thanks to a new right-wing coalition of Vox and the PP in the local town hall of Nijar, which administers the park, they are one step closer.
It comes after the mayor, Jose Garrido, announced in July he will allow construction on the rustic land.
He was backed by the PP-run Junta last year which somehow gave environmental authorisation for the project.
A similar nearby project, the Algarrobico hotel, also built on a virgin beach in Cabo de Gata has been mired in 20 years of controversy after it was ordered to be demolished for breaking numerous laws.
The latest decisions have sparked outrage among locals, who gathered in their thousands at the weekend.
The Genoveses Sin Hotel group organised a march on the Almeria seafront, with supporters unfurling banners and chanting slogans.
Meanwhile, a total of 4,000 people have lodged official individual complaints with the town hall. And 260,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the project be stopped.
“It is still possible to stop it, but for that to happen we have to mobilise,” said Celine Feutry, president of the platform, to El Pais.
“There is no social or economic benefit for the locals, the interest is merely private and for a company that already owns many other hotels in the area.”
Despite this, Enrique Ruiz, from the Friends of Cabo de Gata-Nijar Park association, said the planned hotel was being declared ‘of economic and social interest’ to get the green light.
“But they must also prove job creation, sustainability and other positive impacts on the environment and economy,” he explained.
Feutry warned the council that ‘we will go to court’ if the project gets the go ahead.
She said the area of the proposed hotel is only allowed to be used for agriculture, adding: “If the council authorises it, a dangerous precedent will be created because it would give the owners of all the farms in the area the green light to build accommodation.”
The Olive Press has previously campaigned for protection in the area, with a campaign against the Algarrobico hotel – which we dubbed ‘El Horrible’ – and also to urgently protect the chapel Cortijo del Fraile, which is where celebrated writer Gabriel Garcia Lorca set his famous book Blood Wedding.
