The Los Pacos district of Fuengirola to add 300 new homes, including 111 social housing units

The planning document has already received initial approval from the local authority and has been put out for public consultation. It is now only awaiting approval by the full council to receive final authorisation.

Overall, the project, developed by AGP Real Estate 6 SL, envisages a mixed-use urban fabric, where private and social housing will coexist alongside commercial and community facilities, promoting social integration and pedestrian mobility. The initiative sets out the planning for six plots designated for residential, commercial and community use, establishing a new area that will comprise up to 300 homes and communal spaces.

The new development is organised around six main plots totalling 38,360 square metres, four of which are designated for residential use, with half of these set aside for the construction of private-sector homes and the other half for social housing. The former will comprise 189 homes and the latter, 111 social housing units.

The open-market homes will mainly be built on a plot of 19,537 square metres with a gross floor area of 15,000 m², distributed across blocks of up to six storeys, providing capacity for 169 homes. The remaining 20 will be concentrated on a site of 3,524 square metres with a gross floor area of 2,290 m². The 111 social housing units, meanwhile, will be built on two plots totalling more than 7,700 square metres, with a gross floor area in line with affordable housing standards, and will take the form of six-storey blocks.

The other two plots around which the urban development of this area of the Los Pacos neighbourhood is centred - situated between the Sol roundabout and the Osborne bull in Torreblanca, one of the winery’s three advertising landmarks still standing in the province of Malaga - will be designated for social and commercial use

A total of 2,530 square metres will be allocated to community services, spread over six storeys. The plot designated for commercial use covers an area of 4,987 square metres and has a buildable area of 2,300 m², with a maximum height of ground floor plus one storey. It will be used for local shops and services, with a 60 per cent occupancy rate and one parking space for every 80 square metres of floor area.

One of the most distinctive aspects of the document is the review of the location of the Torre Blanca, an ancient defensive structure first recorded in 1497 and destroyed in the mid-20th century. The study clarifies that the current tower, situated more than a kilometre from the original site and near the Osborne bull, does not correspond to the historic monument; it therefore proposes that it be removed from reference maps and that the authentic site be designated as a site of cultural interest (BIC).

The request is supported by a 2021 document from the cultural heritage service of the regional government, which clarifies that the medieval tower - believed to have formed part of the coastal watchtower network and later altered - was destroyed "probably during the 1960s" to make way for the widening of the N-340 and the urban development of the area. This is supported by the fact that the tower "does not appear in the aerial photographs from the interministerial survey (1973–1986), whereas it does appear in the photographs from the national survey (1980–1986)".

In addition to this, the development of Cerro del Agua is affected by the route of the commuter rail line, by the establishment of the urban land protection zone (20 metres from the outer edge of the levelled area). It is also subject to the boundary line of the public water authority (DPH).

The detailed development plan adapts its content to the law on promoting territorial sustainability in Andalucía (Lista), and adjusts building volumes, alignments and gradients without altering the buildable area or the maximum number of dwellings provided for in the general plan; it therefore refines the planning scheme without modifying the approved urban model.

The document is based on the town-planning instruments set out in Andalusian legislation and incorporates the equivalences between land-use categories established by the new legislation, ensuring compatibility with the general development plan and environmental sustainability criteria.