Jed Neill
A PROTECTED Costa del Sol property is to be knocked down to make way for a petrol station.
The 100-year-old farmhouse in Mijas is to lose its listed status to allow developers to move onto the prime land beside the A7 motorway.
The controversial move has angered locals and environmentalists, who had hoped to maintain the historic Cortijo de los Limones building.
The former lemon and orange plantation, on the Camino de Coin, in Las Lagunas, is one of very few reminders of the area’s rural past.
“Why are we losing this valuable historic building to make way for a gas station?,” asked former mayor Angel Nozal, of Mijas PP party.
“There are already two petrol stations on the same stretch so it makes no sense.”
He added: “It is a miserable decision as it has been an important cultural reminder of the former lives of the people who were alive in the fifties.”
The decision to remove the building’s status came after the town hall, run by Ciudadanos, decided that the building had no integral architectural value nor historical interest.
Town planning boss Andrés Ruiz has now started the process to modify its status.
Ruiz said: “After asking the owner family as well as our technicians, both parties agree that the farmhouse does not have any special feature that deserves such protection.”
The PP party, however, wanted to see it renovated and turned into some sort of museum.
The petrol station will only take up 10% of the land, with the rest likely to be used for further development.
Nozal pointed to the success of similar restorations of the Doña Ermita building and the old winery Don Elías.
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