Malaga to build 135-space car park to improve access to Baños del Carmen

Malaga city council will demolish the old car wash at Baños del Carmen, along with two dilapidated houses, to build a new car park with 135 spaces.

This will improve access to Baños del Carmen and the Pedregalejo district, especially on weekends when finding a parking space is nearly impossible. It will also serve as a park-and-ride facility, where drivers from the eastern part of the city can leave their cars and, by paying for parking, use EMT buses for free to reach the city centre.

The new car park will include designated areas for drivers with disabilities, as well as electric vehicle charging points and a bicycle area. The city council is also planning a future bicycle rental station at this location.

Smassa and the urban planning department are jointly participating in this initiative, with a total cost of 5.6 million. The former will build the car park, with a budget close to two million, and the latter will be in charge of the expropriations of the land (3.6 million).

Local residents and workers have expressed their concerns over the price at the new car park, fearing that it will be too expensive to use.

In response, Mayor Francisco de la Torre has stated: "Smassa will explore the possibility of monthly rentals and discounts to make it worthwhile. This is a municipal public company and the intention is not to profit from this, but rather to serve transport and intermodality."

The works will take approximately eight months, although the mayor acknowledged that there is no start date, as the existing buildings will first need to be demolished. He hopes that they can finish the car park next year.

De la Torre stated that the initial idea was to build an underground car park and connect it to the third line of the metro (towards El Palo), which has a planned station at this very spot. The mayor acknowledged the difficulty of coordinating both infrastructure projects, as well as the time required and the high cost.

However, if the metro eventually moves east, it could make use of this space. The city council does not rule out the possibility of adding that underground car park.

The project involves the planting of trees and gardens, as well as the renovation of the perimeter pavements and an aesthetic finish that is in line with the nearby Baños del Carmen.

Speaking of Baños del Carmen, De la Torre recalled his offer to fully fund the adaptation of the eucalyptus area, in exchange for the government taking care of doing the same with the Arraijanal dune park, south of Academia del Málaga CF.

The expansion of the beach, which the government will carry out, is scheduled to begin soon, according to the mayor.

Spain's coastal authority has to first relocate numerous specimens of the critically endangered limpet species (Patella ferruginea) before work can begin.

The coastal authority has deployed a team of divers to analyse the existing population of limpets. They have ultimately detected approximately 30 specimens in total.

Simultaneously, technical discussions have taken place with the Andalusian regional government's department of sustainability and environment. Ultimately, the solution is to carry out a "translocation of the specimens", as they have done in other similar projects.