John Culatto
PLANS for an auditorium with a capacity of 15,000 people, plus an adjoining hotel and conference centre have been approved for the Costa del Sol.
The new Starlite project in Estepona will require a €286million investment to give it a permanent location to hold events throughout the year.
Called Starlite Music World, it will have its own site on a hill next to the Selwo Adventure Park.
This will make it easier for organisers to hold events without having to put up and take down installations every three months, as they currently do at the Nagueles site in Marbella.
The Junta de Andalucia gave initial approval for the Starlite site at Estepona as a follow-up to its Marbella predecessor last year.
“Starlite Music World is the expansion, growth and consolidation of the Starlite Occident Festival,” its founder Sandra García-Sanjuan said.
But both sites are not incompatible with each other, she added.
“Of course the Starlite Festival Occident Marbella is going to stay because it is our ‘flagship’ and the origin of everything,” Garcia-Sanjuan explained.
The investment in Estepona will see the maximum audience size grow by nearly four times in the current capacity of 3,500.
This might not make it so much a ‘boutique festival’ but still make sure it remains a ‘premium concept’ that looks after the public needs, the founder said.
Starlite Music World will have its own boulevard, lake, central square and catering area.
It is hoped to later incorporate a hotel and conference centre to attract trade fairs and congresses.
There are even plans to make film studios at the site, with each of them being between 1,500 to 3,000m2 and in total amounting to six hectares.
Estepona’s council has already expressed support for the plans, as they could create 450 jobs and prove a big economic and cultural boost to the Costa del Sol city.
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