Costa del Sol train line extension study made public despite Spain's transport minister denying its existence

Spain's Partido Popular political party has made public an existing study exploring possible options for a railway connection linking Malaga city to the western strip of the Costa del Sol.

The study on the extension of the railway to Marbella from Fuengirola was carried out by the public company INECO in 2015 and presented in 2018 by the then minister of public works Íñigo de la Serna. It was made public on Monday 8 April following the minister for transport Óscar Puente's previous comment about the issue where he said "there is not a single piece of paper to work with".

Partido Popular Malaga province president Patricia Navarro unveiled the 106-page dossier on Monday morning at a meeting held in Marbella where mayors of the Costa del Sol and Campo de Gibraltar pledged their support for the coastal train project.

Navarro accused Puente of "lying" during the meeting attended by mayors Margarita del Cid (Torremolinos), Juan Antonio Lara (Benalmádena), Ana Mula (Fuengirola), Ángeles Muñoz (Marbella), José Manuel Fernández (Manilva) and José Ignacio Landaluce (Algeciras) - Estepona's mayor José María García Urbano was unable to attend - and the presidents of the Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol Manuel Cardeña and the Association of Municipalities of Campo de Gibraltar Susana Pérez Custodio.

"It is a document that is in the hands of the ministry of public works and which proves that Óscar Puente was lying when he said that there were no papers to prove the need and viability of this project," said Navarro, who announced Partido Popular will take the plan to the government subdelegation in Malaga "to refresh their memory and compensate for any loss of paperwork" to the minister.

Partido Popular has made the project a priority and will go all the way, according to Patricia Navarro, who pointed out the Costa del Sol and the Andalusian coastline to Algeciras is "the conurbation that is growing the most and will grow the most in the coming years" and added: "There is no worse blind person than the one who does not want to see".

"The PSOE also lies when it says that the PP had no real will to implement this infrastructure and this document shows that unequivocal will to promote this initiative, which now, in 2024, we want to take to Algeciras; we cannot settle for less," Navarro said.

"The PP did its homework with the coastal train, had the will to take steps with the studies and provide investments, despite the economic situation of that stage was not the most appropriate." Navarro also said funds from Europe could be allocated to the project.

José Ignacio Landaluce stressed the need to promote the railway project in a bid to give an answer to "the growth capacity of the Andalusian Mediterranean and to take advantage of the potential of this natural bridge between Africa and Europe".

"Already in 1862 there was talk in the senate of linking Algeciras by rail. It is neither an idea from then nor from now," said Landaluce, who urged the government not to have a "myopic vision" regarding the development and potential of Malaga and Cadiz.

Navarro said money cannot be a reason to ignore the coastal train project and criticised the government's "constant neglect of investment" in Malaga in a "constant disregard for the province".

Navarro also accused the secretary general of the PSOE in Malaga, Dani Pérez, of being "an ally" of Óscar Puente when he closed the door on the coastal train project and criticised the silence of the socialist leaders, "who are now trying to cover up these statements by considering the local train should move towards Marbella".