Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
Eugenio Cabezas
Monday, 25 November 2024, 14:38
The Vega de Almayate, along with La Vega de Maro on the eastern stretch of the Costa del Sol, is one of the largest extensions of coastal land in Malaga province that remains undeveloped. In the case of Nerja, it is a strip of some 250 hectares of protected agricultural land located on cliffs that reach up to 60 metres above the sea. The land between the west of Torre del Mar and the neighbouring village of Almayate is an area of some 210 hectares of agricultural land, right on the coast.
In both cases, the land has been owned by the Sociedad Azucarera Larios S.L. for more than a century and was used for the cultivation of sugar cane. In recent decades the sugar cane has been replaced by vegetables and subtropical crops, as well as some housing. For several years the company has been trying to get the land in both areas reclassified in order to build around 1,800 homes, of which 1,221 would be on the plain next to the lower course of the River Vélez and another 596 to the north of the old N-340 in Nerja, in the area surrounding the San Joaquín and Santa Ana sugar factory.
For the Vélez project the Junta de Andalucía has decided to add the possibility of developing a marina in the area around the mouth of the river, which would be the third of its kind in the Axarquía. The regional government has opened a period of public consultation to inform people about two amendments to the Plan de Ordenación del Territorio de la Axarquía (POTAX), 2006, to develop the land in question.
This third marina would be added to the one planned in the POTAX in the Calaceite area of Torrox Costa, which would mean that Axarquía would go from having just one marina in Caleta de Vélez, which is a fishing port but also has some 280 moorings for private boats, to three. According to the order published by the Junta de Andalucía, this double modification of the plan “is intended to solve two problems.”
Firstly, “to regulate in a homogeneous way the territorial compatibility of the nautical-sports facilities in all the areas of tourist revitalisation supported by the coast, with the aim of making it possible for all of them to have the possibility of implementing nautical-sports facilities in their area within the limits of relevant sector's laws.”
On the other hand, the partial modification of the POTAX proposes “A new regulation for rural tourist accommodation to ensure it can be established in inland municipalities without harming the existing urban planning model.”
The Junta de Andalucía considers it “appropriate to determine as a feasibility area for the implementation of nautical-sports facilities on the coast directly linked to the tourist revitalisation areas proposed by the plan, which means modifying the development plan to incorporate the coastline corresponding to the tourist revitalisation area “Delta del río Vélez.”
Also, according to the order, which has been published for public consultation and for the presentation of feedback, it is considered “appropriate to modify articles 47 and 48 of the regulations in a manner consistent with the objectives set out in the management report to promote the implementation of rural tourist accommodation in inland municipalities without stressing the environments of the population centres.”
Axarquía-based environmental association, Gabinete de Estudios de la Naturaleza (GENA) - Ecologists in Action, have said that it “is no coincidence that this decision has coincided with the course, not yet concluded, of the approval process of the urban development project of Salsa Inmobiliaria, of the Larios group, in the western area of the Vélez River Delta, taking advantage of its delimitation as an Area of Tourist Opportunity in the POT of the Axarquía."
According to the group's spokesman, biologist Rafael Yus, “article 76 of the POT prohibits the construction of marinas outside the areas delimited in the planning map, where only La Caleta port appears.”
“Regardless of the possible appeals that this association reserves for further litigation, we accuse the Junta de Andalucía of changing regulations to favour urban development projects, as a deplorable example of ‘urbanism à la carte’ legislation that should not exist in a state of law,” he said. Yus warned that the River Vélez delta “is a geo-resource, it is in a state of serious regression and with climate change it would invade a lot of land inland.”
The River Vélez burst its banks during the heavy rains caused by the Dana on Wednesday 13 November, which discharged up to 268mm of water in just eight hours in Comares. On the left bank, towards Torre del Mar, a flood control system was put in place to prevent flooding, which worked correctly. On the right bank, towards Almayate, these breakwaters have not yet been installed to protect against the risk of flooding and around 1,000 people were evacuated from homes and campsites in the area as a precaution.
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Necesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.