Malaga drags on planning process for construction of 700 homes in Churriana district

These are the El Coronel and El Higueral projects. Their planning applications were submitted in 2014 and 2018, respectively.

The processing of these two projects is taking so long that the environmental permits their developers obtained from the regional government (Junta) have now expired. Such authorisations expire after four years and, as extensions cannot be granted in these cases, the applications must be resubmitted.

The two projects are undergoing new environmental assessment procedures at the regional ministry of sustainability and the environment.

The El Coronel residential development is situated on a site of 260,346 square metres, located north of Camino del Pilar and the Rojas-Santa Tecla area, where a large-scale housing development comprising 2,847 homes is planned, with construction likely to begin in the coming months, following the lifting of the planning hold this past spring.

According to the latest available figures, there will be 523 homes in El Coronel, of which 182 will be social housing. In addition, 24 existing houses in the area will be retained. Of the 500 or so new homes, half (265) will be terraced houses. The project includes 6,424-square-metre plot for commercial use.

However, the processing of this project has been subject to an excessively lengthy administrative process. Its development plan was initially approved in 2015 and was subjected to an environmental assessment by the regional government, which raised objections to the proposed plans, as it called for certain "habitats of regional interest" within the area to be protected. The developers provided an analysis of these habitats and the Junta gave the green light to the proposed development in 2023.

Since then, there has been a series of technical reports on the project, which has caused delays. At the end of 2024, a new design drawn up by the architectural practice HCP was submitted. The urban planning and transport departments have requested that the traffic study be reviewed and updated.

The El Higueral development covers an area of 103,856 square metres between the Camino de la Sierra and the Coín road. Planning procedures for this project comprising 135 terraced houses in the foothills of the Sierra de Churriana began eight years ago. It received initial approval from the local council in June last year.

The more than 100 planned semi-detached houses will be set among two large green spaces, one of which will house the wellhead of the Fuente del Rey spring (an 18th-century protected building, considered a site of cultural interest).

This important archaeological feature led the Junta's regional ministry of culture to raise objections and request that the developers carry out a surface archaeological survey and test pits across the entire area in order to "verify the presence of any infrastructure related to the collection of water supplying the main reservoir" of this ancient water transport system.

Furthermore, the regional ministry of culture believes that the construction of a road to serve the residential development will impact the site.

The El Higueral development includes a plot of 1,601 square metres for commercial use, another of 5,845 square metres for a school, one of 467 square metres for community facilities and a total of 45,120 square metres of green spaces. The Junta has asked developers to plant native species representative of the local flora, rather than exotic ones.

The developers also carried out an aeronautical study to overcome the height restrictions initially set by the civil aviation authority, which issued a favourable report on the project in 2023. However, the permission had to be ratified following the latest amendments made to the plot layout.

To improve road links to this new housing development, its developers have proposed building a road that would cross some land to the north and connect this part of El Higueral to the Coín road via a roundabout.

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