Steering group set up to decide future of Costa del Sol town

The revitalisation of the historic centre of Vélez-Málaga on the eastern Costa del Sol has been one of the great unresolved issues for several decades. In the last local election campaign, in May 2023, it was one of the main promises of all the electoral programmes of the parties that contested the elections.

Now the coalition group in power at the town hall has announced it has taken "a decisive step forward for the progress of our historic centre through dialogue and social consensus".

The town hall has set up a steering group with a view to "involving the different economic, social and cultural agents and the citizens themselves in the different processes of renovation and improvement of the municipality in the different segments of municipal projection".

Mayor of Vélez-Málaga, Jesús Lupiáñez, announced on Wednesday 2 July the constitution of a "steering group for the historic centre, an entity that will bring together the different sectors of Vélez society for coordination in decision-making that will contribute to the promotion of new proposals for the town".

He added that "the first contact has already taken place, in the town hall, to define the foundations and the main lines of the coordinated project".

The Ciedes Foundation, Centre for Strategic Research and Economic and Social Development which "has great experience in Malaga, with more than 30 years working in the province and playing a key role in the current urban planning of the capital city of the Costa del Sol", will be involved according to Lupiáñez.

Lupiáñez revealed that this steering group will also include "17 key agents from different areas of our society, including architects, business leaders, representatives of the Holy Week brotherhoods, the educational sector, artists and other social and professional groups".