For the past year, Spanish locals have been protesting against the rise of mass tourism. Unfortunately, their efforts have come up short, and now the country is moving forward with a tourist-focused development project.
As reported by Express UK on Friday (October 4, 2024), it was confirmed that those opposing mass tourism had lost the battle. This comes after the Pilar de La Horadada Council backed plans to build 1,086 holiday homes on 290,000 square meters of rural land in Lo Monte Playa, a popular spot on Costa Blanca.
If the plans get the final approval, it will end a nine-year campaign by developers trying to get the land reclassified for tourism purposes.
On September 27, the council voted in favor of the project. Spain’s ruling party, Partido Popular (PP), showed their support with plenty of backing, although some council members abstained from the vote.
This new development is expected to bring in about 2,700 new residents, increasing Pilar’s population to just under 25,000. The location will be near Avenida Federico Garcia Lorca in Mil Palmeras, Camping Lo Monte, and Avenida Levante, close to the coastline.
The developer, Santamar de la Vega, said the land had been abandoned for farming for 30 years. Their plan is to build homes in the gap between other urbanized areas, and they say there’s no flood risk, despite some concerns from the regional flood plan about a nearby rambla (dry riverbed) possibly causing structural issues.
Santamar de la Vega owns 98% of the land, which is valued at 21.7 million euros.
The Segura Hydrographic Confederation and local government have approved the environmental impact report for the project.
However, the Friends of Sierra Escalona group raised concerns that this new development might cause problems by stopping excess water from flowing properly.
Santamar de la Vega is also planning to build 2,000 more homes in San Miguel de Salinas and is working on a skyscraper project at Los Naufragos in Torrevieja.