Edificio Calle Barcelona – New Development

Edificio Calle Barcelona is located in Torrox Costa, and consists of 7 apartments on the East side of Malaga towards Nerja. True Spanish country life has merged with the modern cosmopolitan way of life in this region.

You will find the perfect link between the past and the present, between tradition and modern living. Feel the spirit of history in Andalucia and the Costa del Sol.

The complex is made up of apartments with stunning sea views.

Prices from €117,200

You will find the perfect link between the past and the present, between tradition and modern living. Feel the spirit of history in Andalucía and the Costa del Sol.

Edificio Calle Barcelona is made up of apartments with sea views
View more info on Edificio Calle Barcelona

Residencial Casa Nueva – New Development

This development is located in Torrox Costa, on the East side of Malaga towards Nerja. True Spanish country life has merged with the modern cosmopolitan way of life in this region.

The complex is made up of apartments with sea and mountain views, swimming pool and gardens.

Prices from €133,920

Residencial Casa Nueva is made up of apartments with sea views.
View more info on Residencial Casa Nueva

Malaga - City Bus Integration

From Monday, Malaga’s urban and inter-urban bus services became integrated in a single operation. Passengers can now buy a single ticket to cover a journey which takes in two routes - for example from Benalmadena to El Palo which involves one bus into Malaga centre and then a local service to the destination. A publicity campaign to encourage the use of public over private transport has been launched to coincide with the change.

Nerja - Coastal Preservation

Nerja’s mayor, Jose Alberto Armijo, says that it is essential for the regional government to reach an agreement with Town Halls over coastal expropriation. The Junta de Andalucia plans to acquire 113 sites along the coast, including some in Maro and Almayate, so that environmental action can be taken on the land in order to preserve the coastline. Sr Armijo said the plan was “most appropriate” but warned that coastal protection could not be based solely on a policy of land acquisitions.

Spain - Still Top of The Tourist League!

Spain was the European country which welcomed most tourists last winter - between November 2004 and April of this year - with a hotel occupancy rate of 54.5 per cent, according to information published on Tuesday from the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). Spanish hotels registered an increase of 6.8 per cent in November and 5.5 per cent in December compared to the same months last year but in April there was a slight decrease of 0.7 per cent. Following Spain in the rankings was Malta with 51.5 per cent and France with 50.9 per cent. At the bottom of the list were Lithuania, Luxembourg and Hungary which were the only three countries which registered rates of less than 30 per cent.

Alhaurin de la Torre - Proposed New Park

About 150 people in Alhaurín de la Torre fear they may lose their property if the Junta de Andalucía goes ahead with plans to create a park beside the Arroyo del Valle stream. Those affected have held a meeting with the mayor, Joaquín Villanova, to demand more information about the proposed scheme, and were told that they have the Council's support because the local authority is not in favour of the project. The park would be in the form of a 'green corridor' between the stream and the mountain, but the draft Urban Plan proposes an alternative, which would be smaller and would only involve the areas most susceptible to flooding. The mayor commented that the Junta de Andalucía's project would affect a great many families whose income came from farming on the land. The Council and the landowners are planning to send a letter of protest to the Public Works Department of the regional government, asking them to consider.

Ronda - Green Light for Golf

Ronda town hall has given its approval of the scheme and once the necessary paperwork has been completed the developers should have the licence to start work as of January. The project allows for the construction of two golf courses of 18-holes, 785 luxury homes and three five-star hotels. To date the development has also been approved by the regional government but it is conceivable that could be reversed. The controversial golf-residential-tourism scheme was officially published in the Provincial bulletin (BOP) on November 18, which opened a period of one month in which objections could be lodged.

It would be surprising indeed if those who have protested against the project so far should now fall silent. This is especially so as the main objection to the golf course urbanisation is that it will deplete the water aquifers on which the people of Cuevas del Becerro and the local farmers depend. The ecologist group Silvema has already stated that it will be lodging objections.

Nonetheless the mayor of Ronda, Antonio Marín, has stated that the project was of great importance to the town as it would create almost 1,000 jobs. In addition he claimed it would be “impossible” to block a project that was now included in the local development plan.

Spain - Record House Building in 2005

The Architects Association of Spain (Colegio de Arquitectos) forecasts 800,000 housing starts during 2005, a new all-time record and 15% more than 2004. At this level of annual housing starts Spain is building the same number of properties as the UK, France and Germany combined.

The Architects Association points out that demand for new housing in Spain stands at around 300,000 to 350,000 properties annually, whilst new housing starts have been running at over 600,000 units since 2001. Many experts believe that amateur property investors taking advantage of ridiculously low interest rates (and negative real interest rates) have been soaking up the excess construction.

Marbella - Hand Over Responsibility!

From now on, Marbella’s town council will not only be deprived of the right to control planning issues, but it will also be banned from obtaining direct financial benefit from town planning agreements. The Andalusian government hopes that the measure will bring back legality and planning security to a notoriously unsettled sector, after more than a decade of controversy and wrangling. The question still remains though, in the minds of both supporters and detractors of this move, as to whether it can really put an end to a very difficult situation and restore confidence in the local economy.

The Junta has said in a statement, that the withdrawal of town planning from the Marbella Town Hall should guarantee security for promoters, banks and the residents of homes in the town. Regional Councillor for Public Works, Concepción Gutiérrez, said that legality was being re-established in the municipality. Mayor of the town, Marisol Yague, has called on Manuel Chaves to show exactly how she has broken the law, and claims to have only authorised 400 homes, compared to the 13,000 authorised during the GIL era. She has also called for the Junta to take similar action in both Estepona and Mijas. It’s known that the Junta has challenged as many as 6,000 homes in Marbella since Yagüe came to power. The situation is doing nothing to help the Town Hall finances, with 90% of its income from town planning now lost.