Malaga city council and SUR discuss Guadalmedina 'plaza-bridges' project in exclusive forum

Diario SUR and Malaga city council have organised a forum to discuss the details of one of the most anticipated projects: the integration of the Guadalmedina riverbed into urban infrastructure.

The event is taking place in the Vincci Posada del Patio hotel next Wednesday, starting at 9.30am.

It will begin with a welcome address by Director of SUR Javier Recio, followed by speeches from delegate of the Andalusian regional government Patricia Navarro and environmental councillor Penélope Gómez.

Afterwards, Carlos García, director of the consulting firm Esteyco, and Andreu Estany, director of the firm's architecture and urban planning department, will present a detailed preliminary design for the 'plaza-bridges' they have developed for the Guadalmedina riverbed.

The plan envisions five 'plaza-bridges' with an X-shaped layout (three ranging from 2,600 to 4,500 square metres in area between the Armiñán and Aurora bridges and two of 1,300 and 1,400 square metres in the Santo Domingo area).

There will be a presentation of other similar urban development projects for the integration of riverbeds in cities. José Luis Infanzón Priore from Madrid city council will explain the Madrid Río project. Architect and professor Juan David Hoyos Taborda will present the Parques del Río project in Medellín. Architect Jesús Arcos Cordón will describe the plan for the renaturalisation of the Rieras de Terrassa.

These three experts will assess the proposal for the Guadalmedina riverbed. SUR journalist Jesús Hinojosa will participate in the forum as a moderator.

Architect Salvador Moreno Peralta, engineer Jorge Robles Alés and mechanics and engineering professor Leonardo Nania Escobar will also hold a round table focusing on the Guadalmedina.

Mayor Francisco de la Torre will close the event. To request attendance for this event with limited tickets, please write to forossur@diariosur.es. The forum can be followed live on SUR.es.

The city council has already put out to tender the drafting of the construction project, based on Esteyco's preliminary design. Companies interested in carrying out this work, with a budget of two million euros, will have eleven months to complete it. The deadline to submit bids is also next Wednesday.

The final draft of the plan will not be ready until at least the middle of next year. According to the tender specifications for drafting the project, "the execution of the works will foreseeably take place" between 2028 and 2034, that is, over the next eight years.

The city council has set this deadline so that the Guadalmedina plan can benefit from the next multiannual European funding framework. Financing is one of the main challenges of this project, whose cost could exceed 300 million euros.

Nevertheless, the city council is confident of receiving a significant financial contribution from the regional government, which has declared the project of regional interest.