The scheme to bring some sort of order to the burgeoning urban development on the Western Costa del Sol is finally in place. On Wednesday in Seville the head of the regional Department of Public Works and Transport, Concepción Gutiérrez, revealed the details of a plan in which vast tracts of land both on the seashore and inland between Fuengirola and Manilva will be frozen in order to be able to guarantee the utilities and infrastructure considered essential for a population of 1.7 million. This is the anticipated figure for Costa del Sol inhabitants by the year 2015. The future needs of the area are based on the assumption that the population of the municipalities affected will go up to double the current number, estimated to be over 800,000.
The new scheme will be published in the Andalusian Official Gazette in the middle of this month, and the freezing of the land, excluding its use by private initiatives, will take effect from that date onwards.
Moreover, from the date of publication, there will be a period of two months during which the general public can make comments, suggestions and complaints. Today, Friday, a meeting is being held with the mayors of the municipalities affected to discuss the scheme, drawn up by the company José Segui Asociados.
The aim of this overall scheme is to be one step ahead of the new town master plans which are currently being drawn up in all the coastal municipalities, and guarantee the competence of the Junta on the Costa del Sol.
The analysis by the company in charge of drawing up the plan confirms that the area is beginning to have a more stable homogeneous population throughout the year, without the huge peaks in numbers in the tourist high season that were a feature of the past. The growth in the population at certain times is no longer so dependent on tourists but more on the permanent resident foreign population. The need for the work stipulated in the scheme is considered urgent, therefore, to ensure that this coast continues to be an up-market residential area.
The predicted population is based on a series of factors among which is an influx of immigrants from other European countries, due to the retirement age being lowered to 55 in several countries in the EU, and the tremendous increase in the number of flights to the coast. This has led to the situation in some areas, such as Mijas, whereby a considerable number of people of working age fly back to their home countries on Monday mornings to go to work and come back to their home on the Costa del Sol on Thursday evenings. The scheme also stresses the influence that the AVE high-speed train will have on the Costa del Sol as it will, in all likelihood, bring an influx of people from Madrid who will head south instead of making for the Levante region.
The Urban Plan for the Western Costa del Sol includes certain new measures to make the most of what is considered an opportunity to establish a high quality tourist area. The coast will be considered as one vast “megacity” which will need certain utilities and infrastructure 365 days a year. But this includes setting aside the land that is still untouched in order to create strips with, possibly, a dozen beach parks, such as at Las Dunas de Artola in Cabopino in Marbella. It also envisages duplicating the protected land in the mountains from Manilva to Fuengirola. This will encourage up-market tourism, enticed by the natural environment in the background.
Different beaches
The current aspect of the beaches is to be changed radically. On the 70 kilometres of coastline that run from Manilva to Fuengirola the plan is to create ten or 12 huge parks to provide a new way of enjoying the essential elements of the coast - the sun and the beach.
The dunes known as Las Dunas de Artola at Cabopino will become a point of reference, with an oasis of leisure facilities near the sea.
Although the aim of these parks will be to provide enjoyment of the beach, others will be linked to health and tourism, with the construction of spas. Other aims include boosting the area as a centre for water and nautical sports. The number of moorings in the pleasure ports will, therefore, be stepped up.
Measures
Seashore: The Junta is freezing the vacant land to create a series of parks, with Las Dunas de Artola at Cabopino as the point of reference. Spas will also be built.
Inland: The area of land protected will be doubled to guarantee sustainable development and to step up environmental protection.
Railway strip: State-financed housing will be built near stations and at new focal points in built-up areas.
