Concerns raised about hotel tower plan in Malaga port just two months before it's due to go for final approval

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Monday, 23 September 2024, 19:01

Concerns have been expressed about Malaga city's Torre del Puerto project just two months out from its due final approval date.

The city hall's planning department originally approved the planned 116-metre-tall luxury hotel to be built on the esplanade of the Levante dock. Then, on 6 March, the Port Authority requested more details from the concessionary company Andalusian Hospitality II, funded by Qatari investment fund Al Alfia in collaboration with the Hesperia hotel chain.

They were given a period of eight months to present more documents, showing the detail necessary to apply for a possible building permit. This is the document the Port of Malaga intends to submit to the government's Cabinet for final approval.

However, with barely two months to go, neither those in charge of the port organisation nor those of the council are aware of the progress made so far in the concessionary company handing back this crucial document.

What SUR can confirm is that the private parties have already officially requested a four-month extension to complete the document request, with port officials now deliberating whether this request is justified, and how much extra time they will be granted. If such a delay is not granted, all the required documentation must be submitted on 6 November. The initial deadline was eight months, starting in March.

If they fail to do so, the investors face the withdrawal of the concession, and with it, the guarantee of 2.3 million euros. This would come after seven years of bureaucracy, most of them at the expense of the urban planning department for the change of the special plan for the port.

The task entrusted to the private developers by the Port is neither easy nor cheap, and for this they were given a long deadline of eight months, which, according to the recent request, has already been exceeded. In order to bring it to the ministerial table, the promoters have been required to officially present the agreement with the luxury hotel brand that will take over its operation. So far, this is unknown.

The project must contain the geotechnical studies of the complex land of the Levante dock (which, for the moment, there is no evidence that they have been carried out either); as well as all the engineering part of the building: calculation of structures, installations, aerodynamics, among others.

A revision and update of the economic-financial study is also demanded, as the current one is outdated. This is due to the profound changes that have taken place during these seven years of administration.

The idea is that the design that goes to the Cabinet, if endorsed, will be the one that is then submitted for the building permit.