By Wendy Williams

ANDALUCIA’S highest court has ruled equivocally that the El Algarrobico hotel should not have been built.

In a great victory for the environment, an appeal by Carboneras town hall to allow the area to be developed has been thrown out.

The Superior Court of Justice of Andalucia (TSJA) ruled that no construction should ever have taken place in the ‘ST-1 sector’.

It reiterated that the area was already considered protected land according to the Natural Resources Management Plan (PORN) brought in in 1994.

It is now clear that the 411-room hotel built by developer Azata del Sol should not have gone ahead.

Work on the 20-story development has been halted since February 2006.

Greenpeace welcomed the new ruling and demanded that the Junta publicly accepted it before moving to have the building demolished.

A spokesman Pilar Marcos said: “It was absolutely correct that the town hall’s appeal should be thrown out. This is one of the last stretches of Spain’s coastline that is underdeveloped.”

In May this year, the TSJA warned the mayor of Carboneras that if any further work took place he would be guilty of the crime of disobedience.

The TSJA has ruled that a re-zoning plan initiated by the Junta in 1997 was not valid, as the land was already listed as not available for development.

Jaime del Val, the president of group Salvemos Mojácar y el Levante Almeriense said the latest court decision is “a very important step, almost definitive.”

And the Minister of Environment, José Juan Díaz Trillo, insisted the goal of the Junta was to “recover that territory for the use and enjoyment of citizens.”

He added, the environment department “does not want to build that hotel.”

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10 COMMENTS

  1. It’s a beautiful building. It should not have been built in the first place but it is now there. Turn it into an eco-resort instead. Greenpeace should take a more pragmatic stance on the matter. Their overzealousness and ulterior motives (cash for non existent AGP) are turning a lot of people away from their cause. I say this as a former Greenpeace sympathiser with a keen interest in the environment.

  2. Jaun is right. It’s there now and so should be used. Perhaps it should be handed back to the developer as they already have a plan for it. As a former non-commited enviromentalist and rule of law sympathiser these people who fail to let us do what we want should all mind their own business and be quiet while we make money.

  3. That is a “beautiful” building? It’s the ugliest eyesore on that stretch of the Costa. A total blot on the landscape and sticks out like a sore thumb. And Juan says he has a keen interest in the environment? lol. The environment was perfect before this disaster was constructed. Bulldoze it and bill the developer for the clean-up is the way forward.

  4. It should be used? so, whom is going to pay to supply the non-existing fresh-water for the eco-resort? Furthermore, lets built nice roads since it’s going to be “eco” we need roads to get there by public transportation..or maybe by train? lets built also a train station..maybe also an eco parking lot, not still built…and an eco-golf court with recicled water from, uhm, from the dessert.

    Lets face the truth an ecosystem as itself has a value for the people. No “beautiful buildings” are needed.

    A greenpeace supporter.

  5. You environMENTALISTS need to wake up. Your economy is screwed and the future looks very bleak for Spain. It is of utmost importance to maximise sustainable profit. There is plenty of coastline left untouched for the tree huggers out there. The development needs to be finished and any profits can be used to further protect the environment. And Fred, you are wrong, the building is a beautiful design. You should attempt to learn to appreciate contemporary architecture (and contemporary ideas) otherwise you will be heading towards a Darwinian extinction.

  6. Juan
    Spains economic woes are, in part, because of ugly, unwanted, illegal, unsellable developments, not in spite of them. Tell you what. When 90% of existing empty new build properties have a tenant maybe its time to start building again. But not on unspoilt greenfield sites, redevelop the brownfield sites first. The developers chose that site because it was unspoilt. Then spoilt it. The next developer will choose another site, then spoil that, ad nauseum until there are no sites left.

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